Senate Passes Teacher Funding & Aid to States; House Coming Back for Special Session

It was a good moment for America's economy and children yesterday, when @SpeakerPelosi tweeted: "I will be calling the House back into session early next week to save teachers' jobs and help seniors & children #FMAP." Now that the Senate has passed the $26 billion package of teacher funding and state aid, the House is all set for a special session to ensure passage of the funding in time to keep teachers in the classroom. 

In a memo released a week ago Friday, NDN called for the passage of these provisions:

Aid States and Localities and Extend Crucial and Expected Benefits 

As Education Secretary Duncan has warned, America’s students and their parents across the country could find as many as 300,000 fewer teachers in our classrooms this fall. Similar, involuntary downsizing is affecting countless other local and state government funded jobs, including police and others responsible for our public safety. Congress must relieve those pressures by providing more assistance to states and localities. In addition, important benefits, similar to unemployment insurance, must be extended, so long as there is just one job opening for every five unemployed workers. The economic payoff of preserving those jobs and extending those benefits, in terms of both employment and overall demand, will be significant. Moreover, recent polling shows that the American people strongly support these steps.

Simon also sent a letter to the Hill specifically calling on the Senate to pass the education funding, and NDN applauds this progress to both aid the economy and ensure students receive the education they've been promised.