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Education
I believe that we must improve and strengthen our public
education system in the United States so that it is
second to none, and that we need to regard it as our
primary means to achieve equality of opportunity in
this country--equality of opportunity not just as an
aspiration, but in fact.
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K-12 Education
Every child is entitled to a high quality, public
education. This principle is so deeply held in Wisconsin
that it is written into our state’s constitution.
I believe that principle must be applied to all children
in America. While this objective has yet to be reached,
it is absolutely essential that the federal government
be a partner with state and local government to provide
the resources necessary to make it a reality.
In 2001, Congress passed the “No Child Left Behind” Act to improve
standards, hold schools accountable for performance and provide additional
resources. In many ways, No Child Left Behind is a positive step forward. However,
there are significant problems that need to be addressed. I support legislation
to make testing requirements more rational. In addition, I support full funding of the legislation. President Bush and the Republican controlled Congress have under-funded "No Child Left Behind" by billions of dollars. The goals of the law will never be achieved without the promised funding.
The federal government must also meet its commitment to pay for 40% of the
costs of implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). Requiring
local school districts to provide IDEA services, while the federal government
is paying less than half its commitment puts a significant financial burden on
local districts. This burden ends up falling on property tax payers.
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Higher Education
Access to affordable higher education is essential if
America is to retain its competitive advantage in a global
economy. Federal student aid, which 20 years ago was a
grants-based system, is now primarily a loan-based system.
I support increased funding for a broad variety of
financial aid programs, including, Pell Grants, SEOG,
Work Study, GEAR UP, and TRIO.
In recent years, Congress has cut billions of dollars from federal student aid programs to pay for special tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans. Instead of making college more affordable, the Republican Leadership is forcing student and parent borrowers to pay more through increased interest rates on their educational loans. It is one of the reasons why I voted against the most recent reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, which failed to make college more affordable and accessible, improve America’s competitiveness, or wisely invest in America’s future.
American students and families deserve more from federal education policy. I will continue to fight for greater investment and expanded affordability and access to higher education for all students.
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Federal Funding
As your representative, I have been successful in my efforts to provide federal
funding for a variety of educational projects in the district, including:
- Beloit School District, for telecommunications upgrades
- UW-Rock County, for laboratory equipment and computer technology
- Sauk Prairie Schools, for after school programs
- Wisconsin Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, to train individuals with
disabilities
- UW System Co-Lab for technology for anywhere-anytime learning
- MATC, for training of closed captioners
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