Presidential Documents

91525 

Federal Register 

Vol. 89, No. 224 

Wednesday, November 20, 2024 

Title 3— 

The President 

Proclamation 10859 of November 15, 2024 

American Education Week, 2024 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

During American Education Week, we celebrate the power and promise 

of our Nation’s public education system, which has empowered so many 

students to realize their full potential regardless of their zip code. We 

show gratitude for educators and staff, who ensure that our schools are 

filled with hope and possibilities. And we recommit to ensuring each student, 

educator, and school has the resources and opportunities they need to thrive. 

America’s public education system helps define who we are: a Nation of 

possibilities, where everyone gets a fair shot to pursue their talents and 

ambitions. Some of our Nation’s greatest scholars and scientists, artists and 

humanitarians, and dreamers and doers got their start at a public school. 

Many have further honed their skills in our colleges, universities, Registered 

Apprenticeships, and career and technical education programs. An education 

gives you something no one can take away—that is why we must remain 

committed to supporting our schools, which open the doors of opportunity 

wider for everyone. 

I am proud that my Administration secured a historic $130 billion in funding 

for our Nation’s K–12 schools through my American Rescue Plan. That 

law put more teachers in classrooms and put more counselors, social workers, 

and other supportive staff in our schools. It also invested in high-quality 

tutoring and made historic expansions in summer and after-school programs 

while upgrading the physical school buildings, including making aging buildings more secure and improving air quality. 

My Administration also remains committed to ensuring students have the 

resources they need to succeed. My American Rescue Plan led to our country’s biggest-ever investment in mental health and substance use programs, 

providing critical funding to increase the number of mental health providers 

in our schools. Furthermore, my Bipartisan Safer Communities Act—the 

first major Federal gun safety legislation passed in nearly 30 years—made 

important steps toward ending the threat of gun violence, which brings 

terror to far too many schools. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act also 

included $2 billion in funding to create safe, inclusive learning environments 

for all students and to train and hire more mental health professionals 

for schools. My Administration also made it easier for schools to bill Medicaid so that they could deliver critical health services, including mental 

health services to students. And through my national strategy to end hunger 

and reduce diet-related diseases in America by 2030, we are working toward 

a future where every kid has access to free, healthy school meals. 

Setting students up for success also means improving our Nation’s early 

childhood education. Children who go to preschool are nearly 50 percent 

more likely to finish high school and go on to earn a 2- or 4-year degree 

no matter their background. My Administration has fought to make preschool 

universal for every 3- and 4-year-old in America. 

To support our Nation’s higher education system, my Administration secured 

nearly $40 billion for colleges and universities through my American Rescue 

Plan. That includes billions of dollars in funding for Minority-Serving Institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. I have always believed 


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91526 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 224 / Wednesday, November 20, 2024 / Presidential Documents 

that higher education should be a pathway to the middle class—but we 

have to make it more affordable. That is why my Administration provided 

the largest increases to the maximum Pell Grant award in over a decade, 

making college more affordable for over six million students. We also canceled student loan debt for over one million public service workers, including 

teachers, by fixing the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program. 

Before I took office, only 7,000 public service workers had ever received 

the forgiveness they were entitled to through PSLF. In total, we have approved debt cancellation for nearly five million Americans across all our 

various debt relief actions, including fixing Income-Driven Repayment so 

borrowers get the relief they earned and holding the colleges that take 

advantage of students and families accountable. 

Everyone deserves a fair shot at the American Dream, so my Administration 

has invested more in Registered Apprenticeships and career and technical 

training programs than any other administration in history, empowering 

workers to earn while they learn and opening up new pathways to secure 

good-paying jobs. We are also working to expand Registered Apprenticeships 

for educators and increase access to high-quality teacher preparation programs, including by making them more affordable. 

During American Education Week, we show our gratitude to the educators 

and school staff across our Nation, who are the kite strings that keep our 

national ambitions aloft. And together, we will work to ensure our Nation’s 

students have every opportunity to succeed. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States 

of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution 

and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 17 through 

November 23, 2024, as American Education Week. I call upon all Americans 

to mark this week with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities 

honoring those who devote their talents and energies to helping our children 

reach their full potential and to building school communities where all 

students feel they belong. 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day 

of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of 

the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 

forty-ninth. 

[FR Doc. 2024–27304 

Filed 11–19–24; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3395–F4–P 


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