Maryland
delegates to the NEA Representative Assembly (RA) watched proudly as Governor
O’Malley received the Greatest Education Governor award. The annual award is presented to a governor
who has made major, statewide efforts to improve public education.
Despite facing a recession, O’Malley ensured that the state would move
forward on public education, and authorizing the funding necessary to make
great strides in closing the achievement gap. He’s insisted that
underprivileged and minority students be taught by teachers as highly qualified
as those who teach economically advantaged students.
“It’s the
responsibility of those of us in government to stand by you, and to give you
the tools, resources, and support that you need so that our students succeed in
the classroom,” O’Malley told an appreciative audience of more than 8,100
delegates. “If we had just 50 of those, what a world it would be,” NEA
President Dennis Van Roekel quipped after O’Malley’s speech.
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