Washington, D.C. - Seeking to eliminate the education gap that exists between children growing up in low-income areas and those growing up in higher-income areas, Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and a bipartisan group of legislators today introduced legislation to authorize the Teach for America program to help recruit highly qualified teachers. Teach for America is similar to Americorps where Corps members commit two years to teach in urban and rural schools in some of our nation's lowest income areas.
“I am pleased to be a co-sponsor of this important legislation,” said Van Hollen. “It is essential that we have effective teachers in place to motivate our neediest students. Successful teachers know that it is vital for students to believe that hard work will lead to success in school.”
"By the age of nine, children from low-income families are already three to four grade levels behind in reading ability. As these children progress in the educational system, this achievement gap only widens to the point that a child who grows up in a low-income community is seven times less likely to graduate from college than a child growing up in a more privileged area," said Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach For America. "This authorization bill will enable Teach for America to channel the energies of our country's most promising future leaders - outstanding recent college graduates of all academic majors - toward eliminating the educational achievement gap."
The legislation authorizes $12 million to help Teach for America reach its goals to grow to scale by 2010. Currently, Teach for America has approximately 3,000 Corps members teaching in 22 underserved urban and rural areas across the country, collectively reaching around 250,000 students with an annual budget of $38 million. By 2010, Teach for America aims to grow to 8,000 Corps members, teaching in over 30 underserved communities, reaching around 700,000 students each year with an annual budget of over $100 million.