“Today’s vote is a vote to put students before banks and to finally ensure that our nation’s financial aid programs operate as intended – in the best interests of students, families and taxpayers,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the Chairman of the Committee and the author of the bill. “This landmark legislation will help write the next great education legacy for our country. President Obama has rightly called for us to make historic investments to make college more affordable, to empower community colleges to help rebuild our economy, and to prepare our youngest learners to arrive at kindergarten ready to succeed. I hope this Congress will join our Committee in standing with him on the right side of history.”

“This bill goes a long way towards expanding the accessibility and affordability of a college education for students across America” said U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness. “The bill will streamline the financial aid application process and increase funding for Pell Grants and Minority Serving Institutions, while also helping lower our national deficit.  This bill accomplishes something we can all be proud of.”

Similar to what President Obama proposed in his FY 2010 budget, the bill will originate all new federal student loans through the Direct Loan program starting in 2010, instead of through lenders subsidized by taxpayers in the federally-guaranteed student loan program. Unlike the lender-based program, the Direct Loan program is entirely insulated from market swings and can therefore guarantee students access to affordable college loans, at the same low interest rates, terms and conditions, no matter what happens in the economy.

The legislation will ensure that all federal student loan borrowers receive the best possible customer service when repaying their loans by forging a new public-private partnership that allows private lenders to compete for contracts to service loans. Additionally, it will ensure that non-profit lenders have the opportunity to continue servicing loans – preserving a role for lenders and maintaining jobs in communities throughout the country.

According to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, the legislation will generate $87 billion in savings over the next 10 years. The legislation would invest those savings directly in students and families by:

• Investing $40 billion to increase the maximum annual Pell Grant scholarship to $5,550 in 2010 and to $6,900 by 2019. Starting in 2010, the scholarship will be linked to match rising costs-of-living by indexing it to the Consumer Price Index plus 1 percentage point;
• Investing $3 billion to bolster college access and completion support programs for students;
• Strengthening the Perkins Loan program, a campus-based program that provides low-cost federal loans to students;
• Keeping interest rates low on need-based – or subsidized – federal student loans by making the interest rates on these loans variable beginning in 2012. These interest rates are currently set to jump from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent in 2012;
• Making it easier for families to apply for financial aid by simplifying the FAFSA form;
• Providing loan forgiveness for members of the military who are called up to duty in the middle of the academic year; and
• Investing $2.55 billion in Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions to provide students with the support they need to stay in school and graduate.

In addition, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act will direct $10 billion of these savings back to the U.S. Treasury to help pay down the deficit. It will invest over $4 billion for school modernization, renovation and repair projects that will help improve school buildings across the country and help the nation transition to a clean energy economy. And it will also invest $1 billion per year over eight years to help ensure that the next generation of children can enter kindergarten with the skills they need to succeed in school. Building on proposals included in President Obama’s 2010 budget, the bill establishes the Early Learning Challenge Fund, a competitive grant program that challenges states to build a comprehensive, high-quality early learning system for children from birth through age five. 

To view a summary of the legislation, click here.

The House Education and Labor Committee has been examining various proposals for student loan reform and seeking feedback from all key stakeholders over the past few months. In May, the Committee held a hearing to examine these proposals, at which the Obama administration, lenders and colleges and universities testified. For more information on that hearing, click here.

“Focusing on our youngest children is not only the right thing to do – it’s also the smart thing to do for our future,” said Miller. “President Obama’s vision of ensuring critical early learning opportunities for children from birth to age five recognizes that we need effective early childhood programs, built on sound policies that place adequate focus and emphasis on supporting children from birth through age five, to ensure these children are prepared for kindergarten. It’s creates a seamless continuum of education and it’s a smart investment for our future competitiveness.”

“As a former teacher, I believe the best way to prepare our youth for success in their academic and professional lives is to provide every child with quality early education,” said U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI), chair of the Early Childhood, Elementary and Second Education subcommittee. “This legislation will not only improve the quality of early education, it will also ensure that older children have access to more modern, healthy and environmentally friendly learning facilities. These are goals I have been working towards my entire career and I am extremely proud of this landmark legislation.”

“It is gratifying to see that the Early Learning Challenge Fund has been included in this bill,” said U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono (D-HI).  “President Obama recognizes that quality early education builds the necessary foundation to academic success.  Study after study indicates children who have access to quality early education are better prepared to succeed in school and in life – every child deserves this opportunity.”

Nearly 12 million children under age 5 regularly spend time in child care arrangements and children with working mothers spend on average 36 hours per week in such settings. But currently there are no federal quality standards for child care and families are left with a patchwork system of child care with mediocre quality. As a result, by age 4, children from low-income families are already 18 months behind most other 4 year-olds.

Investments in early education can yield enormous economic benefits down the line. Research shows that every dollar invested in high quality early education generates anywhere from $1.25 to $17 in returns.

The Early Learning Challenge Fund will increase the number of low-income children in high quality early learning settings by:

Investing $10 billion over 10 years in competitive grants to challenge states to build a comprehensive, high quality early learning system for children birth to age 5 that includes:  

• Early learning standards reform;
• Evidence-based program quality standards;
• Enhanced program review and monitoring of program quality;
• Comprehensive professional development;
• Coordinated system for facilitating screenings for disability, health, and mental health needs;
• Improved support to parents;
• Process for assessing children’s school readiness; and
• Using data to improve child outcomes.

Transforming early learning programs by insisting upon real change in state standards and practices:

• Build an effective, qualified, and well-compensated early childhood workforce by supporting more effective providers with degrees in early education and providing sustained, intensive, classroom-focused professional development to improve the knowledge and skills of early childhood providers.
• Best practices in the classroom by implementing research-based early learning standards aligned with academic content standards for grades K-3.
• Promote parent and family involvement by developing outreach strategies to parents to improve their understanding of their children’s development.
• Fund quality initiatives that improve instructional practices, programmatic practices, and classroom environment to promote school readiness. 
• Quality standards reform that moves toward pre-service training requirements for early learning providers, and adopting best practices for teacher-child ratios and group size.

The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act also makes landmark investments to make college more affordable and create a 21st century community college system – two strategies that, like early education, are critical to building a strong, lasting economic recovery. For more information on the legislation, click here.

For a fact sheet on the early learning challenge fund, click here.

“I applaud the Obama administration for getting funds out quickly to critical early education programs. Starting today, the children, families and workers who rely on these programs to get a good early education and for jobs will start to see the stimulative effects of this investment,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. “The research behind early childhood education is clear – if you invest in these children before they enter the kindergarten classroom, they will have a much higher chance at success in elementary school and through their lives.”

Studies show that every dollar invested in early education generates anywhere from $1.25 to $17 in returns. Specifically, the $1.2 billion in Early Head Start will help the program serve an additional 55,000 children. The $220 million for Head Start will help the program serve an additional 16,000 children.

In March, the Education and Labor Committee held a series of hearings to examine the early learning and child care needs of children and families, as well as collaborative state efforts and other initiatives to deliver high quality care and education to children from birth through age five. To learn more about these hearings, click here.

“As President Obama made clear in his first major education speech, if we only start focusing on kids at kindergarten and on – it’s five years too late,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the committee. “Investing in early childhood pays off – it helps our children stay healthier and thrive in school in the short-term and helps build a stronger economy for the long-term. The economic crisis further highlights the need to meet families’ urgent needs and ensure that our youngest children have the early learning opportunities they need to succeed.”

Today, nearly 12 million of the 18.5 million children under five in this country are in some type of regular child care or early education program. Children with working mothers spend on average 36 hours per week in these settings.

Witnesses today testified about how quality early learning opportunities in a variety of settings yield significant academic, health and other benefits for children from birth through age five.


Created with flickrSLiDR.

“Researchers and economists agree that high-quality early care and education programs can improve the odds of success for low-income children,” said Helene Stebbins, project coordinator for the National Center on Children in Poverty. “But to benefit, young children have to be in high-quality early education settings that meet the needs of working parents.”

The official poverty level in 2009 is $18,310 for a family of three, but research shows the costs for basic necessities cost at least twice this amount. According to Stebbins, 10 million children under the age of 6 live in families “earning twice the poverty level or less” nationwide, and are more likely to suffer poor health and education outcomes.

While state standards for early learning programs vary tremendously, some states are successfully helping to close the achievement gap for low-income children. Illinois, for example, has made high quality preschool available to 3-and 4-year-olds, with prioritizing at-risk, low-income children. This investment is providing services for the neediest children and families in every county in Illinois.

“All of this costs more in the short term, but quality of service is what it takes to get long-term results,” said Harriet Meyer, co-chair of the Illinois Early Learning Council. “It is the only way we will ever get our poorest children scoring at the national average. We already know how hard it is to catch children up if we rely on remediation after they enter our formal education system.”

“[T]he economic analysis of the return on the investment in early childhood that we so often hear about is based on studies of long-term effects of children at risk receiving quality early childhood education,” said  Jessie Rasmussen, vice president of the Buffett Early Childhood Fund. “It is our failure to invest in the youngest children most at risk that results in significant costs for states and our nation in terms of educational remediation, criminal justice, health care and loss of productivity.”

Rasmussen noted that too often “the children who would benefit the most from highly effective early childhood programs are the ones least likely to have access to such programs.”

Jim Redmon, the executive director of Kansas Children's Cabinet and Trust Fund, underscored the benefits states see when there is a statewide collaboration to meet the needs of children, families, and programs. In Kansas, the state worked across agencies and with various stakeholders to create a blueprint for an early childhood program that would effectively provide parents with quality child care, pre-school and health insurance. He urged Congress to consider a federally-coordinated early childhood program that would “help states to deliver and manage services more effectively.”

This hearing comes a week after President Barack Obama delivered his first speech on education, in which he discussed early education as a critical part of his agenda. Today’s hearing is the first in a series of hearings the committee is holding to examine early childhood education and development. These will build on the hearings the Committee held in the 110th Congress. For more information, click here.