Landrieu Receives Educational Award
WASHINGTON – United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., today received the Teach for America Congressional Champion Award for her ongoing leadership in the effort to expand educational opportunity for America’s students.
“Wendy Kopp and Teach for America are an inspiration to anyone who wants to provide kids in America a chance at a better education,” Sen. Landrieu said. “Teach for America has achieved tremendous results in Louisiana and throughout the nation. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I will continue to fight to ensure that Teach for America has the resources it needs to continue putting high-quality teachers in our children’s classrooms.”
“The support of our Congressional champions has played such a significant role in growing our impact in our first 20 years,” Kopp said. “Not only have they been instrumental in providing critical funding and policy changes, but their backing has given confidence to thousands of others who have made an investment in our mission. I am incredibly grateful to Senator Landrieu for her ongoing leadership in the field of education, and for enabling Teach for America to invest in future generations of leaders committed to working inside and outside of the classroom to provide all children with an excellent education.”
Teach for America selected Senator Landrieu for the Congressional Champion Award in recognition of her commitment to educational excellence for all students and of the efforts of Teach For America in Louisiana and across the nation. Senator Landrieu fought hard to secure federal funding for the program so that it could expand from 48 corps members in the state in 1990, when Teach For America was founded, to the 630 today serving nearly 40,000 low-income students in Greater New Orleans and South Louisiana today.
Teach for America is the national corps of top recent college graduates who commit to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in the movement to expand educational opportunity. Teach for America’s network includes 8,200 corps members teaching in 39 regions and a national force of 20,000 alumni at the forefront of efforts to end educational inequity.
This year in Greater New Orleans and South Louisiana, Teach for America’s two regions in Louisiana, some 630 Teach for America corps members are reaching nearly 40,000 students in underserved schools while nearly 600 alumni are working from every sector to level the playing field for students and families in low-income communities. For more information, visit http://www.teachforamerica.org.
Landrieu was one of 12 Members of Congress to receive the award from Teach for America founder and CEO Wendy Kopp during a luncheon ceremony in the Kennedy Caucus Room.
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