Congressman Denny Rehberg

WASHINGTON, DC - Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, is sponsoring legislation to provide financial assistance to retiring military personnel seeking to become teachers.  The Troops to Teachers Improvement Act of 2006 will correct a drafting error in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) that restricted the ability of U.S. veterans to obtain teaching certificates.

“The character and experience of our nation’s veterans would be an asset to any classroom,” said Rehberg, a member of the House Appropriations Committee.  “Congress must do everything it can to enhance the quality of our schools. This bill does that by fixing an error that prevented veterans from becoming teachers and kept potentially great educators out of the classroom.”

Since the Troops to Teachers program began in 1993, almost 10,000 veterans have obtained teaching certificates.  The drafting error in NCLB, which mandates veterans teach in “high-need” schools, reduced the number of eligible Montana school districts to 146 from 324.

“This bill will relieve the burden on rural schools seeking to benefit from the Troops to Teachers program,” added Rehberg.  “Now more than ever, our schools need the very best teachers and Troops to Teachers helps accomplish that goal.”

“This legislation will greatly expand the opportunities for troops, thereby getting more experienced, mature, highly qualified teachers into the public school classrooms as teachers,” said Le Gaub, program manager for the Northern Plains Region of the Troops to Teachers Program.  “In this program everyone wins; the military member or veteran, school districts and school houses, the families who attend those schools, and society as a whole.”