AACTE Commends Increase of Teacher Quality Partnership Grant Funds in Draft Funding Bill

(April 30, 2019, Washington, D.C.) – The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) is pleased by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies’ (Labor-H Subcommittee) draft bill released for Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) yesterday. Among the programs seeing an increase in funding is the Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) grant program, the only federal initiative dedicated to strengthening and transforming educator preparation at institutions of higher education.

AACTE members have worked tirelessly to inform Congress about the effectiveness of this program, and the result is now tangible. The AACTE community can take heart, as their voices have clearly been heard on Capitol Hill. The bill in its current form increases TQP by $10 million for a total of $53 million; TQP has been flat-funded at $43.1 million since FY15.

“This increase reflects the House’s understanding of the amazing work that the TQP grantees do to prepare profession ready teachers in high-needs fields for our nation’s classrooms through deep, transformative partnerships with local schools and the school districts they serve,” said Lynn M. Gangone, AACTE president and CEO.

“These grants help educator preparation address the challenges facing the profession, including recruitment and retention of teachers in shortage fields and locations. We appreciate the work of Representative Nydia Velazquez in leading a letter asking for an increase in funding of at least $10 million for TQP with 32 cosigners and we are grateful to Chairwoman DeLauro and Ranking Member Cole for meeting this request in their draft bill. AACTE will continue to advocate for maintaining this increase as the bill moves through the process in the House and with the Senate as it moves its Labor-H bill forward.”

View the draft bill and the press release by the House Committee on Appropriations. The Labor-H Subcommittee markup is scheduled for 4:00pm EDT today.

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AACTE: The Leading Voice on Educator Preparation
The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education is a national alliance of educator preparation programs dedicated to high-quality, evidence-based preparation that assures educators are profession-ready as they enter the classroom. The 800 member institutions include public and private colleges and universities in every state, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands and Guam. Through advocacy and capacity building, AACTE promotes innovation and effective practices that strengthen educator preparation. Learn more at www.aacte.org.