President Bush has launched a week of efforts to highlight teacher-related provisions of his education reforms - saying good teachers are crucial.

In his weekly radio address Saturday, Mr. Bush said education reform legislation he signed in January includes an increase of nearly billion for teacher training, recruiting and hiring.

The president is to due to go to the midwestern U.S. state of Minnesota Monday to meet educators and speak on programs for improving teacher quality. On Tuesday, First Lady Laura Bush hosts a White House conference on upgrading teaching colleges.

Directly after the radio speech, Democratic Senator Jeff Bingaman told CNN he feels the president's budget is deficient in areas such as preventing students from dropping out of school and helping schools restructure themselves into smaller learning communities.