Education

Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger comes from a family of educators: his wife, mother, sister and sister-in-law were all teachers in the Baltimore area and his son-in-law is a university administrator. So he understands that investing in the future of all young people is the key to creating and sustaining jobs. Dutch believes:

Education funding is a strategic investment – even during tough times.

As we make difficult budget decisions to reign in the federal deficit, Dutch believes that education should remain a top priority. As an appropriator, he advocates for full education funding each year, especially for formula grant programs that ensure ALL students have an equal opportunity to obtain a high-quality education, like Title 1 and IDEA. Dutch also supports funding to ensure children can learn in modern and energy-efficient buildings. On average, public schools across the country are more than 40-years-old and need an estimated $500 billion in repairs and upgrades.  

We must show the teaching profession the respect it deserves.

Teachers aren’t only instructors – they are nurturers. As Baltimore County Executive, Dutch fought to give all teachers a pay raise. Dutch supports federal incentives for teacher preparation programs and professional development. He also helped pass legislation to extend the tax deduction for certain expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers. He believes we must do whatever we can to recruit and retain the best teachers we can, especially from under-represented groups.

Federal education policy should ensure equal access and that schools and teachers are held accountable in a way that makes sense.

Dutch supported the successful effort to replace “No Child Left Behind” with the “Every Student Succeeds Act” in December 2015. While Dutch supported the goals of “No Child,” it shifted too much control away from our states and focused too much on punishing failure instead of rewarding success. He believes we should reduce the number of federally-mandated standardized tests and use multiple measures to evaluate school and student success. He does not support federal mandates that base teacher evaluations on such tests.

College must be more affordable.

American college students now owe $1.2 trillion in education loans, which is second only to home mortgages in terms of consumer debt. Dutch supports legislation allowing federal student loans to be refinanced – like mortgages – when interest rates decline and expanding federal loan forgiveness programs for students who choose certain careers, like teachers. He helped pass legislation to strengthen the Pell Grant program and the American Opportunity Tax Credit for tuition and related expenses. As a STEM education champion, Dutch supports funding for scholarships to re-train retired STEM professionals as teachers.

Related Cosponsorships

Early Childhood Nutrition Improvement Act

Veteran Education Empowerment Act

Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act

Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2015

Student Non-Descrimination Act of 2015