Obama says Congress needs to pass plan to put teachers back to work

Kids throughout the country are going back to school, some of whom will not see the teachers they had the year before walking around the halls anymore. The reason being is, in part, because budget cuts at the state and local level have caused roughly 300,000 teachers to be laid off since 2009.

In this week's address, President Barack Obama addressed that fact and urged Congress to pass his jobs bill that would provide funding to help states hire more teachers. He first called on Congress to address this portion of his jobs bill in September 2011, but a year later Congress has failed to act on it. In fact, when Republicans in the House of Representatives passed their budget they cut funding for education. President Obama said it was important that this country have good teachers and good education because it will help keep the United States as a global leader in the 21st century.