Education
Press Releases on Education
I am committed to meeting needs of the children of South Carolina as they deserve an education that will adequately prepare them for the challenges they will face in the future. To achieve this, we must seek out highly qualified teachers, encourage involvement from parents and overall transparency across our higher education system.
Working Towards Affordable Higher Education
 I have advocated for the reform of our nation’s higher education laws since coming to Congress in 2001. This finally occurred in 2008 with the passage of the Higher Education Opportunty Act, which provides key reforms to make college more affordable to American students by increasing Pell Grants (to $9,000 from the current $5,800), reigning in excessive tuition hikes and costly textbooks and improving the financial aid process.
Improving Education for Veterans
I applaud the 110th Congress’s expansion of the GI Bill to increase veteran education benefits, including providing for the full cost of tuition to four-year colleges for recent veterans. The new benefit also ends the $1,200 buy-in, provides a monthly housing stipend based on a college’s location and supplies an extra $1,000 annually for books.
Supporting K-12 Education and Updating No Child Left Behind
 Since 2001, federal funding for Title 1 K-12 education programs has increased by more than 60 percent. South Carolina alone saw federal funding for all K-12 programs increase by some 84% during that time. Federal discretionary education funding for all students at every grade level has increased by a historic 40 percent since 2001. As the most ambitious education reform legislation in a generation,the No Child Left Behind Act has made significant reforms in our schools. However, the current structure of the law does not give South Carolina students, parents, and teachers full credit for the significant educational progress they have made. As Congress works to reauthorize NCLB, please know that I will proudly work with my colleagues and fight to ensure that the updated version of NCLB continues the progress we have made, while giving South Carolina the credit for education progress that it is due.
For more information on the reauthorization of NCLB visit:
US Department of Education Reauthorization Website
House Education and Labor Committee Republicans - Reauthorization Website
Reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act: Top Ten House Republican Priorities
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