BOSTON – Teach Plus, a national teacher leadership organization, released the following statement in response to today’s announcement by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan regarding a new set of policies designed to improve educational equity. During the announcement at the White House, Secretary Duncan highlighted Teach Plus’ T3 Initiative, a teacher-designed, teacher-led turnaround model that places high-performing teachers in high poverty schools.
“We are thrilled that the Obama Administration is redoubling its efforts to improve poor and minority students’ access to excellent teaching. Our nation faces a moral imperative to do this work and to do it now. The Administration’s requirement that states submit Educator Equity Plans by next April is a necessary first step. For these plans to meaningful, they must be developed in a way that puts teacher voices front and center.
Teach Plus teachers see the extent of urban children’s needs every day in the high-poverty schools where they work. They choose to teach in these schools because they know that a good education is often the only route out of poverty for their students. And they recognize that better equity policies are needed.
The proposed plans call for a new Educator Equity Support Network, which will include a set of model plans by leading states and will be an important resource as all states build out their efforts. The states’ Educator Equity Profiles will help raise awareness and provide students, teachers, parents and other advocates with information that enables them to step up and be part of their community’s solution to this unconscionable problem. Teach Plus teachers are eager to bring their own expertise to the table and work with the U.S. Department of Education and their states and districts as this critical work moves forward.”
