Miller Applauds Senate for Working to Create Jobs, Help Schools
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), senior Democrat on the Education and the Workforce Committee, today issued the following statement about the Senate’s Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act. The bill is similar to Miller’s Local Jobs for America Act, which among other provisions, would help states to retain or rehire 250,000 teachers and other education staff, and provide funding to put first responders back on the job.
“Senator Reid is taking the right step forward by taking swift action on the Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act. Our priority has to be getting Americans back to work. One step in our effort is keeping critical employees like teachers, police and firefighters on the job. We can’t afford to let our students lose a year of learning without access to great teachers. And we can’t let our streets go unattended without our first responders protecting and defending our families. This bill will quickly create local jobs that we can count – and jobs that we can count on.
“I applaud the Senate for their work to support jobs in communities across the country. It’s a plan that every Senator should be proud to support and a plan that I hope will make it’s way to the House for a vote some time soon. It's well past time for the Republican leadership to allow a real jobs plan to come to the House floor.”
As part of the House Education and the Workforce Democrats “e-Forum on Jobs”, education workers from across the country told the committee on the urgent need for swift action on the jobs crisis in our nation’s schools. In the past two years, more than 268,000 education jobs have been lost and teachers continue to face massive layoffs. These layoffs not only impact classroom learning, but also threaten to further stall economic growth. To read their stories, click here.
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