Taxpayer-Teacher Protection Act of 2004

TAXPAYER-TEACHER PROTECTION ACT OF 2004 -- (House of Representatives - October 06, 2004)

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Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5186, the Taxpayer-Teacher Protection Act. In doing so, I'd like to thank Chairmen BOEHNER and MCKEON for their leadership on this issue, supported by Majority Leader TOM DELAY.

H.R. 5186 moves efficiently and effectively to end unfair subsidies for lenders in the student loan program and redirects those funds to assist the teachers of this country. What could be better? While it took some time for my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to agree with us on the need to stop the excess subsidies for student loan providers, I'm confident that today, we all recognize the importance of the measure before us. I'm also certain they agree with us on the need to assist teachers, given their past votes of overwhelming support on similar teacher loan forgiveness bills.

This bill is straightforward and increases the amount of loan forgiveness for secondary math and science teachers and for K-12 special education teachers to a maximum of $17,500 from the $5,000 currently provided in the Higher Education Act for all teachers in high-poverty schools.

This bill is similar to legislation I introduced, H.R. 438, which passed the House with strong bipartisan support by a margin of 417-7 on July 9, 2003.

The purpose of the bill is to ensure our future workforce is scientifically literate and competent, skills that the Committee for Economic Development and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers have identified as keys to our country's ability to compete in the global marketplace. Unfortunately, our high school students consistently test toward the bottom in math and science compared to the rest of the world.

Teachers working in schools that face the greatest difficulty in recruiting math, science and special-ed teachers will be eligible for the increased amount of loan forgiveness after teaching for five years. This commitment to these schools and the students they serve is well worth the recognition and support of this Congress. To further assist children in low-income schools, eligible teachers must be highly qualified as required by the No Child Left Behind Act.

I look forward to the day when a group of math, science and special-ed teachers begins teaching in our Nation's neediest schools inspired by the incentives of this bill. Those teachers will clearly know they are part of a national program designed to ensure all American children are equipped with the life skills necessary to contribute and succeed in a technologically driven world economy.

The goal with this bill, and the bill I was proud to sponsor earlier in this session, is to ensure our Nation remains a competitive force in the world. I hope a secondary effect will be to send a strong signal that America honors and respects those who accept the calling to teach. I am proud that my wife Roxanne has been a teacher in Lexington County encouraging young people to reach their highest fulfillment. This bill provides a common sense solution that shuts down excess profits for loan providers, and directs the resources to one of our Nation's most valuable resources-teachers, professional educators who make a difference in children's lives.

I urge my colleagues to support passage of H.R. 5186.

May God bless our troops, and we will never forget September 11th.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank you for all of your efforts in bringing forward this very important piece of legislation. It will serve to provide a much-needed benefit to highly qualified teachers teaching in title I schools. The benefits provided in this legislation will increase loan forgiveness for those teachers in the high shortage subject areas of math, science and special education. In addition to the important role that special education teachers play in the lives of students with disabilities, I would also like to recognize the importance of the many related service providers that help children with disabilities every day. Speech-language pathologists and audiologists provide the single largest component of related services under IDEA and are key to providing a quality education to children with disabilities. A number of independent studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Education and other organizations have concluded that we must do more to attract people into these professions, or we will be faced with a chronic shortage of such personnel in our schools within the next decade. I am pleased with the efforts we are making today to address these shortages, and I look forward to working with you in the future to do even more.