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I believe that every American child should be guaranteed access to a world-class education -- from pre-school through college. Increasing educational opportunities for children of all backgrounds is a key to creating opportunities and prosperity for working families.
The Federal Government needs to take decisive action to support children, families, schools and teachers in the development of high quality educational opportunities. We must also ensure that children with disabilities are given the same opportunities for success as their peers by requiring the federal government to fully fund special education.
Higher Education
I am greatly concerned about the skyrocketing cost of higher education, which is a proven pathway to grow the middle class. I believe that the Federal Government must do more to support higher education so that our communities can be as competitive as possible in today’s global economy.
We’ve changed the way that the Federal Government gives student loans with the passage of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, which cuts the interest rates on need-based student loans in half, increases Pell Grant scholarships, caps student loan repayments to 15% of the borrower’s income, and provides loan forgiveness for public servants after 10 years of public service. This legislation is the biggest investment in higher education in America since the creation of the G.I. Bill in 1944 and I was proud to support its passage.
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I voted for the Improving Head Start School Readiness Act of 2007 (H.R. 1429), which was signed into law on December 12, 2007 (Public Law No. 110-134). H.R. 1429 improves teacher and classroom quality for Head Start programs and strengthens the focus on school readiness. I cosponsored the Providing Resources Early for Kids (PRE-K) Act of 2007 (H.R. 3289). H.R. 3289 provides grants for states to improve the quality of their preschool programs and provides funds that could also be used to increase the number of trained early childhood educators, improve the student-to-teacher ratios in preschools, and provide services such as health screenings and nutritional assistance. I also cosponsored H.R. 2668, legislation to reduce class sizes in our public schools; as well as, H.R. 1896, the Achieving Our IDEA Act of 2007, which would ensure that children with disabilities are given the same opportunities for success as their peers by requiring the federal government to fully fund special education. |
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Keith has introduced two major pieces of child nutrition legislation. The first bill allows thousands of low-income children in Minnesota and across the nation access to the federal school lunch program. Currently, children whose families make less than 130 % of the federal poverty guidelines ($28,665 for a four-person family) receive free school meals through the federal school lunch and breakfast program. Children whose families make between 130% and 185% of the poverty guidelines ($28,665 and $40,793 for a four-person family) may have access to reduced price school meals. Unfortunately, as result of the economic downturn, thousands of these low-income working families often cannot afford to pay for their children to receive the reduced price meals. This legislation makes school meals free for all children with family incomes below 185%. In Minnesota this would mean that 54,000 more low-income children would have access to free school lunches.
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The long-term success of our country depends on young Americans having access to the highest quality education available. It's necessary for economic competitiveness in a changing global marketplace. Unfortunately, the rising cost of higher education prevents millions of Americans from getting the best education they can. We can do better, and starting in July 2009, a new law will help many Americans with student loans.
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