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Education

Democrats are committed to ensuring all Americans have access to a high-quality education. If our nation is going to remain the world’s leader, we must not lag our global competitors in education. Democrats are focused on making higher education and skills training more accessible, reducing high school dropout rates, and providing students with the support they need to secure well-paying jobs. From day one, the Trump Administration has undermined protections for and disinvested in America’s students. President Trump’s budget proposes to cut teacher training and literacy programs and reduces funding for the schools and communities most in need. Congressional Republicans have also proposed extreme funding bills that dramatically cut education and job training programs, threatening our ability to build a competitive workforce and help more Americans find good-paying work. Democrats are fighting to protect families from these harmful cuts and have a strong record of making investments that will strengthen education. Democrats have increased Pell grants, cut red tape in the loan process, and made it easier to repay student loans once students join the workforce. Democrats also enacted a major reform bill that ended wasteful taxpayer subsidies to big banks and directed the savings to helping students instead. Democrats also made record investments in community colleges and minority-serving higher education institutions.


Education Related

This week, House committees begin marking up pieces of the American Rescue Plan to provide desperately needed relief to American families.
 
It is heartbreaking enough that American students today have to confront threats to the quality of their education from slashed budgets, threats to their lives from mass shootings, and threats to their health from this pandemic.
Yesterday, the President released his budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2021 and made his priorities clear: he continues to put the wealthiest Americans first at the expense of working families. The budget proposal makes tax cuts for the wealthy permanent while breaking his promises to working families on health care, the economy, and other areas that help Americans get ahead and keep them safe.
 
Today, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) and Republican Rep. Dr. Phil Roe (TN-01) re-introduced H.R. 2468, the bipartisan School-Based Allergies and Asthma Management Program Act in the 116th Congress. 
One week before the anniversary of the tragic shooting at Majority Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (MD) met with Stand with Parkland, a national organization founded by families of students and teachers killed in the shooting. 
I want to thank Ranking Member Bobby Scott of the House Education and Workforce Committee for his leadership on the ‘Aim Higher’ agenda and for introducing the Aim Higher Act, which I strongly support. 
Thank you Congressman Scott not only for leading this along with Ranking Member, and soon to be Chairman, Nadler of the Judiciary Committee.
Mr. Speaker, on March 24, I was in Morristown, New Jersey with former Assistant U.S. Attorney Mikie Sherrill, where we attended the March For Our Lives. 
The proposals unveiled by the White House today reflect the mistaken view that this is only a problem affecting schools and that arming teachers is an acceptable solution.
Last week, Congressional Republicans allowed funding to lapse on vital student loans for low income and first generation students.