Education

Education

A quality education is the foundation upon which we create a vibrant society and economy, and I am fully committed to building an educational system that will help us realize our individual and national goals.  The diverse Fifth District is made up of small suburban communities and old industrial cities where public education dollars play a critical role in helping all of our children gain the skills they need to succeed in our knowledge-based economy and in helping newcomers integrate into our American society.

Elementary and Secondary Education.  Over the last several months I have heard from many teachers, principals, and parents about the No Child Left Behind Act and its impact on our community, and I will continue to solicit views from the Fifth District as Congress moves forward to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act. 

Too many of our schools are failing, particularly in low-income areas, and as a nation we have the responsibility to ensure that every child has a quality education that can lead to success. The achievement gap between white students and poor and minority students stubbornly persists, and we must work to close this gap.  Inserting a greater degree of accountability into our education system and changing the incentives in the system toward higher student achievement was the intention behind the No Child Left Behind Act.  This law offered great promise for closing the achievement gap and ensuring that every child has the tools to compete in a global economy. 

However, No Child Left Behind has fallen short in many important ways.  For example, this law mandated results without providing the needed funding to achieve those results, particularly in low-income areas where resources are scarce.  As a result, school districts have been unable to keep up with its mandate.  Its overemphasis on test scores as a measure of success diminished the focus on other critical disciplines like history and science. It failed to take into account the huge gains some schools made in student achievement, labeling them as “failing” and subjecting them to a series of mounting sanctions when they did not deserve that designation.  It also led some states to lower their education standards in order to dodge the sanctions in this law.  Going forward, I will be working to ensure that school districts have adequate funding, that the flawed incentives in this law are fixed, that states are required to maintain and strive towards high standards, and that schools are evaluated in a fairer, more realistic way.

Research suggests that, more than class size or textbooks, teaching method or technology, or even the curriculum, what makes a difference in student achievement is the quality of the teacher.  While I believe that teachers should be evaluated and held accountable for their performance, evaluations ought to take multiple factors into account, not focus solely on student test scores.  Children come to school from very different families, social and economic circumstances, and with very different abilities and skill levels.  If we punish good teachers for factors outside their control, we risk losing them.  Instead, we should reward good teachers who work in challenging communities.  As No Child Left Behind is reauthorized, I will be looking for proposals that provide teachers with the right incentives and more support to grow their skills, and that utilize a better, more comprehensive evaluation system.

President Obama has taken important steps in proposing changes to our education system.  Some of these ideas have been reflected in his Race to the Top initiative.  I fully supported the Commonwealth’s application for this funding because I believe it is a tremendous opportunity for our state.  Going forward, I will be closely monitoring the impact of these reforms to ensure that the Commonwealth is able to keep its high education standards, retain flexibility for local areas, and hold school districts accountable to parents.

Fulfilling our promise to our schools.  I was a strong supporter of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which provided local school districts with desperately needed resources to train good teachers, reduce class sizes, fund after-school programs, and produce real improvements in academic performance. The Recovery Act alone provided the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with over $500 million in direct federal funds to help cover budget shortfalls, ensuring a quality education for our children even in the midst of the recession.  Throughout the district, I heard from superintendents, teachers, and parents that the Recovery has helped keep teachers in classrooms. Recognizing the need for further aid while state budgets remained tight, I called for additional education funding and I voted in favor of an education jobs package that was offset with other spending cuts. 

STEM Education.  As a member of the Congressional Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Caucus, I understand the value of ensuring that our children, and especially our young women, have adequate training in math and science. Today, an understanding of scientific and mathematical principles, a working knowledge of computer hardware and software, and the problem solving skills developed by courses in STEM are necessary for a growing number of jobs. I hear from employers throughout the district about the need for STEM-educated workers to remain competitive in a global economy.  I will continue to support expanding STEM initiatives throughout our educational system, from young children first developing an interest in science to adult workers seeking to sharpen their skills to take advantage of opportunities in clean energy technology.  

Child Nutrition.  Going to school is about more than just learning a curriculum; it is about having a nurturing space to grow, learn and mature into a healthy and responsible citizen.  Numerous studies have found a correlation between productivity and the quality of food we eat.  Providing healthy food to our nation’s children should be a national priority.  For too many children in Massachusetts, school breakfasts and lunches are their only meals. For others, healthy habits learned during school hours can help them develop the good habits that will last a lifetime, combating a national obesity epidemic that costs us millions of dollars in health care and lost productivity each year.  That is why I have supported reforming the school lunch program to provide more vegetables, fruits, dairy products, and whole grains.  It’s also why I have called for additional funds and improvements to the school lunch program and after-school snack program. 

Higher Education.  Having served as a dean at Middlesex Community College, the Commonwealth’s largest community college, and knowing its impact on my own family, I have seen how higher education is the key to American ingenuity and innovation and to a productive civil society.  In particular, I’ve seen how federal student aid programs can mean the difference between whether a student is able to attend college or not.  An educated employee has access to better employment opportunities and higher pay, while an educated America enhances the nation's productivity and leadership in the global economy. 

Unfortunately, increases in college tuition and cuts to financial aid have created barriers to higher education for many students. At a time when so many Americans are struggling to make ends meet, students are being forced to borrow unprecedented sums of money, often at extremely high interest rates, to finance their education, leaving many students unable to afford college.

In September of 2009, I was proud to vote in favor of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 (SAFRA) which was signed into law by President Obama in March 2010.  SAFRA represents one of the largest investments in student aid in history.  By ending wasteful overpayments to student loan lenders, SAFRA was able to increase the maximum Pell Grant scholarship to $5,550 in 2010 and to $5,975 by 2019.  Students from the Fifth District will see a dramatic increase in their Pell grant awards over the next 10 years. Additionally, the law strengthens the Perkins Loan program by expanding it to every U.S. college campus.  The remaining portion of funds was used for deficit reduction.

The law also simplifies the FAFSA form, something that has long been requested by financial aid counselors and parents. At a student loan and college affordability forum I hosted with schools, student aid counselors, and other elected officials in November of 2009, simplifying the FAFSA was one of the needs that all parties immediately identified as essential. The new law changes a previously onerous process into a simple one, ensuring that parents only need the information from their yearly tax returns to complete the form.

Additionally, SAFRA invests $1.5 billion to allow borrowers to cap their monthly federal student loan payments at 10 percent of their discretionary income for new borrowers after 2014.

There are few issues as vital to our economic future as developing a trained and educated workforce.  The first public schools in America were established in Massachusetts; in fact, our state’s Constitution specifically includes education as an obligation of the Commonwealth.  I will continue to help strengthen our schools by ensuring that the federal government is a strategic partner, assisting state and local communities.