Congressman Gregory W. Meeks Statement on Teacher Appreciation Week

May 8, 2012

Congressman Gregory W. Meeks Statement on Teacher Appreciation Week

WASHINGTON, DC--Congressman Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY) released the following statement for Teacher Appreciation Week.

“In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, I would like recognize the dedicated and hardworking teachers across America, many of whom perform their indispensable service of educating the nation’s children in difficult conditions. I especially want to express my appreciation for the teachers in my district.

“A teacher plays an extraordinary role in a child's life. I remember when I attended public school and my fifth grade teacher gave me an assignment of creating a career book. In that book I wrote that I wanted to be an attorney because I felt it was the best way to help people who did not have voice. My teacher instilled in my classmates and me the idea that we could become anything that we dreamed of being and much more. I went on and became an attorney, a judge and then an elected official. To this day I still have the career book from my fifth grade class. Teachers, along with parents, are the stewards of our children’s future. They help shape and mold our most valuable resource, our children, and work tirelessly to provide an education so that as adults our children will be able to successfully can compete globally. I thank all the hardworking teachers in the Sixth Congressional District, New York, and America, for their service.

“In the coming weeks, my office plans to have conversations with teachers in my district about ways in which Congress and the federal government can increase our nation’s investment in education and ensure that teaching is America's most valued professions.”
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