Dear Mr. Dodaro: On July 1, 2010, the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program was eliminated and replaced by 100 percent direct lending. Since 1965, the FFEL program leveraged hundreds of billions of dollars in private sector capital to help Americans pay for college. However, with the elimination of FFEL, the government now originates and oversees every single new federal higher education l... Read more »
Two years ago today, President Obama signed his health care reform plan into law. His decision reflects the Democrats’ fatal error in believing that one day the public would support their health care scheme. In fact, not even the president is taking the time today to tout what the administration hails as one of his signature achievements. It hasn’t happened and, according to the Wall Street Journa... Read more »
Dear Mr. Secretary: Last Spring, the President signed into law the SOAR Act which reauthorized, for five years, the highly successful Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP). The program, created in response to years of a crisis with respect to the quality of education in the nation's capital, provides low-income District families with scholarships to attend private scholastic institutions in the D... Read more »
Dear Ms. London: We are very pleased that Congress passed, and the President signed into law, the SOAR Act which reauthorized the highly successful D.C. Opportunity Scholarships Program (OSP) as part of "three-sector" approach to educational improvement in the District. We know that as the current Administrator of the OSP, the DC Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation (the Trust) is uniq... Read more »
Tomorrow marks two years since President Obama signed his government takeover of health care into law. Nancy Pelosi once said Congress had to pass ObamaCare before the public could learn what was in it. Two years later, the nation’s workers and employers are still learning new details and living with the harmful consequences of the law. Since enactment, numerous studies and personal testimony conf... Read more »
Dear Chairman Rehberg and Ranking Member DeLauro: I write to encourage you to increase funding for Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. To read the full letter, click here. # # # Read more »
Without a great deal of fanfare, National Labor Relations Board Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon recently released a report that amounts to his annual performance review. Solomon is responsible for investigating and prosecuting violations of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), as well as overseeing NLRB field offices that apply the law and supervise union elections. In a letter sent to his... Read more »
A new article in CQ Weekly profiles the administration’s brazen reinterpretation of federal education law, affording an opportunity to examine the real effect of this agenda on our country’s K-12 education system. Although Education Secretary Arne Duncan defends his decision to “move ahead on his own” to reinvent the nation’s classrooms, his actions are leaving states with more headaches and uncer... Read more »
House Republicans began the 112th Congress with a promise, one that centered on listening to the American people and fielding their concerns and ideas for turning things around. We vowed to do away with backroom deals in Washington and advance legislation through a transparent, open process. Throughout our efforts to revamp elementary and secondary education law, House Committee on Education and t... Read more »
Today, the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce approved the Student Success Act (H.R. 3989) and the Encouraging Innovation and Effective Teachers Act (H.R. 3990). Together, these thoughtful proposals will reduce federal intervention in schools, provide state and local leaders much needed flexibility, and help get better teachers into classrooms. While some critics try to dismiss H.... Read more »
