Education
Education is the cornerstone of our nation’s future. We must provide every child in America access to a high-quality education, regardless of economic or social status, and provide teachers with the resources they need to help students succeed in the classroom.
Head Start
As a product of Head Start, I fully support the program’s goals and have worked to protect and improve Head Start so that all children have the opportunity to have an early childhood education. Head Start has a proven track record for success and provides a vital service to low-income and underserved children across the country.
I have supported legislation that increases funding for Head Start and expands Head Start teacher training opportunities. I have also worked to protect Head Start from harmful budget cuts. When House Republicans put Head Start funding on the chopping block in early 2012 as part of overall budget reductions, I proposed an amendment that would have directed revenue from Big Oil tax breaks to fund Head Start. While Republican leaders did not allow my amendment to reach the House floor for a vote, I will continue to fight for Head Start funding as Congress continues FY2012 Budget negotiations.
K-12 Education
Since coming to Congress in 2007, I have supported legislation that makes critical investments in our nation’s public education system and increases federal support for early childhood, elementary, and secondary education. I have also pushed for reform of the No Child Left Behind Law (NCLB).
NCLB is a federally mandated standards-based education reform law that was implemented in 2001. This law requires each state to set benchmarks and standards for educational achievement in public schools.
Over the past few years, I have met with teachers, principals, administrators, and parents from across the 11th District to discuss the impact this law has had on schools in Western North Carolina. The goals set forth by NCLB have grown progressively more challenging since the law’s original enactment nine years ago, and many of our local schools have been unable to meet NCLB’s benchmarks.
Based on suggestions from local educators and parents, I have met with leaders of the House Committee on Education and Labor to identify the following areas of improvement for NCLB:
Growth Models: The current accountability system requires schools to judge success or failure on whether students pass the tests for their given grade. Unfortunately, there can be a significant amount of progress made in a year that is not adequately reflected in the test scores. For example, if at the beginning of the fifth grade, a student reads at a second grade level, but at the end of the year reads at a fourth grade level, that student made significant progress during that year. But if the student fails the fifth grade test, that student is marked as failing. This does not truly measure progress of the student, and states should be allowed to use growth models that give credit to schools with demonstrated progress of both low-performing and high-performing students. Increased funding would help states design and implement the data and technology used for growth models.
More Than Test Scores: There is too much emphasis on standardized testing. As a result, teachers feel pressured to “teach to the test” in order to meet the passing requirements. Instead, states should be allowed to gather evidence of student progress and school success from multiple sources such as graduation rates and real-time classroom tests that allow teachers to adjust their instruction as necessary.
Improve Test Quality: Congress must address concerns regarding the fairness, validity, reliability, and appropriateness of tests for the students, particularly for special education students and English Language Learners. In exchange for increased resources for developing tests, states should be required to improve the quality of tests to better measure what students know and what their teachers can do to improve classroom instruction.
Special Needs: Assessment and accountability systems must be adjusted so that the academic progress of students with disabilities can be accurately measured and reported. NCLB currently requires that most students with disabilities be assessed at grade level, rather than at instructional level, which creates disparity between the law and some students’ Individual Education Plans (IEPs).
Teacher Quality: We need to build and evaluate the teaching profession by providing teachers and principals with the support they need to succeed. I believe this support includes higher salaries, career ladders, and mentoring. It is also imperative that we help close the achievement gap by closing the teacher quality gap – ensuring that poor and minority students have access to high quality teachers.
Funding: One of the most fundamental concerns I have heard from school administrators is that it is impossible to implement all NCLB requirements without increased funding. We need to guarantee that schools have the resources they need to ensure all students are able to succeed. It is unfair to place new standards on schools without providing them with the resources to implement these standards. The result of this unfunded mandate is that many schools are forced to cut nonacademic classes, such as art and music.
President Obama and Congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle have pushed for changes to NCLB. I will continue to work toward reform and keep an open dialogue with all of those affected by this legislation as Congress works to reauthorize the law in the 2012.
Higher Education
The rising cost of college tuition is placing a tremendous strain on America’s working families. No student should be denied a college education because of cost, and it is one of my goals to help make college more affordable and accessible for thousands of students across Western North Carolina. I have supported numerous bills in the 110th and 111th Congress that increase financial aid for college students, particularly low- and moderate-income students. I also voted to cut student loan interest rates in half, from 6.8% to 3.4%.
In the 111th Congress, I joined my colleagues in passing into law the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE) Act. The GIVE Act will increase funding for AmeriCorps, establish new service programs, and provide measures of student loan forgiveness and increased higher education grants to participants in these service programs. Participants will also be eligible to receive the maximum authorized Pell Grant amount, which will help fund their college education.
The global economy of the 21st Century requires a college-educated workforce. By helping more hard-working families send their children to college, we will be able to create that workforce here in Western North Carolina.