MPs celebrate the week of the 2025 Teacher’s Appreciation by paying respect for educators who helped them rise to the congress.
DPR Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Said his wife and mother-in-law, both of whom were educators, were their favorite teachers. Johnson added that his class teachers along the way positively affected his “track”.
“I praise so many of those people, in many ways, because they are in my current position,” Johnson told ABC News.
“Teachers are one of the most low -paid professions, so we certainly respect them,” he said.
Building Department of Education in Washington, March 24, 2025.
Jim Watson/AFP Via Getty Images
Monica de la Cruz’s representative, R-Texas, has several teachers who greatly influence his life, but he told ABC News that his secondary school music teacher who recognized his talent.
“Not so much music talent, but he sees the opportunity to sharpen my leadership skills and he hone it and allow me to grow,” said De La Cruz.
Byron Donalds representative, R-Fla., Who has worked in the banking, finance and insurance industry, said his secondary school mathematics teachers helped challenge him.
“That is really a building block for me to move to finance and college,” said Donalds. “I always respect them.”
New student representative Michael Baumgartner, R-Wash., New Member of the DPR Education and Labor Committee, said he was a “big fan” teacher.
He brought a teacher from his district in Washington to President Donald Trump’s speech to a joint congress session because he said the educators inspired “the next generation.”
Rep. Baumgartner with Ms. Stacey Nash, a teacher from the Wilbur Creston Middle School in the State of the State of the State of Washington, who is a guest of Baumgartner in a speech with President Trump to the congress.
@Repbaumgartner/x
Baumgartner, who came from an educator family, said he did not believe he would be in his place today without a teacher.
“I have a nun who taught me – I went to a Catholic small school in a small rural community – and I remember they made us seats [handwriting]What I hate, but it’s a kind of discipline, inspiration and only the love of learning that you develop, so it’s great, “Baumgartner told ABC News.
House leader of Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y., praised the state teachers and said “The United States must continue to celebrate and appoint our public school, our educators and our capacity to ensure that people receive one class education so they have paths into American dreams.”
Some members of the Caukus Jeffries are decorated educators, including Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Conn., This year’s National Teacher 2016. Hayes launched Caucus Congress Teachers to start the 2025 Teacher’s Appreciation Week.
He said the Caucus aims to provide a special platform for educators who work in the congress to find common sense solutions to overcome the current educational problems, according to the release of the Hayes office.
But Hayes opposed Trump’s administrative efforts to dismantle the Ministry of Education. He really focused on defending public educators from threats to dismiss the agency and launch caucus in response to them.
“I really believe in public education, and I will always recommend not only for students but for this profession,” Hayes previously told ABC News.
Speaker Representative of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson spoke during a press conference after the meeting of the Republic of the House of Representatives in the US Capitol on May 6, 2025, in Washington, DC
Andrew Harnik/Getty Image
In the upper room, Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Former teacher, launched the “Save Our School” campaign to investigate efforts to dismantle the Ministry of Education.
“The federal government has invested in our public school,” Warren said last month in an exclusive interview with ABC News.
“Taking it from our children so that a handful of billionaires can be richer -really ugly, and I will fight it with everything I have.”
Warren suggested that he works with students, teachers, parents and union to “sound alarm” nationally. Before going to politics, Warren was inspired by second grade teachers to join the ranks of education.
“Every time someone asks about my future, I will stand a little higher and say, ‘I will be a teacher,'” recalled Warren. “It guides my whole life.”
In this feb. 21, 2025, Photo file, Rep. Jahana Hayes, 2016 National Teacher of the Year, Joins Parents, Educators, Communities Leaders, and Elected Officials at a Rally Outside the Us Capitol to Defend Public Education Ahead of Secretary of Education Nominee Linda McMahon’s
Paul Morigi/Getty Images for the National Education Association, File
The teacher preparation program that dismantled and shaved will eventually injure the profession, according to Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev.
Horsford praised his secondary school teacher, Mr. Ware because he motivated him to be the first person in his family to achieve higher education.
“He said he saw something in me and that I needed to believe in myself,” Horsford told ABC News.
“Now, being here at the congress, and achieving some things that I can achieve, I will not be able to do that without education, investing in me, by getting a bachelor’s degree,” he said.