Letter to the Members of the House who Voted in Support of the Jobs for Main Street Act
December 17, 2009
On behalf of the 3.2 million members of the National Education Association (NEA), and the millions of students they serve in every community across the nation, we would like to thank you for your vote yesterday in support of the Jobs for Main Street Act. This important legislation will provide essential resources to save and create education jobs, thereby helping stimulate economic recovery.
Investment in public education is the best investment for the nation’s economy, in the short run and long run. The education dollars provided in the Jobs for Main Street Act — both the Education Jobs Fund and school construction bonds — will save or create hundreds of thousands of educator jobs and will provide a critical infusion of funds into struggling communities. These dollars, coupled with the increases in education funding in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the FY 2009 and 2010 appropriations packages, reflect an understanding of the importance of adequate investment in education to the overall well-being and strength of our nation.
Your vote yesterday reflects your commitment to ensuring that the children of America receive the kind of attention, nurturing, and instructional expertise so critical to stability in their lives and their future success. Equally important, passage of this important legislation will help ensure that the engine of American innovation—our public schools—is not set back as we climb out of this economically challenging time.
We deeply appreciate your commitment to children and to the educators who serve them.
Dennis Van Roekel