How A Bill Becomes A Law
How GEAR Up became a law
IDEA:
After years of working in education and
around young people, Congressman Chaka Fattah noticed that many children
from the poorest areas knew the least about higher education.
Although there were many federal programs, most notably Pell
Grants, designed to help children from high poverty areas pursue higher
education, students who qualified for funds were not notified of their
eligibility to receive awards until they were accepted into college.
This meant that only the students who were on the college path learned
about available resources.
There were private programs like the I
Have a Dream Foundation, Say Yes to Education, and the Tell
Them We Are Rising Program that targeted children early and had the
power to turn 75% drop out rates into 90% graduation rates. However,
these programs could only reach a small volume of needy students.
In 1997, Congressman Chaka Fattah took
his lead from these private initiatives and introduced The 21st
Century Scholars Act. Following
the model of the private programs, this federal initiative had three
keys to success: early intervention, mentoring and financial support.
This bill targeted children in their last year of grammar school in
areas where the concentration of poverty was 50% or greater and let them
know that they were guaranteed Pell awards if they graduated from high
school. By promising
federal funds and support early, Congressman Fattah wanted to let
children know that, regardless of their family’s income, they can go
on to college.
The 21st Century Scholars
Act would
provide early notification of the Pell program and inform children in
their last year of grammar school that they are guaranteed Pell awards
upon completion of high school and acceptance into college.
RALLYING SUPPORT:
Before the bill could be brought to the
House Floor for a vote, Congressman Fattah needed to show that his
colleagues in the Congress were supportive of this measure. 
So, Congressman Fattah and his staff wrote letters to other
Members of Congress, (known as "Dear Colleagues") asking for their support.
After months of writing letters and
personally urging his colleagues for support, Congressman Fattah gained
over 100 cosponsors for his bill
(there are 435 Members in the House
of Representatives). This
attracted national attention and gained the interest of President Bill
Clinton.
During the State of the Union in 1998,
President Clinton publicly acknowledged Congressman Fattah’s idea and
called on Congress to "support our efforts to enlist colleges and
universities to reach out to disadvantaged children starting in the
sixth grade so that they can get the guidance and hope they need so they
can know that they, too, will be able to go on to college."
On February 4, 1998, President Clinton
invited Congressman Fattah to the White House to unveil a new initiative
– High Hopes for College.
High Hopes was modeled on the 21st Century
Scholarship Initiative, but brought the nation's colleges into the
lead and positioned them to pull the children through their academic
experience all the way to college graduation.
This new combination also provided “21st Century Scholars
Certificates,” for middle school students, indicating financial aid
available for college, and allowing for mentoring and tutorial support.
Congressman Fattah also asked education groups to help push for the
initiative's passage in Congress. The High Hopes 21st Century Scholarship Initiative was
backed by 300 college presidents, 66 organizations in the private and
public sectors, and numerous members of the education community.
So, Congressman Fattah had the President
of the United States on his side, education lobbyists and over 100 of
his colleagues, but that still was not enough. In order to pass through
Congress, a bill must receive support from a majority of Members of the
House and Senate. This can
take many years.
However, Congressman Fattah had another
plan. In 1998,
Congress was reauthorizing the Higher Education Act.
Congressman Fattah knew that if he could get his idea included in
that bill, which already had support from the majority of the Congress,
his idea would become law.
Congressman Fattah was a Member of the
Education and Workforce Committee.
For any education
bill to get to the House Floor, it would first have to be “marked
up” by the committee.
On March 18, 1998, the Committee on
Education and the Workforce marked up H.R. 6.
Congressman Fattah offered his initiative as an amendment to the
Higher Education Act. Every
Member of the Committee was familiar with Fattah’s bill because he had
asked all of them to be cosponsors of his original initiative.
Congressman Fattah convinced all the Democrats and five
Republicans to vote for his amendment.
It passed through Committee by a vote of 24-18.
It would now be a part of the Higher Education Bill (Chairman’s
Mark) and was assured of
passage because Congress must reauthorize this bill every six years.
PASSAGE:
On May 6, 1998, the Higher Education Act,
with Fattah's initiative, passed in the House of Representatives, 414 -
4. On July 9, 1998, the initiative overcame its last major hurdle as the
U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly for its passage (96 - 1) in its Senate
form, CONNECTIONS, as part of the Reauthorization of the Higher
Education Act.
After the House and Senate passed their
versions of The Higher Education Act, it was sent to a conference
committee to work out the differences between the two bills. It
was in the Conference Committee that the details of Congressman Fattah's
initiative were finalized. During this phase, the name of the
initiative was also changed to GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and
Readiness for Undergraduate Programs).
On October 21, 1998, President Bill
Clinton signed the Higher Education Act, which included the GEAR UP
program, into law.
RESULTS:
Today, over two thousand organizations in
45 states and three territories are GEAR UP partners. This
includes nearly 600 colleges, universities, libraries, and local
chambers of commerce. Nationwide, 1.3 million children participate
in the 265 GEAR UP projects that operate in 237 congressional
districts.
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