Aaron Schock

Education

Elementary and Secondary (K-12) Education

As a former school board president, I believe mom and dad are a child’s first teacher. Parents, educators, employers and the local community must work together to ensure all children develop the skills they need to become the successful leaders of tomorrow.

Aaron reading to students a school in his district

Since 2005, I have sponsored a summer reading program to encourage children to read age-appropriate books over the summer. Studies have shown that children who read over the summer are more likely to keep their skills sharp from one school year to the next. Summer reading also promotes a lifelong love of learning while also exposing children to material they may not read during the school year. My summer reading program has reached over 100,000 children throughout the 18th Congressional district.

As a member of the House Rural Education Caucus, I am committed to promoting the importance of rural education. Rural school districts face unique challenges that are not found in urban school districts. When the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) announced a change in how school districts were funded, I authored a letter expressing concern over the change. In the end, ISBE agreed to further changes in order to protect small and rural school districts that operate with fewer funds than larger school districts.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the No Child Left Behind law, created the laudable goal of ensuring all children are proficient in reading and math by 2014. Unfortunately, this premise has forced teachers and school districts to teach children how to take tests instead of educating children. Good teachers who improve their students’ ability to learn should be rewarded on the basis of their student’s individual progress instead of a student’s test scores. I support policies which measure a student’s individual educational progress from year to year.  I also believe school districts should be enrolled for a full academic year in a school before that school is responsible for his or her test results.

Unfortunately, childhood obesity is on the rise in our society. Illinois is ranked 4th in the nation for childhood obesity. Students who are overweight or obese are more likely to have medical problems and are at greater risk for developing chronic diseases as adults. We need to work together to combat this epidemic. That is why I authored a letter to First Lady Michelle Obama offering my help so we can work together to fight childhood obesity.

I am also a supporter of H.R. 1057- the Fitness Integrated with Teaching (FIT) Kids Act which gives resources to schools so they can promote exercise to their students. FIT Kids also provides accountability to parents by ensuring they receive information and support they need to help their children live a healthy lifestyle. 
 
Higher and Continuing Education

Since November 2008, the youth unemployment rate has remained above 20%- nearly double the national average. For African-American youth, the unemployment rate is 42.1%. These young people are at a disadvantage for lower lifetime earnings than their older peers simply because they are graduating in the worst economic situation since the Great Depression.

The average cost of tuition at a public university in Illinois for the 2010-2011 school year is $11,029. In order to help Illinois families cope with the rising cost of higher education, I supported H.R. 3630, legislation maintaining the maximum Pell grant award level of $5,550 for the 2012-2013 school year. I continue to look for ways to make higher education affordable to all students.

The most important thing we can do is to create an environment where jobs are available for our youth when they graduate. I support policies which promote economic growth in order encourage job creation. As a member of the tax writing, Ways and Means Committee, I have been a leader in working to overhaul our burdensome tax code. By lowering tax rates for individuals and small businesses we can allow people to keep and invest more of their own money. A simplified tax code will also attract businesses to the U.S., grow our economy and create jobs for the future.

Our young people need opportunities to succeed. I support ways to give employers such as Caterpillar an opportunity to work with institutions of higher education. By allowing employers and schools to work together, they can discover the best ways to prepare students to succeed in the workplace.

Our returning veterans and their families earned their GI bill benefits through hard work and sacrifice. I strongly believe those benefits should not be jeopardized by burdensome government red tape and bureaucracy. I supported H.R. 1383, Restoring GI Bill Fairness Act, which raised the amount of education benefits paid to certain veterans and their dependents, so they can start or continue their post-secondary education.

In order to help our veterans return to the workplace, I authored H.R. 2888, Help Veterans Own Franchises Act that helps veterans own small business franchises by establishing a tax credit for a franchisee veteran equal to 25% of the franchise fee incurred.

Whether a student decides to attend a 2-year community college, a 4-year college or university or a technical or trade school, we must be prepared to offer opportunities for them to succeed. As a member of the Congressional TRIO Caucus, I work with other Members of Congress on ways to help low-income, disabled and first-generation students succeed in college.