Ei-iE

In a passionate address to both houses of Congress, U.S. President Barack Obama has unveiled his plan to reenergize job creation in the stagnant U.S. economy. The president proposed a major investment in the nation’s infrastructure, including a fund to help modernize America’s school buildings – an idea strongly supported by EI’s affiliates in the United States.

NEA President and EI Vice President Dennis Van Roekel - along with other teacher and union leaders - had urged the President to make infrastructure investment a key focus of his jobs plan. Coupled with direct financial aid to local governments to prevent further cuts in critical services such as education, U.S. union leaders have long pointed to the need to invest to overcome the current crisis while achieving better learning conditions for students and working conditions for teachers.

neatoday.org lists the backlog of much-needed repairs and points to the benefits of tackling these issues: “Today, students attend public schools that were built, on average, 40 years ago. Overcrowded buildings with leaky roofs, faulty electrical systems, and outdated technology are the standard in many communities. Construction and building repair could not only give a much-needed jolt to a depressed employment market but also could help boost teaching and learning in these transformed buildings. Specifically, school modernization decreases overcrowding, mitigates safety and environmental concerns due to aging structures, and helps meet the demands of modern technology.”

President Obama focused on the issues highlighted by the unions in his speech, sending a positive message at a time where many governments are simply cutting back. “There are schools throughout this country that desperately need renovating. How can we expect our kids to do their best in places that are literally falling apart? Every child deserves a great school - and we can give it to them, if we act now”, he said.

Urging lawmakers to take action to confront the crisis, he added: “Pass this jobs bill, and thousands of teachers in every state will go back to work. These are the men and women charged with preparing our children for a world where the competition has never been tougher. But while they're adding teachers in places like South Korea, we're laying them off in droves. It's unfair to our kids. It undermines their future and ours. And it has to stop. Put our teachers back in the classroom where they belong.”