A Call for $23 Billion Teacher Jobs Fund

Dear Editor,

Schools across the country are facing the worst layoffs in half a century. As many as 300,000 school employees are in danger of losing their jobs. If that happens, millions of kids will see exploding class sizes and a drastic decline in educational opportunities. Education will become a "risky" career choice for a generation of potential teachers.

Communities are facing this emergency through no fault of their own. The collapse of the financial system devastated all economic sectors, leaving state and local governments in a huge budget crisis that's just reaching its peak, despite the improving economy.

We have two choices -- we can sit, frozen in the ice of our own indifference, as Franklin Roosevelt once said, or we can take action to save these jobs.

By arguing that we should "Fail this jobs bill", the Post has made the wrong choice! Without action from Congress, we're setting up our children and schools for a major crisis.

We only have one chance to educate tomorrow's innovators, engineers and entrepreneurs and the key to our economy -- our children!

That's why we support a $23 billion teacher jobs fund - for our children's sake and for the sake of a stronger American economy.

Signed,

Rep. Dave Obey (WI), Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. George Miller (CA), Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, and 62 Democratic Members of Congress:

Rep. Robert Andrews (NJ), Rep. Joe Baca (CA), Rep. Tammy Baldwin (WI), Rep. Howard Berman (CA), Rep. Tim Bishop (NY), Rep. Earl Blumenauer (OR), Rep. Rick Boucher (VA), Rep. Bruce Braley (IA), Rep. Lois Capps (CA), Rep. Judy Chu (CA), Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (MO), Rep. John Conyers (MI), Rep. Joe Courtney (CT), Rep. Joseph Crowley (NY), Rep. Elijah Cummings (MD), Rep. Danny Davis (IL), Rep. Rosa DeLauro (CT), Rep. Bill Delahunt (MA), Rep. Peter Deutch (FL), Rep. Brad Ellsworth (IN), Rep. Bob Etheridge (NC), Rep. Chaka Fattah (PA), Rep. Bob Filner (CA), Rep. Marcia Fudge (OH), Rep. Raúl Grijalva (AZ), Rep. John Hall (NY), Rep. Phil Hare (IL), Rep. Alcee Hastings (FL), Rep. Maurice Hinchey (NY), Rep. Rush Holt (NJ), Rep. Hank Johnson (GA), Rep. Dale Kildee (MI), Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (OH), Rep. John Lewis (GA), Rep. Zoe Lofgren (CA), Rep. Ben Ray Luján (NM), Rep. Daniel Maffei (NY), Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY), Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (NY), Rep. James McGovern (MA), Rep. Dennis Moore (KS), Rep. Gwen Moore (WI), Del. Eleanor Holmes-Norton (DC), Rep. Frank Pallone (NJ), Del. Pedro Pierluisi (PR), Rep. Jared Polis (CO), Rep. David Price (NC), Rep. Laura Richardson (CA), Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA), Rep. Bobby Rush (IL), Rep. Tim Ryan (OH), Del. Gregorio Kilili Sablan (NMI), Rep. John P. Sarbanes (MD), Rep. Janice Schakosky (IL), Rep. Bobby Scott (VA), Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (NH), Rep. Pete Stark (CA), Rep Bennie Thompson (MS), Rep. Dina Titus (NV), Rep. Paul Tonko (NY), Rep. Adolphus Towns (NY), Rep. David Wu (OR).