JFK'S MESSAGE ON EDUCATION READ AT NEA CONVENTION
"I have every reason to believe that...I will sign into law before the summer is out this Nation's first Federal Aid to Education program."
Atlantic City, New Jersey (JFK+50) On June 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy's message to the members of the National Education Association meeting here in Atlantic City was read by Frank Thompson, Jr.* United States representative from New Jersey.
The President's message included these words...
"I have every reason to believe that...I will sign into law before the summer is out this Nation's first Federal Aid to Education program."
The message went on to say that money alone would not be enough. JFK wrote that...
"Our goal must be an educational system that will permit the maximum development of the talents of every American boy and girl."
The President believed those that bear the greatest responsibility for the education of America's youth are the teachers. He wrote...
"No amount of state and local support can succeed without your daily efforts to improve the minds of our children."
*Frank Thompson, Jr. (1918-1989) was born in Trenton, N.J. & educated at Wake Forest University. FTJ served as representative of NJ's 4th district from 1955 to 1980. He was convicted of bribery & conspiracy in the Abscam case in 1980 & served two years in prison.
SOURCE
"Message to the Members of the National Education Association Meeting in Atlantic City," June 25, 1961, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, January 20 to December 31, 1961, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1962.
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