“If we allow our children’s health to suffer, if we allow more children to go hungry by not taking swift action with this legislation, we fail our children, their families and the future of this country,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chair of the House Education and Labor Committee and original co-sponsor of this legislation. “This legislation gives us a real opportunity to make dramatic reforms to help prevent hunger, to improve children’s health and increase access to healthy meals. The health and academic success of an entire generation of children is at stake.”

“Given the serious fiscal challenges facing our country, we must ensure that we devote our limited resources to our nation's most urgent priorities,” said Congressman Todd Platts (R-PA), original co-sponsor of the legislation. “Providing nutritious meals and improving health standards for our nation's children, especially those most in need, are such priorities. I am pleased to be working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to move this important legislation forward.”

“I am pleased that this legislation calls for common sense action, to protect the health of our children. This bill addresses the need to work with children of all ages, from infants to high school age, to help them form healthy habits” said U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), chair of the Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities and original co-sponsor of the legislation. “From provisions to encourage mothers to breast feed to infants, to addressing the need to begin working with preschoolers on forming healthy habits and promoting physical activity and quality recess time, this legislation takes a comprehensive approach to improving the health of our children. Simply, this bill emphasizes healthy food and healthy habits, which will make healthy children.”

In addition to other amendments offered by committee Members, the committee voted on a managers amendment, offered by Miller, that would bolster the legislation and help achieve President Obama’s goal of enhancing and improving the federal child nutrition programs. The amendment would expand the national afterschool meals program so more children in afterschool programs can have an additional snack or meal. Among other provisions, it would improve nutrition education and make further enhancements to food safety and food quality.

The managers amendment also strengthens the science-based foundation that ensures the WIC program best meets the nutrition needs of participants by enhancing the Secretary of Agriculture’s existing authority to conduct scientific reviews and ensures that the review considers the modern food environment, including innovations in the marketplace that may enhance WIC foods to better meet nutritional needs.

More information about the bill and amendments offered during the hearing

The Improving Nutrition for America’s Children bill will significantly expand access for millions of children to healthy meals year-round in schools, child care and community based settings. The bill would, for the first time, establish nutrition standards for foods sold outside of the cafeteria such as vending machines.

"This status quo increases our nation's health care bill, it affects our ability to recruit a for the military, and most importantly it will not let us produce the generation of well-educated, healthy kids who will be competitive in the global economy of the 21st century,” said U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “For all of these reasons, we must take steps to streamline access, improve the quality of school meals, increase participation, and work to eliminate childhood hunger in this country.”

In 2008, 16.7 million children lived in food insecure households; over 22 percent of the nation’s children. Children that lack access to enough quality food are at increased risk for poor health, including infections from poor immune systems, poor oral health, and to be hospitalized for a condition that could have been prevented.   Additionally, children that lack access to enough quality food when they enter school are at a disadvantage to their peers and struggle to keep pace.  

Witnesses testified that the investments in the legislation will help children to achieve and succeed.

“There can be no better investment – no better stimulus to our economy – than feeding this nation’s children healthily and well. If we give the kids in this country delicious and nutritious food, we will instill in them a lifetime preference for healthy eating that will translate into vast savings in health care costs down the line,” said Tom Colicchio, chef and restaurateur. “Providing the building blocks for millions of kids to grow and develop as they should, will mean a population of robust and productive adults, and a more competitive America.”

According to a report developed by Mission: Readiness, during World War II, the military found that approximately 40 percent of rejected recruits were turned away for health reasons related to not having enough food and being underweight.  Now, being overweight is the leading medical reasons for rejecting a recruit.  

The Army estimates that over 27 percent of all Americans 17 to 24 years of age – over nine million men and women – are too heavy to join the military.  

“The grim reality is that we live in a dangerous world. As long as outside threats to our national security exist, we are well-served to maintain a high level of military readiness,” Major General Paul D. Monroe, U.S. Army (Ret.), Executive Advisory Council, Mission: Readiness. “[Enacting the Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act] will help improve the health of our nation’s children and, ultimately, strengthen national security.”

The threats of unhealthy children also have a significant economic impact. There is a strong link between adult obesity rates and socioeconomic status.  Nine of the 10 states with the highest childhood obesity rates are in the South, correlating with the highest child poverty rates. The American Public Health Association estimates that at current obesity rates, obesity will add nearly $344 billion to the nation’s annual health care costs by 2018 and account for more than 21 percent of health care spending.

Higher rates of obesity translate into higher rates of obesity-related diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease.  The early development of health problems associated with obesity shortens the lifespan of affected children later in life, and it is associated with a lower lifetime earning potential.

“The health of America’s children depends on a prescription for healthy food and more physical activity,” said Dr. Eduardo Sanchez, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas. “This bill can play a significant role in improving the health of America’s children, reversing the childhood obesity epidemic, reducing the burden of diabetes, heart and other chronic diseases and demand for expensive medical care, and finally, improving the readiness, willingness, and ability of our future civilian and military workforce – to compete and defend our nation.”

Jim Weill, President of the Food Research Action Center (FRAC) testified that his organization had analyzed a Gallup poll showing that in 2009, nearly a quarter of all households with children in this country reported “there have been times in the last twelve months when they did not have enough money to buy food that they or their family needed.”

“Moving forward on a reauthorization bill that provides critical support for low-income children can’t wait,” said Weill. “This will ensure significant movement towards the goals we all have of ending child hunger and dramatically reducing childhood obesity.”

More information on the bill

View witness testimony

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), which conducted the undercover investigation, testified about its findings today before the House Education and Labor Committee, at the request of U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chair of the committee.

“Head Start is a critical, successful program that provides vital services and a high-quality early education to a million children and their families, many of whom are vulnerable and at-risk,” said Miller. “It is unacceptable that some Head Start employees are betraying the integrity of the program. This fraudulent behavior is unacceptable and I am confident Secretary Sebelius will take the right steps to ensure this type of criminal activity never happens again.”

After learning about the GAO investigation, Chairman Miller wrote a letter to Secretary Sebelius asking her to review the claims of fraud.

More than one million low-income children are served by Head Start each year. One in five children under the age of five live in poverty in America, and less than 50 percent of the children who are eligible for Head Start are able to attend this the program.

In 2008 and 2009, GAO received two separate hotline tips from current and prior employees at Head Start programs in the Midwest and the state of Texas alleging fraudulent activities including misappropriation of furniture, qualification of ineligible families and enrollment of too many over-income families, among other allegations.  

After the initial investigation into the two hotline tips, GAO conducted an undercover investigation into Head Start enrollment processes.  Choosing only from centers with no waiting lists, GAO employees posed as fictitious families in 15 undercover tests at 13 different Head Start programs in California, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin, and Washington D.C.  In 13 tests, the fictitious families were over income, in one test they lived outside the service area and in another test they were enrolled in another Head Start center.

In seven of the 11 over-income tests, Head Start employees disregarded a portion of the “applicant’s” income, thereby making over-income families appear to be under-income.  In the test where the “applicant” was not in the service area, the Head Start employee told the “applicant” to lie and provide false documentation.  

Upon learning of the investigation, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius immediately referred the matter to the Department’s Inspector General.

In a letter to Chairman Miller, Secretary Sebelius acknowledged the Department’s “steadfast commitment to upholding the integrity of [Head Start]” and outlined the “Department’s concrete plans for reducing errors and fraud” in the future.

At the hearing, Carmen Nazario, Assistant Secretary for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), testified that the findings of the report were “deeply disturbing.” She discussed the steps HHS is taking in response to the investigation.

“The Head Start program is designed to move our nation’s low-income children along the road of school success. Diverting funds to children who are less needy is quite literally stealing away that opportunity from children who need it most,” said Nazario.
 
HHS’ plans include: conducting unannounced monitoring visits to Head Start centers, creating a web-based hotline to allow tips or information about impropriety to be reported, developing new regulations that promote integrity in Head Start, increasing oversight, particularly in programs with higher risk factors and requiring grantees to re-compete for grants when they do not meet program expectations.

Read the full GAO report

Read HHS testimony

The findings of fraudulent actions are part of a recent GAO investigation looking into admissions and eligibility practices at Head Start.

“I have learned of an undercover investigation and upcoming report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that has found reportedly unlawful actions by local Head Start grantees regarding their admissions and eligibility practices. These allegations raise significant concerns about the integrity of the admissions and family eligibility process administered by Head Start grantees,” Miller wrote. “I request that HHS immediately review the grantees identified by the GAO investigation to determine what action is needed to ensure that grantees operating Head Start Programs are complying with the law, including evaluating the appropriateness of the grantee continuing to receive Head Start funds, and determining whether the employees identified by the GAO investigation should be placed on administrative leave pending further investigation.”  

In the letter, Miller also announced that he plans to hold a hearing in May to fully explore GAO’s findings.

Head Start has served more than 25 million children since its inception in 1965. There are over one million children enrolled in Head Start programs across the country.

The full text of the letter to Secretary Sebelius is below.

***

The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius
Secretary
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, SW
Room 615-F
Washington, DC  20201


Dear Secretary Sebelius:

I have learned of an undercover investigation and upcoming report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that has found reportedly unlawful actions by local Head Start grantees regarding their admissions and eligibility practices.
 
These allegations raise significant concerns about the integrity of the admissions and family eligibility process administered by Head Start grantees.  This issue requires your immediate attention and action.

As fiscal steward of the Head Start program, I know you take seriously the Department’s responsibility to administer and oversee the program with the highest degree of accountability.  This investigation appears to have identified a significant weakness in HHS’s oversight and program requirements.

Accordingly, I request that HHS immediately review the grantees identified by the GAO investigation to determine what action is needed to ensure that grantees operating Head Start Programs are complying with the law, including evaluating the appropriateness of the grantee continuing to receive Head Start funds, and determining whether the employees identified by the GAO investigation should be placed on administrative leave pending further investigation.  

It is my intention to hold a Committee hearing this month to fully explore GAO’s findings.  I ask that an official from HHS testify about the steps the Department has taken and the additional steps the Department expects to undertake to ensure the integrity of this vital program.  Please feel free to contact me or direct your staff to coordinate your response with Michael Zola, Chief Investigative Counsel and Ruth Friedman, Deputy Director of Education Policy, who can be reached at (202) 22X-XXXX.  I look forward to your prompt response.
 
Sincerely,


GEORGE MILLER
Chairman

“Investing in our earliest learners is an investment in our future; it’s a smart and strategic investment that will help us regain our global competitiveness and our economy recover,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chair of the House Education and Labor Committee. “The first five years of life are critical to laying the foundation for a lifetime of success and achievement which means we need to start giving these children the attention and resources they deserve well before they enter the doors of kindergarten.”

By age 4, children from low-income families are already 18 months behind their more advantaged peers. Economists, business leaders, and experts agree that smart investments in early education are vital to closing the achievement gap and preparing children to thrive in school and in life. Studies show that every $1 dollar invested in early education can yield anywhere from $1.25 to $17 in returns down the line.

The legislation will invest $1 billion each year over eight years to build comprehensive, high quality early learning systems for children birth to age five. In order to qualify for the grant, states demonstrate progress in improving:

• Early learning standards reform.
• Evidence-based program quality standards.
• Enhanced program review and monitoring of program quality.
• Comprehensive professional development.
• Coordinated system for facilitating screenings for disability, health, and mental health needs.
• Improved support to parents.
• Process for assessing children’s school readiness.
• Improved data systems to improve child outcomes.

For more information on the bill, click here.

“No student in America should have to mortgage their future to get a good education. This legislation provides students and families with the single largest investment in federal student aid ever and makes landmark investments to improve education for students of all ages – and all without costing taxpayers a dime,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee and the author of the bill. “Today the House made a clear choice to stop funneling vital taxpayer dollars through board rooms and start sending them directly to dorm rooms. This vote was a historic triumph for America’s students, families and taxpayers – and will ensure that their interests never again take a backseat to lenders and big banks.”

“I am proud to support H.R. 3221, a bill that brings much needed relief to our students in a fiscally-responsible way.  It represents an historic investment in our education system, from our youngest students to our adult learners,” said U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX), chairman of the Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness. “I am especially proud that this bill strengthens our nation’s Minority-Serving Institutions, particularly in the STEM areas, so that students can stay in school, graduate and succeed in our global economy.  It does this by investing $2.55 billion dollars in our nation’s Minority-Serving Institutions over a ten year period. We estimate that this funding will reach at least 500 institutions of higher learning.  These investments will create a new generation of workers in STEM fields—professionals that our country desperately needs to remain competitive in the world.”

Similar to what President Obama proposed in his FY 2010 budget, H.R. 3221 will originate all new federal student loans through the Direct Loan program starting in 2010, instead of through lenders subsidized by taxpayers in the federally-guaranteed student loan program. Unlike the lender-based program, the Direct Loan program is entirely insulated from market swings and can therefore guarantee students access to affordable college loans, at the same low interest rates, terms and conditions, no matter what happens in the economy.

The legislation will ensure that all federal student loan borrowers receive the best possible customer service when repaying their loans by forging a new public-private partnership that allows private lenders to compete for contracts to service loans. Additionally, it will ensure that non-profit lenders have the opportunity to continue servicing loans – preserving a role for lenders and maintaining jobs in communities throughout the country.

This simple change will generate $87 billion in savings over the next 10 years, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. The legislation will invest those savings directly in students and families by:

• Investing $40 billion to increase the maximum annual Pell Grant scholarship to $5,550 in 2010 and to $6,900 by 2019. Starting in 2010, the scholarship will be linked to match rising costs-of-living by indexing it to the Consumer Price Index plus 1 percentage point;
• Investing $3 billion to bolster college access and completion support programs for students;
• Strengthening the Perkins Loan program, a campus-based program that provides low-cost federal loans to students;
• Keeping interest rates low on need-based – or subsidized – federal student loans by making the interest rates on these loans variable beginning in 2012. These interest rates are currently set to jump from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent in 2012;
• Making it easier for families to apply for financial aid by simplifying the FAFSA form;
• Providing loan forgiveness for members of the military who are called up to duty in the middle of the academic year.
• Investing $2.55 billion in Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions to provide students with the support they need to stay in school and graduate; and
• Investing $10 billion to build a world-class community college system that prepares students and workers for the jobs of the future – and jobs in high demand by local employers – by incentivizing community colleges to partner with businesses, job training and adult education programs.

In addition, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act will direct $10 billion of these savings back to the U.S. Treasury to help cut entitlement spending.

It will invest over $4 billion for school modernization, renovation and repair projects that will help improve school buildings across the country and help the nation transition to a clean energy economy.

And it will also invest $1 billion per year over eight years to help ensure that the next generation of children can enter kindergarten with the skills they need to succeed in school.

Building on proposals included in President Obama’s 2010 budget, the bill establishes the Early Learning Challenge Fund, a competitive grant program that challenges states to build a comprehensive, high-quality early learning system for children from birth through age five.

To view a summary of the legislation, click here.

For more details on:

• How this legislation will help students and families.
• For more details on converting to Direct Loans.
  
• For more details on how this bill will strengthen community colleges.
• For more details on investments in early education.

A diverse coalition of organizations, including student groups, early education advocates, and business organizations, support the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act. To view their letters of support, click here. To view a statement by President Obama in support of the bill, click here.

To view a myth-fact sheet on this bill, click here.
 

First, it will help us reach President Obama’s goal of once again leading the world in college graduates by making college more affordable.

We’ve seen what happens when we have an economy built on credit.

For the past few decades, Americans have gone into severe debt to meet rising costs – especially to pay for college.

Over the last year, escalating tuition prices and college loan payments have become even more burdensome in light of lost jobs, incomes and benefits.

Today we have the chance to make the single largest investment in grant aid and other benefits to help more students graduate with less debt, all within the PAYGO rule, while also cutting entitlement spending by $10 billion over 10 years.

These are smart, strategic investments done in a fiscally responsible way.

H.R. 3221 invests $40 billion to increase the maximum Pell Grant scholarship award to $5,500 in 2010 and to $6,900 by 2019, linking it to match cost of living increases.

It simplifies the FAFSA form to make it easier to apply for federal student aid.

It builds on our previous work to make interest rates on need-based federal loans affordable by making these rates variable beginning in 2012 – when they are set to jump from 3.4 to 6.8 percent.

It expands students’ access to low-cost Perkins loans.

But ensuring access and affordability is only one part of the equation.
Students need both the means to attend college – and the support to complete it.

For example, this bill invests $2.55 billion in Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions, to provide students with these supportive services.

It also invests $3 billion in the College Access and Completion Challenge Fund, to help colleges develop or enhance innovative programs that improve financial literacy and college completion rates.

I’d like to thank Mr. Bishop, Mr. Hinojosa, Mr. Petri, and many other members of our committee for their hard work on these provisions.

Second, this legislation makes an unprecedented $10 billion investment to make community colleges part of our economy’s recovery.

For years, business leaders have told us there weren’t enough workers with the knowledge and the expertise for their specific industries.

Community colleges can play a significant role in addressing this shortage.

This bill will help us build a 21st century workforce by strengthening partnerships among community colleges, businesses and job training programs that will align community college curricula with the needs of high-wage, high-demand industries.

It will provide community colleges with the tools to replicate programs that are successfully educating and training students and workers for these skilled jobs.

And it will fulfill an important priority for the business community who has continually understood the value community colleges have in training a highly-skilled workforce and helping meet local employment needs.  

That’s why this historic initiative has strong support from the business community, including the Business Roundtable.

H.R. 3221 also recognizes that creating better educational opportunities demands that we invest in our students long before they reach college. Ms. Hirono has provided a lot of leadership in this area – and I’d like to thank her for helping us craft this part of the bill.

Today, almost 12 million children under 5 regularly spend time in child care.

Yet, despite the fact that children’s early experiences have lasting effects on brain development, learning, and success, our nation hasn’t adequately invested in early learning opportunities.

Federal and state policies leave families with a patchwork system of children care with mediocre quality.

And by age 4, children from low-income families are already 18 months behind their more advantaged peers.

Economists, business leaders, and experts agree that smart investments in early education are vital to closing the achievement gap and preparing children to thrive in school and in life.

This bill heeds that advice. It invests $8 billion over 8 years in competitive grants to challenge states to transform early learning practices and build comprehensive high-quality early learning systems for children from birth to age 5.

To qualify, states will have to demonstrate progress on major reforms by:
 

• Building an effective and well-compensated early childhood workforce;
• Integrating key quality standards;
• Improving instructional practices, and
• Better supporting parents in the early education of their children.

Finally, this legislation ensures that every student can learn in a safe, healthy, energy-efficient and modern classroom by renovating and repairing our nation’s schools – provisions that have long been championed by Mr. Chandler, Kildee and Loebsack.

This is a measure that the House has already voted to support, but not to fund.

Not only will this improve the quality of education for our children, it will bolster our economy by supporting new jobs in the construction industry.

All of these reforms are paid for – at no cost to taxpayers – by making common-sense changes to our student loan programs that will achieve two crucial goals at once.

By converting all new federal student loans to the Direct Loan program starting in July 2010, we will finally end wasteful taxpayer subsidies that are keeping a broken system afloat.
We will also insulate all federal college loans from future turmoil in the financial markets.

Students will have access to the low-cost loans they need, in any economy.

Our bill also upgrades the customer service borrowers receive when repaying their loans.

Rather than force private industry out of the system, we maintain jobs and a role for lenders and non-profits by allowing them to compete for contracts to service these loans.  

This simple change will save $87 billion over ten years.

And, as part of our efforts to invest in a brighter future for our children, we will direct $10 billion of these savings to reduce entitlement spending.

The choice before us is clear. We can either keep sending these subsidies to banks – or we can start sending them directly to students.  
                                                                                
No child in America should have to mortgage their future to pursue their dreams.

This legislation will help us rebuild an economy where every child can enjoy the promise of equal opportunity, become part of our middle-class and fulfill their own American Dream.

I urge all my colleagues to support it.

The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act will allow us to invest $87 billion to make college more affordable, to build a world-class community college system, to improve opportunities to help our youngest students succeed, and to pay down our deficit.

For the many college students paying close attention to this bill, let me be specific about what our reforms mean for you:

More help covering your tuition and expenses, including historic investments in the Pell Grant scholarship; Better opportunities to prepare for good, 21st jobs; and Financial aid programs that are simpler, reliable, and operate in your best interest.

Now we’ll be able to do this at absolutely no cost to taxpayers, by undertaking long overdue student loan reforms.

The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act is a win-win.

It will guarantee students dependable access federal college aid, and make these programs more effective and efficient for families and taxpayers.

It will save $87 billion over 10 years that we will invest toward rebuilding an economy that is cutting edge, innovative, and will help regain our global leadership.

All of these investments are key priorities of President Obama’s. And I’d like to thank him and Secretary Duncan for recognizing this can’t-miss opportunity to do the right thing for students, for taxpayers, and our country.

No student in this great country of ours should have to mortgage their future to pursue their dreams. Many of the students with us today – like so many other millions of Americans – have.

Let’s remember whose voices really matter here. It’s time to listen to our students and vote to stand on the right side of history.

“Today’s vote is a vote to put students before banks and to finally ensure that our nation’s financial aid programs operate as intended – in the best interests of students, families and taxpayers,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the Chairman of the Committee and the author of the bill. “This landmark legislation will help write the next great education legacy for our country. President Obama has rightly called for us to make historic investments to make college more affordable, to empower community colleges to help rebuild our economy, and to prepare our youngest learners to arrive at kindergarten ready to succeed. I hope this Congress will join our Committee in standing with him on the right side of history.”

“This bill goes a long way towards expanding the accessibility and affordability of a college education for students across America” said U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness. “The bill will streamline the financial aid application process and increase funding for Pell Grants and Minority Serving Institutions, while also helping lower our national deficit.  This bill accomplishes something we can all be proud of.”

Similar to what President Obama proposed in his FY 2010 budget, the bill will originate all new federal student loans through the Direct Loan program starting in 2010, instead of through lenders subsidized by taxpayers in the federally-guaranteed student loan program. Unlike the lender-based program, the Direct Loan program is entirely insulated from market swings and can therefore guarantee students access to affordable college loans, at the same low interest rates, terms and conditions, no matter what happens in the economy.

The legislation will ensure that all federal student loan borrowers receive the best possible customer service when repaying their loans by forging a new public-private partnership that allows private lenders to compete for contracts to service loans. Additionally, it will ensure that non-profit lenders have the opportunity to continue servicing loans – preserving a role for lenders and maintaining jobs in communities throughout the country.

According to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, the legislation will generate $87 billion in savings over the next 10 years. The legislation would invest those savings directly in students and families by:

• Investing $40 billion to increase the maximum annual Pell Grant scholarship to $5,550 in 2010 and to $6,900 by 2019. Starting in 2010, the scholarship will be linked to match rising costs-of-living by indexing it to the Consumer Price Index plus 1 percentage point;
• Investing $3 billion to bolster college access and completion support programs for students;
• Strengthening the Perkins Loan program, a campus-based program that provides low-cost federal loans to students;
• Keeping interest rates low on need-based – or subsidized – federal student loans by making the interest rates on these loans variable beginning in 2012. These interest rates are currently set to jump from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent in 2012;
• Making it easier for families to apply for financial aid by simplifying the FAFSA form;
• Providing loan forgiveness for members of the military who are called up to duty in the middle of the academic year; and
• Investing $2.55 billion in Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions to provide students with the support they need to stay in school and graduate.

In addition, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act will direct $10 billion of these savings back to the U.S. Treasury to help pay down the deficit. It will invest over $4 billion for school modernization, renovation and repair projects that will help improve school buildings across the country and help the nation transition to a clean energy economy. And it will also invest $1 billion per year over eight years to help ensure that the next generation of children can enter kindergarten with the skills they need to succeed in school. Building on proposals included in President Obama’s 2010 budget, the bill establishes the Early Learning Challenge Fund, a competitive grant program that challenges states to build a comprehensive, high-quality early learning system for children from birth through age five. 

To view a summary of the legislation, click here.

The House Education and Labor Committee has been examining various proposals for student loan reform and seeking feedback from all key stakeholders over the past few months. In May, the Committee held a hearing to examine these proposals, at which the Obama administration, lenders and colleges and universities testified. For more information on that hearing, click here.

“Focusing on our youngest children is not only the right thing to do – it’s also the smart thing to do for our future,” said Miller. “President Obama’s vision of ensuring critical early learning opportunities for children from birth to age five recognizes that we need effective early childhood programs, built on sound policies that place adequate focus and emphasis on supporting children from birth through age five, to ensure these children are prepared for kindergarten. It’s creates a seamless continuum of education and it’s a smart investment for our future competitiveness.”

“As a former teacher, I believe the best way to prepare our youth for success in their academic and professional lives is to provide every child with quality early education,” said U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI), chair of the Early Childhood, Elementary and Second Education subcommittee. “This legislation will not only improve the quality of early education, it will also ensure that older children have access to more modern, healthy and environmentally friendly learning facilities. These are goals I have been working towards my entire career and I am extremely proud of this landmark legislation.”

“It is gratifying to see that the Early Learning Challenge Fund has been included in this bill,” said U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono (D-HI).  “President Obama recognizes that quality early education builds the necessary foundation to academic success.  Study after study indicates children who have access to quality early education are better prepared to succeed in school and in life – every child deserves this opportunity.”

Nearly 12 million children under age 5 regularly spend time in child care arrangements and children with working mothers spend on average 36 hours per week in such settings. But currently there are no federal quality standards for child care and families are left with a patchwork system of child care with mediocre quality. As a result, by age 4, children from low-income families are already 18 months behind most other 4 year-olds.

Investments in early education can yield enormous economic benefits down the line. Research shows that every dollar invested in high quality early education generates anywhere from $1.25 to $17 in returns.

The Early Learning Challenge Fund will increase the number of low-income children in high quality early learning settings by:

Investing $10 billion over 10 years in competitive grants to challenge states to build a comprehensive, high quality early learning system for children birth to age 5 that includes:  

• Early learning standards reform;
• Evidence-based program quality standards;
• Enhanced program review and monitoring of program quality;
• Comprehensive professional development;
• Coordinated system for facilitating screenings for disability, health, and mental health needs;
• Improved support to parents;
• Process for assessing children’s school readiness; and
• Using data to improve child outcomes.

Transforming early learning programs by insisting upon real change in state standards and practices:

• Build an effective, qualified, and well-compensated early childhood workforce by supporting more effective providers with degrees in early education and providing sustained, intensive, classroom-focused professional development to improve the knowledge and skills of early childhood providers.
• Best practices in the classroom by implementing research-based early learning standards aligned with academic content standards for grades K-3.
• Promote parent and family involvement by developing outreach strategies to parents to improve their understanding of their children’s development.
• Fund quality initiatives that improve instructional practices, programmatic practices, and classroom environment to promote school readiness. 
• Quality standards reform that moves toward pre-service training requirements for early learning providers, and adopting best practices for teacher-child ratios and group size.

The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act also makes landmark investments to make college more affordable and create a 21st century community college system – two strategies that, like early education, are critical to building a strong, lasting economic recovery. For more information on the legislation, click here.

For a fact sheet on the early learning challenge fund, click here.

“I applaud the Obama administration for getting funds out quickly to critical early education programs. Starting today, the children, families and workers who rely on these programs to get a good early education and for jobs will start to see the stimulative effects of this investment,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. “The research behind early childhood education is clear – if you invest in these children before they enter the kindergarten classroom, they will have a much higher chance at success in elementary school and through their lives.”

Studies show that every dollar invested in early education generates anywhere from $1.25 to $17 in returns. Specifically, the $1.2 billion in Early Head Start will help the program serve an additional 55,000 children. The $220 million for Head Start will help the program serve an additional 16,000 children.

In March, the Education and Labor Committee held a series of hearings to examine the early learning and child care needs of children and families, as well as collaborative state efforts and other initiatives to deliver high quality care and education to children from birth through age five. To learn more about these hearings, click here.

“As President Obama made clear in his first major education speech, if we only start focusing on kids at kindergarten and on – it’s five years too late,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the committee. “Investing in early childhood pays off – it helps our children stay healthier and thrive in school in the short-term and helps build a stronger economy for the long-term. The economic crisis further highlights the need to meet families’ urgent needs and ensure that our youngest children have the early learning opportunities they need to succeed.”

Today, nearly 12 million of the 18.5 million children under five in this country are in some type of regular child care or early education program. Children with working mothers spend on average 36 hours per week in these settings.

Witnesses today testified about how quality early learning opportunities in a variety of settings yield significant academic, health and other benefits for children from birth through age five.


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“Researchers and economists agree that high-quality early care and education programs can improve the odds of success for low-income children,” said Helene Stebbins, project coordinator for the National Center on Children in Poverty. “But to benefit, young children have to be in high-quality early education settings that meet the needs of working parents.”

The official poverty level in 2009 is $18,310 for a family of three, but research shows the costs for basic necessities cost at least twice this amount. According to Stebbins, 10 million children under the age of 6 live in families “earning twice the poverty level or less” nationwide, and are more likely to suffer poor health and education outcomes.

While state standards for early learning programs vary tremendously, some states are successfully helping to close the achievement gap for low-income children. Illinois, for example, has made high quality preschool available to 3-and 4-year-olds, with prioritizing at-risk, low-income children. This investment is providing services for the neediest children and families in every county in Illinois.

“All of this costs more in the short term, but quality of service is what it takes to get long-term results,” said Harriet Meyer, co-chair of the Illinois Early Learning Council. “It is the only way we will ever get our poorest children scoring at the national average. We already know how hard it is to catch children up if we rely on remediation after they enter our formal education system.”

“[T]he economic analysis of the return on the investment in early childhood that we so often hear about is based on studies of long-term effects of children at risk receiving quality early childhood education,” said  Jessie Rasmussen, vice president of the Buffett Early Childhood Fund. “It is our failure to invest in the youngest children most at risk that results in significant costs for states and our nation in terms of educational remediation, criminal justice, health care and loss of productivity.”

Rasmussen noted that too often “the children who would benefit the most from highly effective early childhood programs are the ones least likely to have access to such programs.”

Jim Redmon, the executive director of Kansas Children's Cabinet and Trust Fund, underscored the benefits states see when there is a statewide collaboration to meet the needs of children, families, and programs. In Kansas, the state worked across agencies and with various stakeholders to create a blueprint for an early childhood program that would effectively provide parents with quality child care, pre-school and health insurance. He urged Congress to consider a federally-coordinated early childhood program that would “help states to deliver and manage services more effectively.”

This hearing comes a week after President Barack Obama delivered his first speech on education, in which he discussed early education as a critical part of his agenda. Today’s hearing is the first in a series of hearings the committee is holding to examine early childhood education and development. These will build on the hearings the Committee held in the 110th Congress. For more information, click here.