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Kirsten Gillibrand on Education
Democratic Senator (NY)
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More funds for NCLB and early education
Education- Reform and fully fund ‘No Child Left Behind’
- Make $10,000 in college tuition, tax deductible
- Increase access to early childhood education
Source: 2006 Senate campaign website, gillibrand2006.com, “Issues”
, Nov 7, 2006
Voted YES on additional $10.2B for federal education & HHS projects.
Veto override on the bill, the American Competitiveness Scholarship Act, the omnibus appropriations bill for the Departments of Departments of Education, Health & Human Services, and Labor. Original bill passed & was then vetoed by the President. Proponents support voting YES because:
Rep. OBEY: This bill, more than any other, determines how willing we are to make the investment necessary to assure the future strength of this country and its working families. The President has chosen to cut the investments in this bill by more than $7.5 billion in real terms. This bill rejects most of those cuts.
Opponents recommend voting NO because:
Rep. LEWIS: This bill reflects a fundamental difference in opinion on the level of funding necessary to support the Federal Government's role in education, health and workforce programs. The bill is $10.2 billion over the President's budget request. While many of these programs are popular on both sides of the aisle,
this bill contains what can rightly be considered lower priority & duplicative programs. For example, this legislation continues three different programs that deal with violence prevention. An omnibus bill is absolutely the wrong and fiscally reckless approach to completing this year's work. It would negate any semblance of fiscal discipline demonstrated by this body in recent years.
Veto message from President Bush:
This bill spends too much. It exceeds [by $10.2 billion] the reasonable and responsible levels for discretionary spending that I proposed to balance the budget by 2012. This bill continues to fund 56 programs that I proposed to terminate because they are duplicative, narrowly focused, or not producing results. This bill does not sufficiently fund programs that are delivering positive outcomes. This bill has too many earmarks--more than 2,200 earmarks totaling nearly $1 billion. I urge the Congress to send me a fiscally responsible bill that sets priorities.
Reference: American Competitiveness Scholarship Act;
Bill Veto override on H.R. 3043
; vote number 2007-1122
on Nov 15, 2007
$25B to renovate or repair elementary schools.
Gillibrand signed Fix America's Schools Today Act (FAST)
Fix America's Schools Today (FAST) Act of 2011: - Authorizes $25 billion to carry out this title, which shall be available until Sept. 30, 2012
- Allocates grants to states and, through them, subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to modernize, renovate, or repair early learning or elementary or secondary education facilities.
- Requires grants be allocated directly to the 100 LEAs with the largest numbers of children aged 5-17 living in poverty, to modernize, renovate, or repair such facilities.
- Requires states to give subgrant priority to projects that comply with certain green building standards.
- Prohibits the use of such grants for new construction or routine maintenance costs.
- Reserves funds for a survey, by the National Center for Education Statistics, of nationwide public school construction, modernization, renovation, and repair needs.
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Allocates grants to states to modernize, renovate, or repair existing facilities at community colleges.
- Requires, with certain exceptions, the iron, steel, and manufactured goods used in projects funded by this Act to be domestic.
- Applies the prevailing wage rate requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act to projects assisted pursuant to this Act.
Source: HR2948&S1597 11-S1597 on Sep 21, 2011
Make two years of community college free.
Gillibrand signed making two years of community college free
Excerpts from press release from Tammy Baldwin, Senate sponsor: The America's College Promise Act makes two years of community college free by:
- Providing a federal match of $3 for every $1 invested by the state to waive community college tuition and fees for eligible students;
- Ensuring that programs offer academic credits which are fully transferable to four-year institutions in their state;
- Establishing a new grant program to provide pathways to success at minority-serving institutions by helping them cover a significant portion of tuition and fees for the first two years of attendance for low-income students.
Community, technical, and tribal colleges enroll 40% of all college students today. Community colleges are uniquely positioned to partner with employers to create tailored training programs to meet economic needs within their communities such as nursing and advanced manufacturing. Opposing argument: (Cato Institute, "College
Courtesy of the Taxpayer? No Thanks," Jan. 9, 2015): One look at either community college outcomes or labor market outlooks reveals free college to be educational folly. Community college completion rates are atrocious: a mere 19.5% of community college students complete their programs. Meanwhile, the for-profit sector has an almost 63% completion rate. And [about 70%] of the new job categories in coming years will require a high school diploma or less.
Opposing argument: (Heritage Foundation, "Free Community College Is a Bad Deal", July 15, 2016): Free college proposals would subject community colleges to the same types of subsidies-induced inflation endemic at four-year institutions. And low-income students already have access to federal Pell Grants, which can cover the bulk of community college tuition. By contrast, a more open market of alternative schooling models, such as online or vocational education programs, could better tailor degrees at a lower cost.
Source: America's College Promise Act 15-S1716 on Jul 8, 2015
Recruit women & minorities for STEM teaching.
Gillibrand co-sponsored S2710 & HR4803
Grant program to increase the participation of women and underrepresented minorities in STEM fields. Congress finds the following:- STEM education at the undergraduate level is vital to developing a workforce that will allow the US to remain the leader in the 21st century global economy.
- Women and minorities comprise over half of the US workforce but only make up 26% of STEM workers.
- Approximately 52% of women and minorities in STEM fields quit their jobs about 10 years into their careers.
- It is important for gender equality to increase the retention of women in STEM fields, as women in STEM careers earn 33% more than those in non-STEM jobs, and have a smaller wage gap relative to men.
- The US should address the need to increase the number of individuals from underrepresented minority segments of the population who work in engineering.
- Women and underrepresented minorities leave the STEM fields at higher rates than their counterparts, leading to a need to develop resources to retain these groups in the STEM fields.
- An eligible entity that receives a grant under this section shall use such grant funds to carry out one or more of the following activities designed to increase the participation of women or minorities underrepresented in science and engineering:
- Online workshops.
- 2) Mentoring programs that partner STEM professionals with students.
- Internships for undergraduate and graduate students in the STEM fields.
- Conducting outreach programs that provide elementary school and secondary school students with opportunities to increase their exposure to STEM fields.
- Programs to increase the recruitment and retention of underrepresented faculty.
Source: Women and Minorities in STEM Booster Act 16-S2710 on Mar 17, 2016
Don't count combat pay against free school lunch.
Gillibrand signed Military Family Nutrition Protection Act
A bill to amend the National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to require the exclusion of combat pay from income for purposes of determining eligibility for child nutrition programs and the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children.
Source: S.581 2009-S581 on Mar 12, 2009
Page last updated: Mar 15, 2019