Strongly believing that the quality of teachers in the classroom determines the quality of education our children receive, Congressman Tierney authored legislation entitled the Alternative Paths to Teaching Act, which would encourage America’s best and brightest students to enter the teaching profession in order to ensure fully qualified teachers in every classroom. Congressman Tierney is working to incorporate this pivotal bill into broader legislation governing teacher training programs.

Congressman Tierney maintains that it should be Congress’s goal to correct aspects of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) that have been generally recognized as "in need of improvement" and to ensure that enough resources are available to states and local districts for educators to actually have the opportunity to raise children’s level of learning and close achievement gaps.

Congressman Tierney has long believed that there is much more that Congress must do to live up to its promise of adequately funding education. For this reason, he is an original co-sponsor (original proponent and introducer of a measure or an amendment) of the Keep Our Promise to America’s Children and Teachers (PACT) Act (H.R. 627), which would require complete funding for NCLB as well as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The legislation is pending in two congressional committees.