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.
After House Republicans’ deep divisions led to the failure of the Farm bill last week, Congress has less than one week remaining before the July 4th district work period to address several crucial issues. Here’s a look at legislation that the Republican leadership should bring to the House Floor for consideration, but instead continues to ignore:
“Unless Congress acts by July 1, interest rates for student loans will double from 3.4% to 6.8%.
“I am glad that President Obama highlighted the issue of student loan interest rates today, which Congress must address before the deadline of July 1.
“The President’s visits to Moravia Park Elementary School, a Judy Center; Ellicott Dredges; and the Center for Urban Families in Baltimore today show that he remains focused on creating jobs and opportunities for families in America.
Continued refusal by the Republican leadership to stop the sequester has resulted in the reckless, across-the-board spending cuts going into effect. One of the areas that could be impacted by these irrational cuts are education and job readiness programs that invest in our future.
While many impacts of the sequester will not be felt right away, a number of stories from across the country have started to trickle in.
“The President’s new STEM Master Teachers Corps is a bold initiative aimed at making American students more competitive in today’s job market. In meetings with manufacturing leaders, I hear the same message: manufacturers want to bring jobs back, but we are not producing enough workers with the science and math skills necessary. Recruiting, retaining, and rewarding highly-effective STEM teachers will improve the likelihood that our students will graduate with the skills they need to compete for jobs and pursue postsecondary studies. I am pleased the President will immediately make resources available through the Teacher Incentive Fund to meet these objectives.
Democrats’ Make It In America plan is based on the belief that when more products are made in America, more families will be able to Make It In America. The plan is intended to create the conditionsto help American businesses produce goods here, innovate here, and create jobs here; it includes many of the investments necessary for America to out-educate, out-innovate, and out-build its international competitors. President Obama has already signed ten Make It In America bills into law, many of which won bipartisan support. Business and labor leaders alike support Democrats’ Make It In America plan—because Making It In America is central to the future of our competitiveness, our jobs, and our place in the world.
As he prepared to take office, President Kennedy spoke to a nation troubled by anxiety over America’s leadership in the world and uncertainty over whether future Americans would inherit a strong and secure economy.
“Today the House passed a conference report that will give certainty to millions of students and that will pave the way for jobs and economic growth. This should have been done weeks ago, but instead Republicans took us to the brink of seeing the highway bill expire and student loan interest rates double.