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A Champion for Educators and Children
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Short Description: A Champion for Educators and Children. Hillary Clinton has a 35 year history of fighting to improve our education system as an advocate, ...
Content Inside: A Champion for Educators and Children Hillary Clinton has a 35 year history of fighting to improve our education system as an advocate, First Lady and Senator. Hillary knows that the quality of our public schools matters. The education system we provide affects our children's ability to fulfill their promise and our efforts to compete globally. As president, Hillary will support our schools and our educators, and make education a high priority. Early Commitment As a young lawyer, Hillary participated in a project for the Children's Defense Fund (CDF), walking door to door in New Bedford, MA to reconcile the discrepancies between the number of school- aged children listed in the Census and school enrollment figures. She found that children with disabilities were being denied schooling, and her findings were included in a report that was submitted to Congress. This report helped build the momentum to pass the Education For All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, mandating that all children with physical, emotional and learning disabilities be educated in the public school system. As First Lady of Arkansas, Hillary chaired the Arkansas Educational Standards Committee, which: increased teacher salaries, decreased class size, implemented learning standards and assessments, mandated greater access to guidance counselors at all grade levels, and added emphasis on science and foreign-language study. She also brought the HIPPY program, a model parent education program, to the state. As the nation's First Lady, she promoted the Prescription for Reading program, encouraging pediatricians to "prescribe" reading sessions between new parents and their children, and helped create Early Head Start in order to help more children enter school ready to learn. Hillary's Senate Record REFORMING NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND: Hillary has been an outspoken advocate for reforming No Child Left Behind. She supports the use of growth models to track student performance; believes we ought to reward schools that make progress and thinks educators should have more of a say in turning around struggling schools. Hillary opposes the one size fits all approach to addressing the challenges facing schools, and is pushing for more flexibility in the law. FULLY FUNDING NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND: Every year since the law was enacted, Hillary has co-sponsored legislation, written to the appropriations committee and spoken out aggressively about the need to fully fund NCLB. She cosponsored two amendments in 2003, one providing an additional $4.65 billion to fully fund part A of Title I of NCLB and the other reducing tax breaks for the wealthiest taxpayers and using that money to fund NCLB. In 2004, Hillary cosponsored and voted for legislation that increases spending for NCLB by $8.6 billion to fully fund the Act.
