Strengthening Education

While these efforts have certainly improved education in Oregon, without sufficient support at the federal level, these improvements cannot be sustained. As Senator, Jeff will work to ensure that all children in America receive the education they need to have a successful future.

Jeff Merkley will work to:

Keep promises to our children by fully funding public schools.
• Last year, President Bush proposed making drastic cuts to the Department of Education, which would have made Oregon one of 44 states to receive less funding next year. Jeff will fight to ensure that these sorts of cuts never happen and that schools have the funding they need to educate our children.
•The expiration of the federal timber payments plan has hit Oregon’s schools hard. Jeff will work to fully restore the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act to improve education and honor the deal struck between Oregon’s timber counties and the federal government.

Completely Overhaul No Child Left Behind
•A school’s improvement should be measured not only by test scores, but also by students’ improvement over time, attendance, graduation rates and other standards that states themselves determine.
•Schools should not have to choose between music and math: all children need a well-rounded curriculum, instead of being taught for a test.
•Instead of penalizing schools, teachers and students who need the most help, the U.S. should provide needed resources to schools with hard to teach students and reward schools, teachers and students who show measurable improvement.
•Congress must restore efforts to reduce class sizes. Jeff will lead this fight to make sure that students actually have the time to get the help they need from teachers.
•States need the flexibility to adopt practices appropriate to each school district. The Jefferson County School District has different needs than the Portland Public Schools District, and schools play an important role in determining their own success.
•Teachers need the salary, support and resources they deserve, especially in their first three years in the classroom and in hard-to-staff schools.

Give young children a fair chance – Head Start Programs must be fully funded.
Every child eligible for Head Start should have the opportunity to enroll.
•Participation in Head Start remains one of the most effective ways to improve the educational performance of children in the United States.

Provide opportunities for high school students: a college education must be affordable.
•The size and number of Pell Grants available to students must be increased. Public college tuition has increased 35 percent over the past four years, but student aid has not kept pace. Workers who possess a college or vocational degree earn approximately 75 percent more than those without a higher education degree.
•A broad-based college tuition tax break should be created for all Americans by providing a deduction of up to $10,000 for college tuition, or a credit of up to $3,000. Government should be doing more – not less – to relieve the growing financial burden of college and relieve the anxiety of parents who worry that they won’t be able to afford their children’s college education.
•Help for veterans of our recent conflicts to get a college education or job training must be increased. Jeff will work to create a G.I. Bill for the 21st Century that helps our men and women in uniform returning from Iraq and Afghanistan go to school. Following World War II and every subsequent war, the G.I. Bill helped hundreds of thousands of veterans pay for a college education.

Provide children with the health care they need: healthy children learn better.
•Every American child deserves health care. Healthy children miss less school days and learn better overall.

Create opportunities for parents to be as involved in their child’s education as they are able.
•Studies show that parental involvement plays a key role in a child’s school achievement.
•When parents are forced to work two and three jobs just to make ends meet, that leaves little time to focus on their kids’ education. Building a secure middle class is a key to a good education for our children.

Provide all Americans with a good education: the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) must be fully funded.
•Congress promised to provide 40 percent of the average per pupil expenditure for each child in special education. However, the federal government has never allocated more than 17 percent to states to carry out the law. In addition, Bush’s proposed FY2008 budget would have cut $800 million in special education programs. Jeff Merkley will work for full funding.