Issue Position: Education

Issue Position

As a mother and a grandmother, I understand the importance of fighting to have access to the best education possible for our kids. I believe education at any age strengthens our workforce. As a single mom, I decided to go back to school and earned my degrees while sending my own kids to college.

As a State Senator, I was proud to win the Illinois Education Association's "Education Hero" award for my efforts to strengthen education in our state by fighting for more equal funding of our public schools. As a Member of Congress, I maintained that same focus.

I stood with President Obama and supported the Recovery Act that provided millions to save teachers' jobs and invest in our schools' crumbling infrastructure. Our kids can't possibly learn in an environment where the school is crumbling around them and there are too few teachers to give individualized attention.

I fought to make it easier for hardworking middle-income families wishing to send their kids to college to do so. I was proud to support landmark legislation to take federal student loans out of the hands of the big banks. For working families, I supported job training programs to prepare our working men and women for the jobs of tomorrow. Together with other members of Congress, I ensured summer job programs received funding so our youth in low-income areas were able to continue their education during over the summer.

A quality education strengthens our community and our workforce. I will continue to fight to ensure that the next generation--as well as those wanting to go back to school--have access to a good, quality education options.

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