Education

A political issue that enjoys broad support is rare, especially during a contentious budget debate occurring in a painfully jobless economic recovery. Even more rare is when said issue has a base of politically active supporters, giving politicians precious capitol to do what is both right and popular in a time when common ground seems like foreign soil. Luckily for today’s legislators, there is such an issue: higher education.
 
A political issue doesn’t develop a swell of organic support unless there is a problem, and access to college is certainly a burden on families nationwide. A vast majority of college students require loans to finance their education and the average borrower now graduates nearly $25,000 in debt. This number has been ballooning exponentially over the years to the point where Americans now owe around $1 trillion in student loan debt - that’s even more credit card debt. Read more...

National media outlets have dubbed my legislation the "Don't Say 'Gay' Bill", improperly implying that the legislation is a gag order on a word or words.

In actuality, the legislation specifically limits the introduction of sexuality discussions as part of the official curriculum for children grades K-8, exempting discussions of biology.

The impetus behind my legislation is the case of David and Tonia Parker, the parents of a kindergartner in Massachusetts. The Parker family requested their child be allowed to opt out of homosexual discussions in the classroom, similar to opt-outs available for Jehovah's Witnesses regarding recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Read more...

Forty-three states have cut their educational budgets over 40 percent since 2007 and the Department of Education is being cut $11.5 billion this year, maybe even more. Money can always give our legislators reasons to loose sight of the lives being affected by their decisions. The atrocities of the budget cuts have left my colleagues and I weary of further persuing this unfulfilled education.

America is already at the bottom of the list when it comes to education, so how do we continue to call ourselves world leaders?

In his first State of the Union address, President Obama proclaimed that, by 2020, the United States would once again lead the world in college graduates. However, despite the president’s ambitious goals, the Department of Education is proposing arbitrary restrictions on private sector colleges and universities that will disproportionately affect the most disadvantaged segments of the student population.

The United States has begun to lose its status as a scientific and technological leader, and the only way we can hope to compete in the 21st century global economy is if we invest in research and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. It is vital that we not lose sight of that, even in these tough budget times. As we work to pass an FY 2011 appropriations bill and a budget resolution for FY 2012, I urge my colleagues to remember that our long term economic growth and competitiveness are dependent upon the investments in research and education that we make today.  

Many high-tech companies cite the availability of a skilled STEM workforce as the number one reason for determining where they locate their facilities. More and more U.S. companies are moving abroad because they can’t find the highly skilled workforce they need here at home. According to 2008 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the professional IT workforce was projected to add a little under a million new jobs between 2008 and 2018. This represents more than twice the rate of the overall workforce growth between 2008 and 2018. If we want those jobs to stay in the U.S., and in Texas, we must continue to invest in STEM education for our future workforce.

House Speaker John Boehner made the following remarks today on the House floor in support of H.R. 471, legislation renewing the successful D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. 

Today, the House will have the opportunity to do something special for the future of our country.

I think just about every member would agree we have work to do when it comes to our education system. Americans are concerned that their children won’t be able to have the same blessings they’ve had. And if we want to protect the American Dream, there’s no substitute for a quality education.

This spring, thousands of high-school seniors will proudly count themselves among the graduating class of 2011. For many students, whether from big cities or small towns, like mine in Nebraska, the possibilities seem endless.

But they also face the very adult reality of affording a college education. As higher education costs skyrocket across the country, a generation of young Americans will cobble together family and personal savings, financial aid and decades of debt in order to prepare themselves for an increasingly competitive global economy.

My saving grace? The Miss America Scholarship Program. Yes, you read that correctly. Beyond the glitz and glitter of the stage, as it reads on its website: “The Miss America Organization is one of the nation's leading achievement programs and the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women. Last year, the Miss America Organization and its state and local organizations made available more than $45 million in cash and scholarship assistance. This assistance is not just for the handful of young women who become Miss America, but is available to the over 12,000 young women who compete in the state and local competitions as well.”

In fact, every girl who competes walks away with a scholarship, making winners out of us all.

Who should decide where a child goes to school? The government? A bureaucrat?

Most Americans believe that a child's parents should have that power. But unfortunately, in this country, not all parents do. Only those parents with financial means can really decide where they send their kids to school. Many underprivileged families are forced to send their kids to consistently failing public schools. In fact, many of these families live in the nation’s capital. Washington D.C. is home to some of our country’s most troubled public schools.

There’s a battle going on in Wisconsin. Actually, there are many battles going on. Public labor unions are under assault, democracy is being attacked, and good government is at risk. Republican Governor Scott Walker and his allies in the Legislature are waging a scorched-earth campaign to lock down political power for years to come.

Yet, the most important story is going under-reported. If Gov. Walker wins the battle, the best days of the Badger State’s once proud public education system will definitely be in the rear view mirror.

Here’s what happened. On March 16, the Governor went before the media with school district administrators by his side and said he was giving them the flexibility to reduce costs, control taxes, and increase the quality of public education.

On March 14, 2011, nearly 20,000 college students descended upon the California state capitol in Sacramento.  While student rallies aren’t exactly a rare occurrence, the situation facing public higher education in California is like little else.

Should Governor Brown’s budget pass, the California State University (CSU) budget will have shrunk by more than 22 percent, almost $700 million dollars, since the 2007-2008 fiscal year. Unsurprisingly, students have had to make up for this shortfall – since 2002, tuition at the CSU has increased by 303 percent.

Yet, the situation in California can become even more dire: should voters reject Brown’s proposed tax extensions, the Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates the CSU will need to reduce enrollment by 21,650 students and increase tuition by another 10 percent.