Issue Position: Education

Issue Position

Issue Position: Education

Senator Domenici serves as a member of both the Budget and Appropriations committees, putting him in a unique position to help New Mexico's students. There are several major federal education programs that affect New Mexican's; these include the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Higher Education Act, and Head Start.

Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)

ESEA programs are those authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). This federal legislation is the primary law that affects K-12 students.

In 2001, Senator Domenici joined in a bipartisan effort to amend the ESEA. These amendments, known as the No Child Left Behind Act, emphasize local control and accountability. Domenici believes that high standards should be set and states, school districts, and individual schools should be held accountable to those standards. He believes that it is important to have high, voluntary standards in the basic skills of reading and math, to measure whether students are meeting these standards, and to provide that information to students, parents, and teachers.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

IDEA provides funds to states for the education of children with disabilities. It contains detailed requirements for the receipt of these funds, including the core requirement of the provision of a free appropriate public education. Through his work on the Budget Committee, Domenici has worked for many years to increase funding for education programs that serve those with special needs.

As the IDEA program is reauthorized, there are many important issues which Domenici hopes Congress will address. These issues include the under-identification of children with disabilities, issues relating to children with disabilities who exhibit violent or inappropriate behavior, and funding issues.

Higher Education Act (HEA)

HEA authorizes the federal government's major student aid programs, as well as other significant initiatives. HEA programs and activities fall primarily into four main categories:

* Student financial aid,
* Services to help students complete high school and enter and succeed in postsecondary education,
* Aid to institutions, and
* Aid to improve K-12 teacher training at postsecondary institutions.

Through his work on the Appropriations Committee, Senator Domenici has worked hard to increase funding for all higher education programs, especially the Pell Grant program and programs that support Hispanic Serving Institutions.

This session, Domenici introduced two bills aimed at amending Title V of the HEA. Title V is the primary vehicle used to target urgently needed funds to Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs). These grants are essential to institutions that provide and increase the number of educational opportunities available to Hispanic students and have been very effective in helping Hispanic students gain access to Higher Education. The first bill, S.1081, will amend the HEA to eliminate the 2-year wait out period for grant recipients. The second bill, S.1287, will eliminate the requirement that HSIs demonstrate 50% of their Hispanic students are low income. Both of these bills are simple improvements to the legislation that will benefit all HSIs.

Head Start

Head Start is a federal program that has provided comprehensive early childhood development services to low-income children since 1965. Services provided to preschool-aged children include child development, educational, health, nutritional, social and other activities, intended to prepare low-income children for entering kindergarten. The program is administered by the Administration for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Unlike many other social service programs, federal Head Start funds are provided directly to local grantees, rather than through states. Programs are locally designed, and are administered by a network of about 1,500 public and private nonprofit agencies.

Senator Domenici is committed to high quality, strong Head Start and early childhood development programs to ensure all children are prepared for school. During the time that Domenici served as Chairman or Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, nationwide spending for Head Start increased 107%. In New Mexico, spending increased over 500%. For the 2002?2003 academic school years Congress provided $6.5 billion for the Head Start program. This includes $49.2 million for New Mexico. Domenici is committed to ensuring greater collaboration and integration of all the components of Head Start; providing the education, health, family, and community supports and services that contribute to children's readiness, especially for low income children and families in New Mexico.

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