Transforming American Education is Top Obama Priority, Secretary Duncan tells Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan made his first official appearance before the House Education and Labor Committee to discuss the Obama administration’s agenda for improving educational opportunities for all Americans, from “cradle to career.”
“President Obama is committed to building the world-class education system our economy needs and our students deserve. He put us on the right track by putting Arne Duncan at the helm of our nation’s schools,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chair of the committee. “Secretary Duncan and President Obama are both committed to making the real education reforms that families deserve and our economy needs. I look forward to working closely with both of them to build a stronger economy that gives all Americans the opportunity to receive a world-class education.”
Duncan said that transforming the nation’s education system was fundamental to building a lasting economic recovery.
“Our agenda from early childhood through 12th grade is focused on helping states do the right thing. And that’s appropriate because states are responsible for establishing systems of education through the 12th grade,” said Duncan. “It’s our role to make it a national priority to reform schools and help states and districts do that.” Duncan singled out the dropout crisis as a problem and urged immediate action. Last week, the Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on this topic.
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Duncan discussed the historic $100 billion education investment included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
“Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, we have laid the groundwork for reform on the K-12 level and made an early down payment on expanding access to early childhood education and increasing student aid for college students.”
The ARRA includes a $39.6 billion state fiscal stabilization fund for states to use to backfill budget cuts, stave off teacher layoffs and upgrade, modernize and repair school facilities. In order to be eligible to receive the funds, states must meet four assurances that they are making progress on reforms: ensuring excellent teachers are placed in their neediest classrooms, improving the quality of assessments, developing data systems to give timely information on what’s happening in the nation’s schools and fixing their lowest-performing schools.
The law also creates a $5 billion fund for competitive grants for a “Race to the Top Fund” that will allow the Secretary to reward and encourage innovation “around the four pillars of reform outlined in the stabilization fund.”
Duncan also outlined President Obama’s FY 2010 education budget priorities, which include investing in early childhood education, literacy and expanding support for teachers.
In addition, Duncan highlighted President Obama’s commitment to making college more affordable and accessible for American families. The President’s FY 2010 budget includes a proposal to increase the Pell Grant scholarship for students by almost $100 billion over ten years, at no additional cost to taxpayers. His plan would be paid for by making the federal government the sole originator of all new federal student loans beginning in the 2010 school year, a move that would make student loans more reliable, efficient and cost-effective for students, families and taxpayers.
“President Obama has set a goal that, by 2020, the United States once again will have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. That’s an achievable goal but, to do that, we have to make college affordable. As federal policymakers, we need to improve preparation for college and expand college access and completion by increasing financial aid so that students of all income levels can pay for college without taking on a mountain of debt.”
On Thursday, the committee will hear more from the Department of Education at a hearing to examine proposals for increasing student aid through reforming the student loan programs. Lenders and colleges and universities, and an economist will also testify.
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