After decades of success, with over 1200 participants and hundreds of thousands of students who have benefited, NOAA's remarkably successful Teacher At Sea program has been under continuous threat of elimination. The Teacher At Sea Program offers berths on NOAA Research Ships – often berths which would otherwise go unused – to our nation's teachers. It offers them direct experience conducting ocean science and partners them with scientists working alongside them. The program model is remarkably effective for teachers, students and even for the scientists involved. Because they are the only federal agency with an entire fleet of research vessels, no other federal agency has the ability to offer such opportunities in the area of ocean science - an area of study which is critically important for the future of our country and for the planet. Now that the Next Generation Science Standards, which include strong sections on ocean science, are being adopted in K-12 classrooms across the United States, we need this program more than ever. Yet, for the last several years, NOAA's highly successful Teacher At Sea Program has been threatened with elimination due to budget cuts.

We the undersigned ask that you restore funding to this important and unique educational opportunity, now and for the future.