Our prosperity grew on the backs of our innovators and entrepreneurs. We must give our children the opportunities to reach their dreams and compete in the future with China, India, and the European Union. America has rightly demonstrated a strong commitment of investing in our children. For instance, California dedicates half of its budget to education. But we should not leave education solely in the hands of politicians. No Child Left Behind should be improved so that we realistically assess the progress of our children and continue to push for advancement. Parents should have the right to make sure their children go to the best school as possible, and the government can help in that pursuit with more opportunities for high school, middle school, and elementary school children. Additionally, as someone that paid his way through college, I believe that American children who work hard and get results should receive the help and assistance they need to reach their goal of going to college.
No Child Left Behind
Last year, I met with numerous parents, teachers, and superintendents in Kern and San Luis Obispo County rgarding the No Child Left Behind Act. These discussions provided many insights and recommendations on how to improve the existing law. Recently, I sent letters to the Secretary of Education and the the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Education and Labor Committee that outlined the top five recommendations that received broad support in our community. Click here to view the letter to the Secretary of Education and the Education and Labor Committee.
Information for Educators
Many federal government agencies provide resources and information for K-12 educators, which you may find helpful:
Library of Congress
America’s Library. America’s Library includes interactive games on American history, geography, and culture
Library of Congress for Teachers. This Library of Congress website includes lesson plans and links to primary sources within the collection. You also can preview the redesigned page, which allows searching by state standards, topic, grade level, era, and type of classroom materials.
Professional Development Resources. Learn how to effectively use Library of Congress resources through various workshops including free-distance learning tools for educators.
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Education. The Smithsonian Institution provides lesson plans—tailored to state and grade standards—employing the Institution’s vast resources.
National Science Resources Center. The NSRC, an online center sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and the National Academies for the teaching of science, includes curriculum resources and professional development tools for teachers.The NSRC can arrange to host science courses tailored to individual school districts.
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The Science Education Department of the Center is very active in researching and developing high quality professional development experiences for educators. This page is a portal to professional development programs and resources developed by the SED and its education partners.
Department of Education
Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE). This portal consolidates a wide variety of teaching and learning resources from federal agencies.
Education Resources Information Center (ERIC). ERIC is an online digital library of education research and literature.
Teacher to Teacher Initiative. Sign up for email updates about professional development opportunities and to receive information on curriculum resources and education policy.
U.S. General Services Administration
Federal Citizen Information Center. The FCIC website provides lesson plans and posters for educators.
Students.gov. Students.gov includes resources to help students choose the right college, explore financial aid possibilities, search for internship, career, and job opportunities, and much more
Kids.gov. Kids.gov is a gateway for kids ages K-5 and 6-8, and also includes a section for educators.