Education
Education
Strengthening our schools is vital to our kids success in the global economy. I spend a lot of time in local schools and with local educators. I know that they are struggling with reduced resources, but working hard to provide a quality education to our next generation of leaders. We need to support their efforts.
I believe we must set high standards for our students, demand accountability from our schools, and preserve local control of our school districts. The federal government must also ensure adequate resources are available for targeted programs like those that help train teachers, reduce class size and support education for low-income and disabled students.
In recent years, college costs have grown substantially. With two-thirds of the jobs created in Michigan over the next decade expected to require post-secondary education and training, I have made increasing access to higher education a top priority.
Making College More Affordable
As our economy becomes increasingly competitive and high tech, the need for a college degree or advanced training becomes increasingly necessary to enter the workforce. Unfortunately, rising tuition costs force the average borrower $17,500 into debt upon graduation. A recent report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education revealed that between 1982 and 2007, college tuition and fees rose three times as fast as median family income, after adjusting for inflation. In the past decade, there has been a 50 percent increase in the number of undergraduate borrowers and a doubling in the inflation-adjusted total of students’ debts.
Improving and Supporting Schools
The worst economy since the Great Depression is still causing negative ripples though our local school systems. As part of the Economic Recovery package we increased funding to local school districts for two years and provided critical emergency funding to prevent teacher layoffs. We also increased federal funding to support highest-need students through the federal Pell grant program. This support helped to stabilize local budgets. Unfortunately, the Republican budget proposal contains deep cuts to education. While I believe Congress must act to manage the deficit, we need a balanced approach that does not impose crippling cuts to vital programs that are linked to American competitiveness.
(Updated June 10, 2011)