I <3 the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act.
Posted on 15. Jul, 2009 by Bonnie.
Hot off the federal edu-news presses. This morning, Rep. George Miller (CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, introduced the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act. Here are two reasons why this legislation had me at hello:
1) Tackling the Student Loan Problem
If you ask me, students these days are way too familiar with Sallie Mae. She’s like the house guest who will never leave. Sadly there are very few ways to fund higher education - other than to go in debt. Deeply in debt. And, guess who’s making money off this? Our forever-friend (whether we like it or not), Sallie Mae.
This legislation would eliminate wasteful subsidies to student loan companies and use the $87 billion in savings on a bold policy package to make college more affordable and accessible for low and middle income families. The legislation closely follows a proposal by President Obama, despite fierce opposition from the student loan industry, and represents the largest ever investment in higher education.
As Politico puts it, ‘Our choice is clear: we can continue funneling taxpayer dollars through boardrooms, or we can start sending them directly to dorm rooms.’ My vote is for the dorm. Check out the full Politico article here.
2) Investing in Innovative Early Education Programs.
Solve the problem before it starts. Makes sense, huh? This is why I’m such a huge fan of early education programs. I’m not alone. So is President Obama. Now we see Rep. George Miller is as well. Hooray for kids and common sense.
To ensure more kids reach kindergarten ready to succeed, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act includes an Early Learning Challenge Fund to increase the number of low-income children in high quality early learning settings. If passed this legislation would invest $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.
- Use data to improve child outcomes.
Transform 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 that 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.
Here is a link to a short summary on the House Education and Labor Committee website.
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Education News of the Day for July 15, 2009
Posted on 15. Jul, 2009 by Lindsey.
UW Medicine/Seattle Children’s open new program for teenage athletes: Protecting young athletes
Teacher of the year nominations : Chelan teacher wins regional Teacher of the Year award
Unlikely regions experiencing achievement gaps: Racial Gap in Testing Sees Shift by Region
