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Education

The Inland Empire’s most precious resource is its children.  Every child deserves an equal chance to succeed and our country cannot afford to short-change our students when it comes to their education. I am working hard to improve the quality of education, from preschool through college. In these tough fiscal times our government must do more to help states, districts, schools and communities support students at risk of leaving school before graduation, and we must provide students and their families the necessary resources to make college more accessible and affordable. All over California, schools are trying to do more with less – invest in high quality assessments, reward outstanding teachers, engage parents in every aspect of their children’s education, and maintain and expand access to before and after-school programs.  To improve educational opportunities, Congress must strengthen public schools by providing the funds and flexibility states need to carry out these vital education reforms.

In Congress, I have supported the following efforts to improve education in the Inland Empire and across the nation:

  • Voted in support of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: also known as the Recovery Act, the legislation included significant funding to improve America's schools and Universities, and keep school districts afloat during these difficult economic times. The bill included:
    • $20 billion to modernize, renovate, and improve the energy-efficiency of public schools and university buildings.
    • An increase in the Pell Grant scholarship by $500 for the next school year to provide urgent relief for students and families struggling to pay for college.
    • A new $2,500 tuition tax credit to help an additional four million students' families pay for college.
    • $53 billion in state stabilization funds (including $4.9 billion to CA) to help prevent layoffs of teachers, classroom aides, school meal providers, and other jobs in jeopardy. In 2009 alone, this funding was credited with having saved or created over 80,000 jobs at public schools and state universities in California.
    • $2.1 billion in funds for Head Start and Early Head Start, to expand critical early education opportunities for an additional 124,000 low-income infants and children.
    • $2 billion for Child Care Development Block Grants to provide child care services to an additional 300,000 low-income children while their parents are at work.
  • Voted in support of the 21st Century Green High Performing Schools Act. This legislation authorizes $6.4 billion for school construction projects for fiscal year 2010, and includes over $671 million in funding for physical improvement projects for California schools. The funds will be used for modernization, renovation, and repairs that improve the teaching and learning climate, health and safety, and energy efficiency of our schools. A breakdown of the funding received by Inland school districts includes:
    • San Bernardino City Unified School District - $11.29 million.
    • Fontana Unified School District - $4.33 million.
    • Ontario-Montclair Elementary School District - $3.54 million.
    • Rialto Unified School District - $3.31 million.
    • Colton Joint Unified School District - $2.4 million.
  • Voted in favor of HR 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act. The legislation makes college more accessible and transforms the way our student loan programs operate. It expands quality early education opportunities that put more children on the path to success. It strengthen community colleges and training programs to help build a highly-skilled, innovative, 21st century workforce ready for the rigors of a global economy. The legislation invests $40 billion over the next 10 years to increase Pell grant scholarships, and $2.5 billion to minority serving institutions to provide students with the support necessary to stay in school and graduate.
  • Introduced HR 13, the TEACH (Teacher Education Assistance Creating Hope) For Our Future Act. The legislation would provide $25,000 in federal student loan forgiveness to any public school teacher who has taught full-time for 5 consecutive years, and meets appropriate certification requirements. We must do all we can to encourage more of America's best and brightest to enter the teaching profession.
  • Introduced HR 2356 the EARN Act (Educators Achieving Reciprocity Now). The legislation would create meaningful state reciprocity for teacher licensures. This means that any state must accept the licensure a teacher received in another state, as long as the teacher has at least five years of service and has received satisfactory performance reviews. The legislation can get more qualified teachers back in the classroom sooner.
  • Introduced HR 3384 the SOS Act (Save Our Schools). The legislation would remove all mandated testing provisions from the No Child Left Behind Act. The legislation would free school districts and teachers from the "teaching to the test culture", and end an inequitable system that punishes, instead of assists, those schools and students in the most dire need.

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