America’s education system faces serious challenges, and the federal law governing K-12 classrooms is overdue for reform. But instead of working with Congress to rewrite the law, the Obama administration is using conditional waivers and pet grant programs to compel states to adopt the president’s preferred education reforms. In fact, just last week the administration announced plans to further exp... Read more »
A story in the Wall Street Journal summed up the economic challenges many continue to face. In an article entitled “Some Unemployed Keep Losing Ground,” reporter Ben Cassleman writes: “The recession ended four years ago. But for many job seekers, it hasn’t felt like much of a recovery.” Despite recent progress in the job market, Cassleman notes, “The trouble is that the pace is still far too slow ... Read more »
On Thursday, June 27 at 10:00 a.m., the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, chaired by Rep. Todd Rokita (R-IN), will hold a hearing entitled, “School Meal Regulations: Discussing the Costs and Consequences for Schools and Students.” The hearing will take place in room 2175 of the Rayburn House Office Building In 2010 Congress approved a massive expansion of federa... Read more »
House Education and the Workforce Committee Republicans today released the first in a series of videos highlighting the four key principles of the Student Success Act (H.R. 5), legislation to reform the nation’s K-12 education system. Watch Rep. Martha Roby (R-AL) explain how the bill will reduce federal intrusion in schools and put more control in the hands of state and local leaders: We can’t af... Read more »
House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN) and Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee Chairman Phil Roe (R-TN) issued the following statement today after the Supreme Court decided to review a case challenging the constitutionality of President Obama’s so-called recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB): As we’ve said ... Read more »
On Wednesday, June 26 at 10:00 a.m., the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions, chaired by Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN), will hold a legislative hearing on the Secret Ballot Protection Act (H.R. 2346) and the Representation Fairness Restoration Act (H.R. 2347). The hearing will take place in room 2175 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Introduced by Rep. Roe, the Secret Ballot Protect... Read more »
For the third time in as many weeks, Republicans used their weekly address to push Senate Democrats and President Obama to act on federal student loan rates, which are set to double July 1 unless Congress and the president can agree on a proposal that prevents the rate hike. "As you may know, millions of student-loan borrowers could soon see their interest rates double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 per... Read more »
THE PROBLEM: Over the last four decades, the federal government’s role in K-12 education has increased dramatically. Despite tripling federal funding since 1965, student achievement has remained flat. Meanwhile, the Department of Education currently operates more than 80 programs tied to K-12 classrooms. Many of these programs are duplicative or ineffective, and each comes bundled with its own se... Read more »
THE PROBLEM: Studies have consistently shown teacher quality to be among the most influential factors in student academic achievement. Unfortunately, federal teacher policies, most notably the “Highly Qualified Teacher” mandates, value a teacher’s credentials over his or her ability to boost student learning. Under current law, an educator is considered “highly qualified” if he or she has earned ... Read more »
THE PROBLEM: Any effort to provide students with a quality education must include parents. Parental involvement can help drive innovation, competition, and school improvement. However, current federal policies often ignore the important role parents play, and can stand in the way of state and local efforts to engage parents in their child’s education. For example, under current law, states and sc... Read more »
