Education
Investing in Our Children's Future and Improving Rhode Island's Schools
As a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Senator Reed is consistently at the forefront of efforts to enhance America's education system. Without an improved education system, our young people will struggle to find decent jobs and our companies won't have the skilled workers they need to compete in an increasingly global and competitive market place.
Senator Reed believes that well-trained and well-prepared teachers and principals are central to improving the academic performance and achievement of students. He recently authored the Preparing, Recruiting, and Retaining Education Professionals (PRREP) Act to improve the recruitment, training, and retention of educators, and last year introduced legislation to help turnaround struggling schools through comprehensive guidance, support, and professional development for teachers.
Reed also teamed up with Senator Barack Obama to introduce The Success in the Middle Act, which would authorize grants to states and school districts to improve middle schools and help raise student achievement because all too often middle school is when our students face their greatest struggles in and outside the classroom.
Believing that every student with the talent and drive to attend college should have the opportunity to go, Senator Reed has authored bipartisan measures to increase need-based financial aid for students.
Reed authored legislation removing the value of a family's home from the calculation of income for federal student aid. This law has opened up opportunities for thousands of middle-class American home-owning families to send their kids to college.
In 2007, Reed helped write the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, which provides nearly $85 million in Pell Grants for Rhode Island students over the next five years, lowers interest rates on new subsidized Stafford loans to undergraduate students, caps monthly loan payments at 15 percent of an individual's discretionary income, and offers complete loan forgiveness to students who continue in public-service professions for 10 years, including teachers, nurses, and librarians.
In addition to working to increase Pell Grants, Reed led the bipartisan effort to save what is now called the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (LEAP) program. LEAP provides need-based grants to help students attend college. Last year, states matched approximately $65 million in federal LEAP funds with over $840 million in supplemental need-based aid, including $13 million for Rhode Island students.
To make it easier for families to deal with the red-tape of getting loans and grants to pay tuition, Reed introduced the bipartisan Financial Aid Form Simplification and Access (FAFSA) Act to make the college financial aid application process and forms more simple and certain.
With the recent credit crunch making it tougher for many students to get loans to pay for college, Reed recently joined with Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts in passing the Strengthening Student Aid for All Act, which became law in May 2008 and will help ensure that Rhode Island students from middle- and low-income families have the best and most affordable options available to pay for college.
Reed's Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program has provided over $100 million to help more children learn to read. This program provides federal funding for school libraries to purchase books and computers, train librarians, and stay open longer.
Recent News:
Reed Will Hold Financial Aid Workshop to Help RI Students and Families Pay for College
Reed Announces $2.5 Million in Federal Aid to Build New Middle Schools in Woonsocket
Reed Hails Passage of Higher Education Opportunity Act
Reed Announces $236K to Boost Phys Ed at Newport Schools
Reed Announces New Program Bringing American Art to 77 Rhode Island Schools and Libraries
Reed Gives Accolades to Aspiring Artists
Bill to Increase Federal Aid for College Students Signed into Law
U.S. Senate Passes Bill to Ensure College-Bound Students Continue to Receive Federal Aid
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