Building a Competitive Workforce

Many of our local communities are in need of more schools or school modernization. It is essential that we make these investments now in order to build a competitive workforce and a healthy economy for the future.

The America COMPETES ACT

One of  the 110^th Congress' landmark achievements of the Democratic Innovation Agenda is The America COMPETES Act of 2007, H.R. 2272.  

This bill included:

• Investments in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) educational programs. I believe that education in these areas is key to remaining competitive in the future global marketplace.
• Increased funding for Math and Science Partnerships programs that provide professional development for our teachers and strengthen their ability to effectively teach math and science.
• Increased funding for the Noyce Teacher Scholarship program, which will help recruit thousands more teachers in the math and science fields.
• Programs to increase collaboration between public education institutions and the private sector

For more information on the America COMPETES Act please click here.

Here are some of the other bills that I cosponsored or voted for in the 110^th Congress to help build and modernize our schools:

• The 21^st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act, H.R. 3021.  This bill authorized billions of dollars in funding for construction and renovation on "green" schools.  These schools would be built with an emphasis on energy efficiency and in classroom technology. 
• America's Better Classrooms Act of 2007, H.R. 2470.  This bill would provide tax credits for investments in the modernization of public schools. 

For more information on building the schools of the future please click here.