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GREAT TEACHERS AND LEADERS

“Today in America, a teacher spent extra time with a student who needed it, and did her part to lift 

America’s graduation rate to its highest level in more than three decades.”

President Barack Obama

State of the Union Address

January 28, 2014

Educators are working diligently to bring higher standards to their schools while also helping students 

develop in other ways so they can thrive inside and outside the classroom, in higher education, and in the 

workforce. In order to ensure that their students are successful, teachers and leaders need robust 

support that includes opportunities to collaborate around strategies to help their students and support to 

incorporate new technology to improve instruction. States and local educational agencies (LEAs) can 

also support educators by creating excellent instructional teams through better educator recruitment, 

preparation, support, and retention. 

The President’s 2015 budget proposes significant investments in the development and advancement of 

educators, especially those in high-need LEAs, and schools and in hard-to-staff fields and subjects. 

These programs would also help States and LEAs ensure the equitable distribution of effective educators 

across schools, so that students attending high-need schools are not shortchanged on this vital resource.

 New support to help educators leverage technology for instruction ($200 million). The 

proposed ConnectEDucators program would help educators provide excellent instruction 

aligned with college- and career-ready (CCR) standards through use of high-quality digital 

content and real-time data analysis to understand and improve student outcomes; broaden

engagement, communication, and collaboration with families, teachers, and professional 

networks; and open up online access to experts and online/blended learning for students in 

hard-to-staff schools and subjects. 

 Dedicated funding to increase the effectiveness of teachers and principals ($2 billion).

The Administration continues its commitment to supporting States and districts through 

formula grant funds used to improve the quality of instruction and school leadership through 

better recruitment, preparation, development, and retention. In guiding the implementation of 

the program, the Department would emphasize evidence based-practices designed to improve 

student learning and would help States and LEAs provide the supports teachers say they need, 

including strong school leadership to foster respectful school cultures and effective instructional 

teams; time for collaboration among staff; increased roles for teachers in professional 

development decisions, and support to help them use student work and outcome data to 

improve instruction and student achievement.

 Teacher and Leader Innovation Fund ($320 million). This program would help States and 

LEAs improve the effectiveness of teachers and leaders in high-need LEAs and schools, in 

particular by creating the conditions to identify, recruit, prepare, support, retain, and advance 

effective and highly effective teachers, principals, and school leadership teams in those schools

across the career continuum.

 School Leadership Program ($35 million). The Administration’s request would build on the

program’s support for evidence-based professional development for current school leaders 
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aimed at strengthening essential leadership skills, such as evaluating and providing feedback to 

teachers, analyzing student data, developing school leadership teams, and creating a positive 

school climate and deepening school leaders’ understanding of CCR standards and effective 

instruction aligned to those standards.

 Special Education Personnel Preparation ($84 million). The Administration’s request 

would continue support for competitive grants to ensure highly effective teachers, leaders, and 

related services providers receive research-based training and professional development to 

improve results for children, infants, and toddlers with disabilities. In addition to supporting the 

pre-service training of individuals who provide direct services to students with disabilities, this 

program also provides training and support to individuals enrolled in doctoral programs who will 

become the next generation of faculty and researchers, identifying best practices and training 

new prospective teachers and related service providers. 

 RESPECT: Supporting Our Educators ($5 billion in mandatory funding). The 

Recognizing Education Success, Professional Excellence, and Collaborative Teaching 

(RESPECT): Supporting Our Educators project would support competitive grants for States and 

LEAs to implement innovative practices to improve the education profession through 

improvements to teacher preparation and early career support; opportunities for teacher 

development, advancement, and leadership; and supportive work environments with strong 

school leadership and collaboration.