More Resources Teacher Incentive Fund

Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education Ray Simon today released the following statement regarding the Teaching Commission's new bipartisan survey, "Americans' Commitment to Quality Teaching in Public Schools."

"The results of this poll underscore our belief that the time has come to recognize teachers as the professionals they are and to bring teacher pay into the 21st Century. President Bush recognizes this and has proposed a $500 million Teacher Incentive Fund to help states and school districts reward teachers who are achieving results in some of our nation's highest-need schools. This report shows that the public overwhelmingly endorses—and that a significant number of teachers surveyed support—efforts to reward merit in teaching, the very point of the president's proposal.

"In short, Americans understand that teachers often make the difference in academic success for their children and that good teachers need and deserve to be rewarded. With President Bush's Teacher Incentive Fund, we now have a proposal that can achieve what is needed and what the public desires."

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