Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
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Categories: US Senate Committees | Congressional Committees Project
| Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions | |
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Jurisdiction
The Senate Rules, chapter 25 defines the Standing Committees of the Senate and their jurisdictions. Section ( m ) pertains to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
November 16th, 2006 - Senator Kennedy Announces HELP Committee Priorities for 110th Congress (link)
On November 16th, Senator Kennedy, ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, announced a slew of new policy initiatives for the 110th congress. Included in the announcement were the following initiatives relevant to the Subcommittee on Education and Early Childhood Development:
1) Enacting a higher education reauthorization that makes college affordable. Senator Kennedy’s proposals to help students and families include the STAR Act, Debt Relief Act and the Contract for Educational Opportunity Grants in the Right TRACK Act. Senator Kennedy’s top priorities for reauthorization are increasing student aid, making student loan debt more manageable and making sure our student loan programs work for students, not banks. He also will be looking to expand support for and improve teacher preparation programs.
2) Funding and reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act. Democrats will make education funding a priority so NCLB can fulfill its promise. As Chairman, Senator Kennedy will advance an NCLB reauthorization agenda that seeks to strengthen key reforms, ensure the law’s effectiveness, and promote solutions and strategies for schools to improve. Senator Kennedy’s priorities for reauthorization include ensuring that tests are used to improve instruction, not just labeling schools, and ensuring that students struggling to meet high standards have the best teachers and expanded learning opportunities. He also has a proposal to ensure that parents are given the information that they need to navigate the education system and help their children succeed.
3) Ensuring that our students are competitive in the 21st-Century global economy. Many of Senator Kennedy’s proposals on this theme are in the Right Track Act. They include increasing college student aid, greater support for math and science education, and creating incentives for high quality teachers -- especially in high demand subjects such as math and science -- to teach in high poverty schools, as well as assistance to states to raise standards and ensure that schools are internationally competitive.
4) Reauthorizing the Head Start federal preschool program and enacting Senator Kennedy’s Early Care and Education Act (ECEA), so that all children can have access to high quality early childhood programs. ECEA would provide support to states to create a more cohesive system of early childhood education programs and improve standards for programs and educators in the early childhood arena.
5) Reauthorizing the Workforce Investment Act and provide additional funding for job training programs so workers can obtain the skills they need to succeed in today’s global economy.
6) Fully funding IDEA.
The complete announcement is available (pdf) through the Senate HELP Committee websiteessays term papers.
| Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittees: |
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Bioterrorism & Public Health Preparedness • Education & Early Childhood Development • Employment & Workplace Safety • Retirement Security & Aging |
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