TO SUPPORT FEDERAL MATCHING FUNDS FOR THE NATIONAL BOARD FOR PROFESSIONAL TEACHING STANDARDS

WHEREAS, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) was created in May of 1987 to set high and rigorous standards for what experienced teachers should know and be able to do and to develop professional, performance-based assessments for certifying those teachers who voluntarily sought such recognition; and

WHEREAS, the NBPTS is an independent, non-governmental, teacher-majority board and is a major step forward in the professionalization of teaching; and

WHEREAS, the mission of the NBPTS is to strengthen the teaching profession and thereby help raise the quality of education; and

WHEREAS, the NBPTS seeks to encourage states and localities to provide school work environments that maximize the knowledge, talent and energy of school staffs on behalf of students; and

WHEREAS, board certification has promise for enabling states, local districts and schools to recognize and deploy, fairly and legitimately, outstanding professionals and thereby help to attract and retain such in­dividuals in teaching; and

WHEREAS, the standards and assessment policies of the NBPTS will be grounded in excellent teaching practices and not the one-best-method-of-teaching approach characteristic of multiple-choice tests, will be respectful of the diversity and pluralism of American education and will be designed with the active and predominant participation of outstanding teachers; and

WHEREAS, these NBPTS policies will value teachers" command of multiple knowledge bases, content and pedagogy and the ability to integrate such knowledge and skills with an understanding of diverse students in diverse settings; and

WHEREAS, the NBPTS intends to develop state-of-the art assessment techniques that reflect this professional conception of teaching; and

WHEREAS, the mission and goals of the NBPTS entail undertaking a major research and development effort that requires a substantial investment that will pay off throughout the education system and the nation:

RESOLVED, that the AFT commend the United States Senate for approving $25 million in matching funds for the research and development program of the NBPTS; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT strongly urge the members of the United States House Committee on Education and Labor and the full House of Representatives to support this level of funding for the NBPTS; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT will resist any efforts to attach strings to federal and other funding sources that would compromise the integrity and indepen­dence of the NBPTS; and

RESOLVED, that the leadership and membership of AFT affiliates write their representatives in Congress to apprise them of their support for funding the research and development work of the NBPTS.