Teachers are special, let’s honor them tomorrow, October 5, on World Teacher’s Day. As President Obama said during an April Rose Garden ceremony for the 2010 National Teacher of the Year:
“For nearly six decades, through 12 presidential administrations, we’ve gathered here to honor America’s teachers and to celebrate your contribution to the life of our country. And we do this because we recognize the role that you play in sustaining our democracy -– in creating the informed citizenry and engaged leaders that we need for our government, a government of and by and for the people.
And we do this because you’re the key to our success in the global economy -– preparing our kids to compete at a time when a nation’s most valuable currency is the knowledge and skills of its people. And we do this because the impact you’ve had on all of our lives: pushing us, believing in us, insisting -– sometimes, despite all evidence to the contrary -– that we have potential and that we have something worthy to contribute.
As President Kennedy once said, “Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education… The human mind is our fundamental resource.” And it’s all of you who we entrust every day with that resource and that responsibility.
And that’s why as President, I’m committed to doing every single thing that I can do to support your work -– to create better standards and assessments that you can use in your classrooms; to make critical investments in education at every level, from early childhood education through college; and to recruit and develop and reward excellent teachers. ”
