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Mike Honda's Education Accomplishments

Mike has spent over thirty years in education as a teacher, vice-principal, principal, and school board member. In 2000, Mike brought his commitment to children, and the need to improve students’ education, to Congress where he serves on the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, advocating for increased funding for education and responsible education reform.


In 1965, Mike answered President Kennedy’s call for volunteer service, spending two years building schools in El Salvador as  a Peace Corps volunteer, , which sparked Mike’s lifelong passion for teaching and the educational process.

When he returned, he earned a Masters Degree in Education from San Jose State University, after which Mike taught science in Sunnyvale, CA, conducted education research at Stanford University, and served as a principal in San Jose.

In 1981, Mike was elected to the San Jose Unified School Board, serving for 9 years. He subsequently served on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors from 1990-1996 and for four years on the California Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission.

In 1996, Mike was elected to the California State Assembly where he was posted on the Committee on Education and helped to draft legislation to reduce class size and increase teachers’ benefits. In the Assembly, Mike secured funding to bring Plugged-In, a national award-winning program using technology to enhance education, to the underserved area of East Palo Alto.

Mike was elected to Congress in 2000, and from 2001-2006served on the House Science Committee, which has jurisdiction over science education efforts at the National Science Foundation, NASA, NOAA, and other federal science agencies.

In 2007, he earned a seat on the powerful Appropriations Committee, where he is a member of the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science. Together, these subcommittees fund virtually all federal education efforts.

Mike’s legislative record is broad and diverse, reflecting his passion to improve education in all facets and his commitment to bringing equity to our educational system.

 

Educational Accomplishments

As a former teacher and principal, Mike has spent many decades observing the inequality in the education system. These disparities have detrimental national consequences when all students are not provided with the equitable resources essential for a high quality education.



To address these disparities, I introduced The Educational Opportunity and Equity Commission Act, H.R. 1758, to identify solutions for eliminating the inequitable distribution of resources among our schools. The Fiscal Year 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act included report language I authored to create the commission, and the U.S. Department of Education is currently in the process of establishing the commission. The Commission will gather insights and public opinions about how the government can improve education, establish equity, and meet the needs of each student. This group will be charged with holding hearings and community meetings across the country to explore this issue in depth, seeking input, and developing strategies for Congress to guarantee equity in our education system.

 

  • As a member of the Appropriations Committee, Mike has worked to address educational disparities through his continued efforts to secure full funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). In 2001, as a member of the Budget Committee, he spearheaded a bipartisan effort to get full funding for IDEA included in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). He has also consistently advocated for increased education funding for NCLB and better access to higher education.
  • Mike believes our nation must improve the quality, quantity, and diversity of the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforce if we are to sustain and strengthen America’s ability to compete in the global economy. In 2008, he joined with then-Senator Barack Obama to introduce the Enhancing STEM Education Act which seeks to enhance the coordination among state and federal governments to improve STEM education.  The legislation creates an Office of STEM at the Department of Education, institutes a voluntary State Consortium on STEM education, and creates a National STEM Education Research Repository. This infrastructure will foster collaboration and allow states to work together to establish common STEM education goals. The bill is supported by numerous national, state, and local education and science and technology groups and was improved and reintroduced in 2009 as the Enhancing STEM Education Act of 2009, H.R. 2710.
  • Mike ensured that the DNC’s 2008 Democratic Platform addressed the inequitable distribution of resources to our schools; focused on the recruitment, retention, training and investment in teachers; makes STEM education a priority; embraced English Language Learners rather than dismissing them; supported a student-centered classroom through restructuring the school day and calendar; and comprehensively reforms NCLB..
  • In 2007, in anticipation of the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act, Mike recommendedto the Education and Labor Committee changes to NCLB in order to make it more effective. Some specific recommendations he submitted included:
    • ensuring a comprehensive curriculum rather than teaching to the test;
    • allowing Multiple Indicators and Diversified Assessments to count for 50% of AYP;
    • including Science in the subjects used to measure Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP);
    • performing assessments in the native language of the top five primary languages of English Language Learners in the state; and
    • having the Government Accountability Office study the feasibility of reporting data on the Asian American and Pacific Islander population disaggregated by subpopulation

The committee continues to review these and other suggestions for improving NCLB.

 

  • Mike believes that global warming is the most significant threat to our environment, and that education will be an essential element in the fight against climate change. To provide clear information about global warming, Mike introduced the Global Warming Education Act, which creates a global warming education program within the National Science Foundation responsible for the development of educational materials in schools. Then-Senator Barack Obama introduced a Senate companion to this bill. Mike offered a version of the Global Warming Education Act as an amendment to the National Science Foundation Reauthorization Act on the House floor, where it was adopted by the House.
  • To address concerns about America’s competitive position in the global economy, Mike introduced the INVENT Act (Innovations for our Nation’s Vital Educational Needs for Technology) in both 109th and 110th Congresses). The bill sought to develop curriculum tools for use in teaching innovation and fostering inventiveness at the K-16 level. Provisions of the INVENT Act were included in the America COMPETES Act, which was signed into law in 2007.
  • Mike authored the Student Privacy Protection Act of 2005 to reverse a little known provision of NCLB which requires school districts to give military recruiters the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of students, unless their parents “opt-out” of the list. Parents were frustrated that their children were persistently contacted at home by military recruiters. Mike felt that we should honor both the recruiting needs of our military and the privacy of families by making this an “opt-in” system and he continues to push for this in the reauthorization of NCLB. He reintroduced the bill in the 110th Congress.
  • In 2003, Mike introduced the Teacher Mentoring Act. Through bipartisan negotiations, he was able to get the bill, included in the Ready to Teach Act, which was passed by the House of Representatives. The legislation authorized grants to local educational agencies for teacher mentoring programs.
  • In 2001, Mike authored the National Education Technology (NET) Corps Act, to expand the Corporation for National Service by creating a NET Corps to facilitate the use of information technology in schools, libraries, and community centers. He was ultimately able to get a provision enacted into law that authorizes funds for grants to university students.  The grants enable students with specific skill sets to assist schoolteachers in better employingtechnology in their classroom instruction.
  • Seeking to bring reform and innovation to schools and educational organizations in the Silicon Valley region, Mike has secured funding for original projects such as: the Synopsis Silicon Valley Science and Technology Outreach Foundation; the Resource Area for Teachers; Santa Clara University’s Learning Commons and Library; the City of San Jose Child Care Tax Credit Outreach and Education Program; the Tech Museum of Innovation’s Virtual Science Theater; renovations to the De Anza College planetarium; the Center for Training and Careers; San Jose Early Start/Great Start; Central County Occupational Center’s fire science education program; and San Jose State University for educating the next generation of weather forecasters.

Mike has been honored and acknowledged for his work in education throughout his career. In 2007 the NEA awarded Mike the Human and Civil Rights Award for fighting for equity in education. He has consistently received top grades from NEA and AFT on his voting record. As a member of the Congressional Democratic Caucus Education Task Force, Mike was honored with the Committee for Education Funding Outstanding New Member Award in 2002 for supportingfull funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. While serving in the Assembly in 1999, the California Teachers Association named him Legislator of the Year.

 



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