Statement of Sandra Feldman, President
American Federation of Teachers,
On President Bush’s State of the Union Address

Washington, D.C.—In his brief remarks on education during his State of the Union address, President Bush talked about the promise of No Child Left Behind – a promise that becomes more distant every day that his administration fails to provide adequate funding.

It’s clear that the daunting challenges facing our public schools, colleges and universities cannot be overcome without the full measure of support promised by the federal government.  And although the president proposes increases for some education initiatives, he will have to shortchange others, with the result being that all students are cheated.

One way to start fulfilling the promises made to public schools is to stop providing the massive tax breaks for individuals and corporations that don’t need them and instead redirect those resources to where they are needed.  The president’s previous tax cuts have neither created jobs nor helped our schools.  It’s time for a fair and sensible proposal that does not sacrifice funds from one education priority only to gain a public relations coup for another.

Our nation must focus on doing what works.  The best place to start is to uphold the promises already made that will allow us to provide better trained teachers, smaller classes and extra help for students who need it.

# # # #

The AFT represents more than 1.3 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers, paraprofessionals and other school support employees, higher education faculty, nurses and other healthcare workers, and state and local government employees.