Press Releases

Congressman Richard E. Neal, Chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means joined Mount Holyoke College Interim President Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum for the announcement of a $250,000 earmark for Mount Holyoke College’s Professional and Graduate Education (PaGE) department.

The allocation was made possible through Congressional Directed Spending (CDS) from the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education. Congressman Neal included funding for this project in the Fiscal Year 2022 spending bill that was signed into law earlier this year.

“As a former Trustee at Mount Holyoke College, I have seen first-hand the innovative and collaborative work that happens on campus,” said Congressman Neal. Not only will this program assist teachers and school support staff here in western and central Massachusetts, but it will also be available to those nationwide. Mount Holyoke is once again leading the way.”

"The unending pressure on teachers needs to be addressed if we want to retain passionate, talented professionals in the field of education,” said Interim President Tatum. “The Teaching for our Moment program is designed to ensure the highest levels of success for students and higher levels of job satisfaction for teachers. We appreciate Congressman Neal's support of education in Massachusetts." 

The funding will support the Teaching for our Moment program, aimed at addressing the growing crisis of teacher burnout in our nation’s public schools. The program kicks off on Saturday, October 29, with a free daylong conference followed by a six-month professional learning and mentorship program. The programming aims to support teacher wellness and student social-emotional learning while addressing challenges in education that are leading too many teachers to leave the profession.

Under guidelines issued by the Senate and House Appropriations Committees, members of Congress requested Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) funding for projects in their state for Fiscal Year 2022. CDS requests were restricted to a limited number of federal funding streams, and only state and local governments and eligible non-profit entities were permitted to receive CDS funding.

This project is one of ten CDS projects that were submitted by Congressman Neal, totaling over $9 million in investments throughout the First Congressional District of Massachusetts.

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