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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 224 (Wednesday, November 20, 2024)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 91525-91526]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-27304]



                        Presidential Documents 



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

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

[[Page 91525]]

                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

[[Page 91526]]

                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.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2024-27304
Filed 11-19-24; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P
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