As someone whose life was transformed by education, I understand the importance of providing all Nevadans with the opportunity to receive a quality education.  That is why I have fought to provide more resources for Nevada's schools, colleges, and universities and have worked to make higher education more affordable and accessible to all Nevada students.  I also remain committed to addressing Nevada's high dropout rate, concerns with the No Child Left Behind Act, and ensuring that Nevada students graduate prepared for college or a career.

 
The Path to College: Resource Guide for Nevada Students (PDF)
El Camino Hacia La Universidad (PDF)

Supporting Nevada's Teachers, Public Schools, Colleges, and Universities
A well-educated and prepared workforce is key to rebuilding our economy.  This is why I helped lead passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act), which provided nearly a half a billion dollars in funding directly to Nevada's schools, colleges, and universities.  This funding helped protect several thousand educator jobs and created hundreds more.  It also helped prevent increased class sizes, reductions in special education services, and the loss of other, essential school services. 

In 2010, when school districts in Nevada and all across the country were facing the prospect of having to lay off thousands of teachers, I led passage of the Education Jobs Fund which provided $10 billion to assist states and local school districts retain or hire teachers.  Nevada schools received about $80 million in assistance, which helped keep as many as 1,400 teachers across Nevada in the classroom.  In addition, over the course of my time in the Senate, I have secured millions in federal funding for essential programs at our K-12 schools, and over a half a billion dollars for research and projects at Nevada's colleges and universities.

Keeping the Door to College Open
As a college degree becomes more important for success, increasing costs have put higher education out of reach for too many Nevadans, and strained the budgets of students and their families.  Making college more affordable and accessible for Nevada's students has been one my top legislative priorities.

Over the last few years, Congress has significantly increased federal financial assistance for students.  I was pleased to help lead these efforts with passage of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, and the Health Care and Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.  Combined, these bills have led to dramatic increases in federal financial assistance for low- and moderate-income students and their families by increasing the maximum Pell Grant to $5,550 and linking the grant to inflation to ensure that it will keep pace with the rising cost of higher education.  These bills also expanded student loan forgiveness opportunities, and implemented and strengthened the Income-Based Repayment Program (IBR).  This fall, college graduates in Nevada will be able to cap their loan payments at 10 percent of their net income through the IBR program, and have their student loans forgiven after 20 years of making payments.  For more information on federal student loans and the IBR program, please click here to download my "Frequently Asked Questions on Federal Student Loans" brochure.

The College Cost Reduction and Access Act also contained a provision that cut the interest rate for Federal Direct Stafford loans over the course of five years.  The interest rate was scheduled to increase from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1, 2012.  This increase would have saddled more than 7 million students, including 26,000 Nevadans, with an additional $1,000 in interest over the life of each loan.  In order to protect students from the increase in student loan interest rates, Congress recently passed, and President Obama signed into law, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, which contains a provision to keep the interest rate for federally subsidized student loans at 3.4 percent for another year.

For more information on all federal student aid programs, visit StudentAid.gov. 
If you are having trouble with your student loans, visit the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau web page. 
To help manage your Federal student loan, visit StudentLoans.gov.
For information on and to compare college costs, visit the College Affordability and Transparency Center web page.

The Recovery Act also created the American Opportunity Tax Credit, a $2,500 partially-refundable tax credit for tuition, fees, or textbooks to help families with the cost of college.  For more information on the American Opportunity Tax Credit, visit IRS.gov.

A New Direction for No Child Left Behind
It is clear that significant changes must be made to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).  The law has been vastly underfunded, accountability measures have proven far too punitive, and states have been given little flexibility in implementing the law's requirements.  NCLB has also caused good schools to be labeled as failing and has put undue pressure on students and teachers to focus on passing standardized tests instead of engaging in other subjects such as science, history, art, or music.

The Senate and House education committees are currently working on ways to improve NCLB – which is now referred to by its original name, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).  I am committed to a reauthorization that ensures accountability, but recognizes all levels of student improvement and growth.  Since schools across America and Nevada cannot wait on Congress to make changes to the law, the Secretary of Education recently announced that the U.S. Department of Education would waive certain provisions of No Child Left Behind in exchange for continuing reforms begun under the Recovery Act.  In August 2012, the Secretary of Education granted Nevada’s waiver request, freeing districts across the state from many of the requirements in the law and providing more flexibility to schools.

Preparing Nevada's Students for the Global Economy
We must ensure that our nation's students and teachers are prepared to continue leading the world in innovation, research, and technology.  I have and will continue to be a champion of scientific research and education.  In order to stay competitive long into the future, America needs the necessary education and innovation infrastructure.  That is why I was a lead sponsor of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act, which focuses on increasing American innovation and competitiveness to ensure that our nation's students and teachers are prepared to lead the world in research and technology.  This important legislation has strengthened educational opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) from elementary through graduate school by supporting internship opportunities and fellowships for students and encouraging students studying in STEM areas to pursue teaching credentials.  This bill also significantly increased federal investment in research for the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Office of Science at the Department of Energy, as well as other federal agencies to strengthen math and science education.

In addition, the Recovery Act included significant funding for scientific research and technology and expanded access to broadband, particularly in rural communities.  These investments will help ensure that students have the skills they need to be ready for higher education and the workforce.

Improving Nevada's Graduation Rates
Nevada has one of the lowest high school graduation rates of any state, with less than 70 percent of high school students graduating on time.  For African American and Latino students, that number is closer to 50 percent.  I have met with educators and school leaders from across Nevada to discuss why so many students continue to drop out of school.  Among the challenges identified were curriculum that often lacks relevance to students' lives, large and impersonal high schools, and a shortage of guidance counselors.  To help address these challenges, I introduced the Secondary School Innovation Fund Act in the 111th Congress, which would provide grants to encourage middle and high schools to find innovative ways to improve student achievement and increase graduation rates.  I also introduced the Graduation Promise Act, which would create a fund to target the high schools across the country with graduation rates under 60 percent.  These schools account for nearly half of all dropouts nationwide, and this legislation would help schools implement effective dropout prevention strategies and interventions.  While Nevada schools have made great strides in ensuring that more students graduate from high school, we must continue to work to improve our dropout rate.

Expanding Access to Quality Early Childhood Education
High-quality, early childhood education is one of the best investments our country can make.  Several years ago, Congress passed the Head Start for School Readiness Act, to improve and expand the Head Start program.  The legislation strengthened teacher training, improved quality, increased accountability, and expanded income-eligibility limits to allow thousands more children to take advantage of this program.  In Nevada alone, over 10,000 three- and four-year-olds are eligible for Head Start programs, but only about one quarter of those participate.  This legislation opened the doors to Head Start for tens of thousands of children in Nevada and across America.  To build on these improvements, the Recovery Act also included significant investments for the Head Start and Early Head Start program and allowed Nevada providers to expand the number of children served by these critical early learning programs.

Attracting High Quality Teachers to Nevada
Our children deserve great teachers in every classroom.  After years of extraordinary growth, Nevada has a tremendous need for additional qualified teachers.  To address persistent shortages, I worked to bring Teach for America, a nonprofit group committed to educational equality, to the Clark County School District.  I am pleased that, as a result, several hundred new teachers are now teaching in Clark County schools.

One of the reasons many college graduates do not enter the teaching profession is because of high student loan debt.  To help address this issue, the College Cost Reduction and Access Act expanded loan forgiveness programs for graduates who spend 10 years in a public service profession, including teaching.  The legislation also established TEACH grants, which provide grants of $4,000 per year for undergraduate students who commit to teaching in high-need school districts.  For more information about student loan forgiveness, please visit StudentAid.ed.gov.

Additionally, the Recovery Act provided over $100 million in grants, which helped Nevada address teacher shortages and provided new routes to teaching for jobless individuals looking to enter the teaching field.

Fulfilling Our Promise to Students with Disabilities
Improving educational opportunities for children with disabilities has also been one of my top priorities.  Nearly a decade ago, Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Improvement Act, which requires the federal government to provide 40 percent of the funding towards the cost of special education.  After several years of a decreasing federal share under the previous Administration, the Recovery Act, helped increase the federal share of special education funding to its highest level ever, and provided nearly $75 million for special education programs in Nevada schools.

Providing Safe, Reliable Transportation for Rural School Children
Many rural school districts do not have safe and reliable school buses and lack the resources to buy new buses or retrofit the ones they have.  This leaves children with no choice but to ride in outdated, unsafe buses.  I was pleased to help bring federal funds in the form of grants and low-interest loans to Nevada to retrofit and replace outdated school buses across the state.  I will continue to find ways to assist rural districts in acquiring new buses and updating their outdated buses.

Encouraging Nevadans to Serve Their Communities
In the 111th Congress, I helped lead passage of the Serve America Act, to incentivize Americans to serve their communities and help tackle many of the nation's serious challenges.  The bipartisan law builds on the success of the existing AmeriCorps program, tripled the number of volunteers, and created new programs that focus on education, health care, clean energy, veterans, and the economically disadvantaged.  The Serve America Act also raised the stipend for AmeriCorps volunteers and created fellowships for people 55 and older, as well as summer positions for middle- and high-school students.  In tribute to victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks, the legislation designated September 11th as a national day of service and remembrance.

Providing Healthy Food for School Children
I believe that nutrition is critical to the success of all children in school.  I was pleased to secure over $1 million in the most recent Farm Bill to expand the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program, an increase of nearly 50 percent from the previous year.  Nevada schools received funding to bring healthy foods into classrooms, along with nutrition education and awareness about the importance of eating healthy.  The program has been operating as a pilot program, serving 14 states since 2002, and is very popular among kids and parents, as well as school and food service staff.

An additional grant of approximately $679,000 was included in the Recovery Act for the Child Nutrition School Equipment Grants Program.  This provided essential funding for schools to make improvements to school kitchens in order to handle and process healthy foods.  Whether in the home or the classroom, it is important to provide an environment in which children can make good food choices.  The funding helped schools across the country offer high quality meals that give our country's children the fuel they need to succeed in school.

Child Nutrition–School Meals
I went to primary school in a one room school house where all the grades were taught by one teacher.  We went home for lunch each day and my mother did her best to make sure that my two brothers and I had a good meal in the afternoon.  Even in rustic, hardscrabble Searchlight, we had a lunch that would get us through the day.

Unfortunately, not every child has that today.  Especially, in communities that have been hit with high unemployment and foreclosure rates.  In Nevada, there are more than 117,000 children living in poverty who do not know where they will get their next meal.  The reality is sobering – more than 60,000 women, infants, and children participate in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, also known as the WIC Program.  Science and good sense tell us that kids need healthy meals to succeed in their classes, be active, and lead healthy lives.  The recession has taken a toll on the schools and local governments that provide a nutritious breakfast and lunch to school children and other programs that help families put good food on the table.

This is why I worked with my Senate colleagues in the 111th Congress to unanimously pass the Healthy and Hunger-Free Kids Act.  This important legislation, which President Obama signed into law, helps children, schools, and local government provide nutritious meals to children who otherwise would not eat breakfast or lunch.  It reduces the paperwork and other red tape that cost schools money and increased the reimbursement rate so schools do not have to absorb the rising cost of food, an increase that has not been made since 1973.  This bill also made several other critical changes in what our children eat in school:

• Provides money for fresh food instead of cheaper, processed food.
• Supports the sourcing of local produce and school gardens. 
• Removes junk food and sodas from school vending machines.
• Helps states fund obesity prevention efforts and nutrition education; programs that help children eat better, and reduce health care costs for families and the state.

The Nevadans who rely on these nutrition programs are people who never thought they would need help.  The Healthy and Hunger-Free Kids Act reduces the stigma of getting help by giving WIC participants electronic debit cards, and in high-needs schools, by giving free lunch to all students so those who cannot afford lunch are not singled out.  The bill also increases eligibility for free meals to children who are in foster care.  It makes good economic sense and begins the work of fundamentally changing the quality of food served in our schools.   

Senator Reid and Education Secretary Duncan  meeting with the principal and parents from Harmon Elementary School in Las Vegas.