Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), a senior member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and Chairman of its Subcommittee on Children and Families, today issued the following statement on President-Elect Obama’s selection of Arne Duncan to be Secretary of Education.

“With the nomination of Arne Duncan to be Secretary of Education, President-Elect Obama has reaffirmed his commitment to strengthening America’s education system.  Reforming the inflexible No Child Left Behind Act will be one of our most urgent priorities in the coming months.  Arne Duncan understands the scope of the challenges we are facing, and I am confident that he will be an outstanding advocate for the education and enrichment of our nation’s children.”

Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) congratulated the Trumbull High School Golden Eagle Marching band on being chosen to represent the State of Connecticut in the 56^th Inaugural Parade in January. Trumbull High School was chosen from more than 1300 organizations who submitted application to participate in the parade.

CHESHIRE - U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn) fielded questions from more than 120 high school juniors and seniors Tuesday and defended his support of the $700 billion bailout - or what he called a "workout."

"The idea isn't so much to have a bailout as a workout," Dodd said.

The Senate has passed a bipartisan resolution sponsored by Senators Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) and Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) establishing the 2008 National Character Counts Week to call the nation’s attention to the benefits of good character and character education.

The Senate resolution establishes Oct. 19-25 as the 2008 National Character Counts Week.  The Character Counts program is built on the “Six Pillars of Character,” which are promoted through school and community based character education programs across the country.  The six pillars are: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), a senior member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Chairman of its Subcommittee on Children and Families, today announced that October 16, 2008 will be recognized as “Lights on Afterschool Day,” a national celebration of afterschool programs.  This designation was made possible by this weekend’s Senate approval of a resolution introduced by Dodd and Senator John Ensign (D-NV).  Dodd and Ensign are co-chairs of the Senate’s Afterschool Caucus. 

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), senior member of Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee released the following statement on tonight’s House-Senate conference approval of the Higher Education Act.  This legislation includes several priorities that Senator Dodd has been advocating, including:

• Significant increases in Pell grants from $4,310 to $6,000 in 2009 and up to $8,000 by 2014;

• Provisions of Senators Dodd’s and Shelby’s “Private Student Loan Transparency and Improvement Act,” which provides new protections for borrowers of private student loans;

• Provisions to control costs, and make it easier for students to pay their tuition.

Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) today praised Senate Appropriations Committee approval of $241.1 million in federal funding for a variety of Connecticut initiatives.  This funding will be used for, among other services, economic development initiatives, education, health care, and family and community support programs – efforts essential to the wellbeing and continued success of Connecticut.

Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) announced today that they were able to secure more than $3.4 million for Connecticut initiatives in the Senate’s fiscal year 2009 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Bill.  Among other projects funded by Senate appropriators, the bill includes over $1 million for the construction of a new public safety complex in Hartford.      

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) hailed today’s report by The Nation’s Report Card that found Connecticut eighth-grade students ranked first, along with students from New Jersey, out of 45 states in writing tests in 2007.    More than 165,000 eighth- and twelfth-graders across the nation participated in the writing assessment, administered by the National Center for Education Statistics of the U.S. Department of Education.  Dodd is a senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and the Chairman of its Subcommittee on Children and Families.   

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), a senior Democrat on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) and Chairman of its Subcommittee on Children and Families, held a Town Hall meeting at the Connecticut International Baccalaureate Academy in East Hartford on Friday to discuss reforming No Child Left Behind.  Dodd  heard directly from students, teachers, administrators and parents on how they think the federal government can do a better job helping America’s students and schools.