Congressman Mike Ross Newsletter

Op-Ed

Congressman Mike Ross Newsletter

Today's National Debt: $9,394,354,380,955.73

Your Share: $30,891.15

Dear Friend,

As children and teenagers across Arkansas prepare for another school year, I am working hard in Congress to ensure their futures are bright and prosperous.

I was proud to recently help pass the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2008, H.R. 4137, which works to make college more affordable and accessible for all students.

This legislation is the first reauthorization of the Higher Education Act in ten years. It contains numerous provisions to help make college more affordable including encouraging colleges to rein in tuition increases, restoring integrity and accountability to the student loan programs, simplifying the federal student aid application process, and expanding college access and support for low-income and minority students.

This historic investment to help our students pay for college is a critical step towards growing and strengthening our working families. I believe we have an obligation and a moral duty to ensure that our students have access to a quality education that will ultimately drive our nation's prosperity and lead the way to a brighter future for our country. The House passed this legislation on July 31, 2008, and I am proud President Bush has signed it into law.

In addition to making college more accessible to students across our country, I am also working in our nation's capital to ensure that our children receive a world-class public education in our local school districts. As Congress works to reauthorize No Child Left Behind (NCLB), I recognize that this law has become nothing more than an unfunded mandate. While the concept is well-intentioned, the program requires a much-needed overhaul and must be fully funded. We simply cannot ask our educators to adhere to a new law and then not give them the necessary resources for its implementation.

Therefore, I have cosponsored numerous legislative efforts to improve the NCLB law, and I will continue to support efforts to improve it. I am currently a cosponsor of H.R. 627, the Keep Our Promise to America's Children and Teachers Act, which sets a path to fully fund NCLB by 2014 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) by 2015. I am also a cosponsor of H.R. 684, the Keeping Our Promises to America's Children Act of 2007, which allows school districts the option of modifying, suspending, or deferring the accountability requirements of NCLB until the law is fully funded.

Additionally, I recently hosted a forum with educators and superintendents from across the 29 counties that make up Arkansas's Fourth Congressional District to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing our schools, including the NCLB law. You will be pleased to know that I shared their suggestions and comments from this important meeting on how to improve this law with the Chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, Congressman George Miller, and asked him to take these suggestions in mind when drafting the final version of legislation to improve NCLB.

My wife Holly and I have felt first-hand the rising cost of college tuition as our daughter begins her second year of college and are personally well aware of how ever-increasing education expenses are taking a heavy toll on working families across Arkansas's Fourth Congressional District. As the son of two public school educators, I believe that providing America's children with a world class public education is critical to our nation's future. Therefore, improving education is one of my top priorities and I will continue to support programs to improve the quality of education for all students throughout my term in Congress.

Sincerely,

Mike Ross

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