REAFFIRM SUPPORT FOR TEACHER CENTER FUNDING

WHEREAS, AFT members, individually and in concert with their locals, have long embraced teacher centers as truly teacher-inspired and teacher-directed providers of professional development services; and

WHEREAS, the accomplishments of teacher centers in improving instruction and educational and social outcomes for students have been repeatedly shown to have value far surpassing the initial small investment by the state; and

WHEREAS, teacher centers have far exceeded their initial promise by showing that consensus and collaboration lead swiftly to accurate needs assessment, creative and effective program design and continual assessment and refinement; and

WHEREAS, the diverse services received by teacher center constituents in public and private schools include course work (often in collaboration with postsecondary institutions), training in instructional technologies, research, publishing, networking, seminars, conferences, individual and collaborative grants, and forums for interacting with parents, administrators and the business community; and

WHEREAS, teacher centers have become a catalyst for education reform by providing diverse ideas for innovative teaching and by providing teachers access to "student friendly cutting-edge technology":

RESOLVED, that AFT reaffirm its support for the teacher center movement; and

RESOLVED, that AFT use all means at its disposal to increase federal funding for teacher centers to offset reduction in state funding.