Education
With increasing pressure on public schools to raise test scores under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Congressman Towns recognizes that many struggling schools lack the support services necessary for students to succeed academically, socially, and emotionally. To address this issue, he will introduce the Increased Student Achievement through Increased Student Support Act this spring, which will authorize grant funding to increase the number of school social workers, school guidance counselors and school psychologists in high-needs schools. This legislation is designed to improve working conditions in struggling schools by supporting both students and their teachers, with the goal of increasing student achievement and teacher retention.
Congressman Towns is the proud author of the Student Right to Know Act (PL 101-542), which mandates that student-athlete graduation rates for all undergraduate institutions receiving federal financial aid are made public. This ensures that students are aware of the both the academic and athletic opportunities available to them when choosing a school. Towns is also the author of the Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Technology Opportunity Act of 2007 (H.R. 694), which will improve the access, availability and quality of digital and wireless technology in Minority Serving Institutions. This legislation has been included in the House version of the Higher Education Act, and Congressman Towns is working diligently to insure that it is included in the final version of the bill.
Congressman Towns is a proud cosponsor of several education bills designed to improve the quality and access to education for all Americans, including: the Youth PROMISE Act (H.R. 3846), which will provide meaningful prevention and intervention strategies for students with the goal of reducing gang activities and keeping juveniles out of the criminal justice system; the RISE Act (H.R. 5157), which repeals a provision in the Higher Education Act that makes students convicted of drug offenses ineligible to receive federal student financial assistance; and the PRIDE Act (H.R. 3842), which will establish dual-language education programs in low-income schools.
Additionally, Congressman Towns supports full funding and expansion of Head Start programs, so that all children may have access to quality pre-Kindergarten education, as well as the Even Start Family Literacy program, which provides high quality literacy services to parents and children.
To address this problem, Congressman Towns has introduced, H.R. 213, the Educational Empowerment Act, which would allow individuals to receive a tax credit for making contributions to designated educational empowerment zones. The bill would designate up to 30 such zones, which would be based on the degree of poverty. School districts could use the contributions for hiring new teachers, increasing teacher salaries, and training teachers. The bill would also establish a teacher loan forgiveness program to attract qualified mathematics and science teachers to inner city schools.
Towns is also a supporter and cosponsor of the H.R. 236, the Student Bill of Rights, which would direct the Secretary of Education to determine annually whether each State's public school system provides all its students with educational resources to succeed academically and in life. The bill would permit students, who do not receive a quality education, to bring civil actions for enforcement in Federal district court.
Additionally, Towns supports efforts to reduce classroom size by building new schools and modernizing existing ones. He is a cosponsor of H.R. 740, the Expand and Rebuild America's Schools Act of 2003, which create a new class of tax-exempt bonds. The bonds would be interest-free for school districts. The bank or financial institution that invests in the bond would get a tax credit in the amount that the district would have had to pay in interest. The school district only repays the principal that was borrowed with no interest.
Related Press Releases
5/2/2007
Congressman Towns Votes to Improve Head Start
