A LIFETIME OF SERVICE

Ensuring High Quality Education for All

Education has always been a top priority for Senator Kennedy. His commitment to ensuring that more high quality learning opportunities are available to people of all ages - especially the neediest and most disadvantaged - has been a major legislative priority throughout his career in the United States Senate. Working with senators from across the aisle and Administration officials throughout the years, Chairman Kennedy has been largely responsible for shaping the education policy of the United States. From pre-kindergarten children to graduate level scholars, Senator Kennedy's policy initiatives have impact on students of all ages.

"Every major education law passed since the 1960s has borne Kennedy's imprint, from Head Start to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. He has proven himself, time and again, to be a fighter for children and educators," said Reg Weaver, the immediate past President of the National Education Association President.

Early Childhood Education

Beginning with his support of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, which was the centerpiece of the War on Poverty and created Head Start, Senator Kennedy has been the voice for early childhood education. Head Start provides comprehensive childhood development and social services to low-income three- and four-year-old children to prepare them for school. Twenty-five million children and families have participated in Head Start programs over the past 45 years, including Congresswomen Loretta Sanchez, Maxine Waters, Congressman Heath Schuler and athletes Shaquille O' Neal and Deion Sanders. Head Start now serves nearly a million children nationally and more than 13,000 children in Massachusetts annually.

It has gained widespread support from the American people, and there is clear evidence that it helps children develop their social skills and improve their writing and vocabulary and help children begin kindergarten ready to learn.

Early Head Start, created by Senator Kennedy in 1994, serves infants and toddlers in poverty. It has been recognized as one of the most effective programs of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Early Head Start expands the benefits of early childhood development to low-income families with children under age 3 and to pregnant women. Services are extended to eligible women during and after pregnancy and include parent training skills in child development, home based services, and screening and referral services for children with documented behavioral problems. Early Head Start has served nearly 700,000 families.

"Every education bill, every labor bill that has been taken up by the US Senate--Ted Kennedy has spent hours on the floor of the US Senate passionately and articulately promoting the right cause of action whether or not his position was popular at the time or shared by the majority of his colleagues. There has been no more faithful champion of the poor, of working families, of all those who depend on essential government services and the positive roll that the government can and should play, than Senator Edward Kennedy." Ed McElroy, American Federation of Teachers Convention, Boston July 21, 2006

Elementary and Secondary Education

"My friend Senator Ted Kennedy is a lionhearted champion for our nation's schoolchildren. His decades of public service have inspired generations of Americans, including me. And his strong, outspoken leadership has helped to improve the quality of life for all of us," said U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, a Republican.

The landmark enactment of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 established the federal government's commitment to public schools. Senator Kennedy has been a leader ever since then in reauthorizing the Act and developing legislation that benefits schools and students across the country.

Understanding the importance of focusing on math and science decades ago, Senator Kennedy sponsored the bipartisan Star Schools Program Assistance Act in 1987, which was included in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, to develop statewide and multi-state telecommunications partnerships. The legislation was signed into law by President Reagan on April 28, 1988. These partnerships helped to increase access to courses in math, science and foreign languages, and to create teacher networks that encourage the sharing of effective teaching strategies. Senator Kennedy understood long ago the role the United States must play in the global economy and that math and science are key to success.

The Goals 2000 Education America Act, signed into law by President Clinton on March 31, 1994, promoted voluntary content standards and occupational standards to help students and workers become highly skilled and trained. The Act also reauthorized the Eisenhower Professional Development Program, which expanded and improved training and professional opportunities for teachers.

In 2001, working closely with President George Bush, Senator Kennedy led the reauthorization by Congress of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which included a major bipartisan rewrite of virtually all federal elementary and secondary education laws to raise academic standards, hold schools accountable for results, and enable all children to have a better opportunity to succeed in school.

Senator Kennedy's leadership on the bipartisan reauthorization, signed into law as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in January 2002, demonstrates that he has been one of the Senate's strongest advocates for a high quality education for all students.

While its reforms have been controversial, No Child Left Behind has helped to help close the achievement gap in public schools and to improve the quality of education for all of the nation's students. Since enactment, the percentages of students with proficient scores on state reading and math tests have gone up in most states. With regard to teacher quality, school districts reported that 96% of the 3.2 million teachers teaching in core academic content areas were highly qualified at the end of the 2008 school year. And of the data available, there is more evidence of achievement gaps narrowing rather than widening, although the gaps remain substantial.

NCLB emphasizes parental involvement as one of the key factors for student success. It empowers parents who have never spoken up before to share their stories and ideas to improve their children's schools. Loretta Borilla, parent, Washington Unified School District in California says, "I was chair of the site council this year. I refused to sign the site plan...I knew (that) NCLB...was the only tool I could use to hold the school and district to make changes. After fighting all I could to get changes made for parent involvement in the budget, I had to use that tool."

During the 110th Congress, Senator Kennedy worked to shape a blueprint for re-designing the law to maintain better focus on accountability and closing the achievement gap, and to provide better solutions to help schools educate all students to their full potential. In the 111th Congress, Senator Kennedy continued to work to ensure that the Act provides effective solutions and support for schools and students overhaul the law's one-size-fits-all accountability structures, strengthens teacher quality, and makes academic20standards across the nation globally competitive.

He has also focused on bringing more innovative and effective reforms to the neediest schools, such as expanding learning time to allow for longer school days and encouraging schools to involve parents more effectively in their children's education. Senator Kennedy has worked to advance legislation to reform and strengthen middle and high schools to turn around or shut down the dropout factories that produce more than half of the nation's dropouts.

"I always knew our Senator, Senator Edward Kennedy, was a force to be reckoned with, a fighter for students, a fighter for fairness," however, it was in high school, when I first attended a Kennedy event, that I realized the magic of this friend of students. He spoke to young people's issues! He treated us as true constituents! He truly cared about creating quality public education. From Pre-K to Post-Doc, Senator Kennedy has fought for forty years to increase access to education!"
United States Student Association National Vice President Rebecca Wasserman
March 11, 2003

Higher Education and Job Training

Senator Kennedy was a driving force throughout his years in the Senate to see that every student who desires to enroll in college can afford to do so. Since the original Higher Education Act of 1965, Senator Kennedy worked to open the doors of opportunity for all Americans.

In the first reauthorization of the Higher Education Act in 1968, Senator Kennedy supported the creation of the Student Support Services program. This program, along with Upward Bound and Talent Search, which were created in the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 and the Higher Education Act of 1965, respectively, provided tutoring, mentoring and other assistance, to low-income, first generation college students to increase their retention and graduation rates. These three programs are currently known as the TRIO programs. Notable TRIO participants include TV personality Oprah Winfrey, actress Angela Bassett and Franklin Chang-Diaz, the first Hispanic astronaut.

The Vocational Education Amendments of 1968 modified the existing vocational education programs and established a National Advisory Council on Vocational Education. In 1984, the Vocational Education Act was renamed the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act and established programs emphasizing the acquisition of job skills through both vocational and technical education. Amendments in 1990 established the tech-prep program to coordinate secondary and postsecondary vocational education activities. The bill was reauthorized in 1998.

Working with Senator Claiborne Pell during the 1972 reauthorization, Senator Kennedy supported the creation of the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant. This program, which later became known as the Pell Grant in 1980, drastically increased the availability of grant aid to disadvantaged students. Senator Kennedy was also a key supporter of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which protected women from discrimination in educational institutions and increased athletic opportunities for women in colleges and universities. President Richard Nixon signed this bill into law on June 23, 1972.

Senator Kennedy was also a key player in the Congressional effort to establish the Direct Lending program, which was enacted as part of the Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. To date more than 12 million students have benefited from low cost direct federal loans to pay for college. The reauthorization of the Higher Education Act created the Income Contingent Repayment program that more than 1.3 million borrowers have used to make their student loans more manageable.

The following year, Senator Kennedy played a central role in passing the School-to-Work Opportunities Act, which sought to create partnerships of employers, educators and others to build a high quality School-to-Work system that prepares students for careers in high-skill, high-wage jobs. Millions of students have participated in these partnerships, which have proved essential to providing a variety of work and school opportunities, up-to-date resources, and hands-on experiences for students to enter the workforce.

The Academic Research Facilities Modernization Act of 1998, passed as an amendment to the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 1988, established programs to modernize academic research facilities and improve undergraduate science and engineering education.

The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 created new training provisions that now guide most federal training investments. Senator Kennedy continued to work to modernize it to improve job training opportunities and employment services for the nation's workforce. In 2008, the Act helped over 3.4 million workers obtain the skills to find new or better jobs. Over 80 percent of the participants who received training under the Act found employment.

As Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Senator Kennedy in 2007 passed the College Cost Reduction Act. The bill authorized a $23 billion increase in student aid, the largest since the GI Bill. It increased the Pell grant by $490 for the 2007-2008 school year and by $1,090 in 2012 will cut interest rates on undergraduate subsidized student loans in half by 2011. It makes debt more manageable for student borrowers by capping monthly loan payments at 15 percent of discretionary income and providing loan forgiveness for students who enter public service.

Building upon that Act, Senator Kennedy worked with Senator Mike Enzi of Wyoming to pass the Higher Education Opportunity Act in 2008, which reauthorized the Higher Education Act for the first time in a decade. The Act took significant steps to make college more accessible and affordable for more students by: simplifying the application process for financial aid; preventing unethical practices in the student loan marketplace to give students better terms on their loans; providing students and families with better information on college costs; and expanding aid for the neediest students, members of the military, and students with disabilities.

In May 2008, Senator Kennedy also passed a bipartisan bill to continue access to federal student loans regardless of turbulence in the private credit market. The Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act reduces students' and parents' reliance on higher-cost non-federal student loans by increasing the amount of low-cost federal loans available to students and providing parents with improved access to low-cost federal loans (PLUS loans). It also increases need-based grant aid for the neediest students. In addition, the legislation stabilizes the private student loan program (Federal Family Education Loan program) by allowing the Department of Education to serve as the secondary market of last resort for loans originating in the program. It also gives students greater access to low-cost federal loans by shoring up the "lender of last resort" program.

Additionally, Senator Kennedy fought private lenders to end waste and fraud in the student loan industry. By investigating and bringing to light the fraud and abuse, Senator Kennedy helped to crack down on wasteful spending and to ensure that student borrowers were not paying staggering premiums on top of their financial aid.

In September 2008, with the financial markets continuing to struggle, Senator Kennedy acted to protect students' and families' ability to obtain student loans for the 2009-2010 school year. He passed legislation extending for an additional year the Department of Education's authority to stabilize the FFEL program by acting as a secondary market of last resort, so that students and families will be able to obtain the loans they need for college, despite the credit crisis.

"No United States senator has committed more of his time and his wisdom to the advancement of American higher education. Thanks to him, students across the spectrum have the opportunity to pursue their ambitions," said Drew Faust, President of Harvard on December 1, 2008.

Advocating National and Community Service

Senator Kennedy believed that national and community service is one of the best investments America can make in future generations - both in terms of those who participate in service and those who are served. Senator Kennedy is proud that Massachusetts has led the nation in developing quality service programs such as City Year and YouthBuild. The state has also worked, through Campus Compact, to make service-learning and outreach a priority.

"Senator Kennedy is the godfather of the modern national and community service movement. An extraordinary champion and hero for us all, he has indelibly changed the fabric of America by inspiring and enabling millions of citizens of all ages and backgrounds to serve. Through his visionary and bipartisan leadership in authoring the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1990, the legislation that created AmeriCorps in 1993, and most recently with his good friend Senator Orrin Hatch, the Serve America Act of 2009, Senator Kennedy has built the infrastructure that empowers the people of Massachusetts and of our country to put their energy and idealism to work tackling pressing problems in education, the environment, public health, fighting poverty and more. His very personal and tireless commitment reminds us all that there is no higher calling than service to one's community, country, and world," said Alan Khazei, CEO of Be the Change, Inc. and Co-Founder of City Year.

As part of the War on Poverty, President Lyndon Johnson created VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), a National Teacher Corps (sponsored by Senator Kennedy), the Job Corps, and University Year of Action. In 1965, the Older Americans Act led to interest in creating service programs for older adults, such as the Foster Grandparent Program.

Senator Kennedy sponsored the National and Community Service Act of 1990, which established the Commission on National and Community Service and provided federal seed money for service programs. The Act established a service learning program that was the precursor to Learn and Serve America. The program provides funds for students across America to engage in service-learning projects and teach them the value of serving others to start them on a path of lifetime civic engagement. Since 1992, over 17 million students have participated in Learn and Serve America.

Senator Kennedy sponsored the National and Community Service Trust Act, which was signed into law by President Clinton in 1993, creating AmeriCorps and the Corporation for National and Community Service to expand opportunities for citizens to serve their communities. VISTA and the National Civilian Community Corps became part of AmeriCorps, and the Foster Grandparent Program, the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, and the Senior Companion Program were combined to create the Senior Corps program.

The bill also created education grants for students who volunteer for service after college. The grants offer an opportunity for students to repay student loans, and encourage more individuals to participate in service to their community.

As Senator Kennedy stated, "The lesson of service to others learned in youth will last a lifetime, and produce a better, fairer, and stronger America in the years ahead. In his inaugural address thirty-two years ago, President Kennedy emphasized this quality, and touched a deeply responsive chord when he called upon Americans of all ages to ask what they could do for their country. The best of the old frontier became the defining quality of the New Frontier. Citizens responded by the millions, and the spirit of America soared again, as it had so often in the past. We need to rekindle that attitude again for our own day and generation...We do not have to compel citizens to serve their country. All we have to do is ask - and provide the opportunity."

In 2008, Senator Kennedy and Senator Hatch introduced the Serve America Act, which was signed into law by President Obama in the spring of 2009, to expand and improve national service opportunities for Americans at all stages of life. The Serve America Act uses service to meet specific national challenges - from tackling the dropout crisis and strengthening our schools, improving energy efficiency and safeguarding the environment, to improving health care in low-income communities and expanding economic opportunities for low-income individuals. The legislation involves Americans of all ages in meeting these challenges by asking 250,000 Americans to give a year of service, giving young people more opportunities to serve early in life, and expanding stipends and fellowships for retirees who volunteer. The bill also encourages innovation in the nonprofit sector by supporting social entrepreneurs as they develop their organizations.

"The passage of the Serve America Act is a significant milestone for our country. By increasing opportunities nationwide for Americans to serve and, thus, enabling private citizens to do more for their communities, personal and community responsibility will take the place of direct government aid," said Senator Hatch. "Volunteer service is a keystone to our country's traditions, and it is becoming increasingly important in these troubled economic times that we help our neighbors. I am honored to be a part of the bipartisan group of Senators who joined together to support this important legislation."

Senator Kennedy, along with his niece Caroline Kennedy, helped support "Service Nation," a nationwide network to promote public service in communities across the country. Wrote Dorothy Samuels of the New York Times, "This is a chance to constructively harness the idealism of thousands of Americans eager to contribute time and energy to solving the nation's problems -- a chance not to be missed."

Hiring and Training New Teachers

In 1965, Senator Kennedy and Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin won passage of a bill establishing the National Teacher Corps, which award education scholarships to students willing to supplement their normal course of study with education courses. Participants agreed that, after graduating, they would teach for at least two years in economically distressed rural and urban areas.

Throughout his decades on the HELP Committee, Senator Kennedy fought repeatedly to get high-quality, professional, experienced teachers in the classroom--and to keep them there by providing much needed support. In a December 1997 speech to the National Press Club, Senator Kennedy called on Congress to "bring one hundred thousand new, well-trained teachers into our public schools each year for the next ten years." Soon after, Kennedy was able to obtain $1.2 billion for hiring teachers to reduce class size in the early grades, and target the funds to needy school districts.

As part of the 1998 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, Senator Kennedy worked to include a new program to support high-quality training for teachers in colleges of education. As part of the 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Senator Kennedy also worked to provide greater support for high-quality professional development for teachers in schools, so that more teachers will be able to participate in high-quality professional development training programs.

In 2004, Senator Kennedy blew the whistle on the 9.5% student loan scandal, which needlessly guaranteed big profits at taxpayer expense to banks providing student loans. Working with Senator Judd Gregg from New Hampshire, Senator Kennedy supported the Taxpayer-Teacher Protection Act of 2004, which put $250 million of the savings from reducing these subsidies into increased loan forgiveness for college students and new teachers. The legislation provided $17,500 in loan forgiveness to eligible highly qualified math, science and special education teachers. This dramatic increase of $12,500 above the previous loan limits helped ease the shortage of teachers in key subject areas.

Supporting Safe and Productive After School Programs

Before the 2002 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, federal support for after-school programs was narrowly limited. Working with his colleague and friend Senator Dodd, Senator Kennedy expanded the program to provide these opportunities in every state in America. The 2002 Act supported awarding many more school districts grants for students to have safe and productive out-of-school time experiences through the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. Today, there are approximately 6,800 schools in nearly 1,600 communities across the country participating in after-school, summer and weekend programs for students and their communities through these federal grants.

Improving Education for Immigrant Students and Children of Migrant Workers

Senator Kennedy consistently supported aid for immigrant and limited-English-proficient students in elementary and secondary education.

In 1966, the Migrant Education Program was created to address the challenges associated with disrupted and interrupted education of the children of migratory farm-workers. Senator Kennedy has supported the program to improve education of migrant students, including instruction, health services, counseling and screening, career education, preschool services, and transportation.

Senator Kennedy supported the 1968 Bilingual Education Act to provide limited-English-proficient students with an equal opportunity to succeed in school and reach high academic standards. Senator Kennedy also sponsored the Emergency Immigration Education Act of 1984, to provide assistance to immigrant students in the nation's schools.

Giving Native Americans a Greater Voice in Their Education

In 1971, as Chairman of the Special Subcommittee on Indian Education, Senator Kennedy introduced legislation to provide support for Native Americans by requiring school districts seeking federal funds under the bill must work with Native Americans to design new programs. The bill authorized $390 million over three years. Senator Kennedy said that with the passage of the bill, the Senate can be proud of this step to give Native Americans a greater voice in the education of their children. In 1969, Senator Kennedy held a field hearing in Fairbanks, Alaska to hear firsthand how this issue would affect the Native American population.

Retaining America's Leadership in the Global Economy

Senator Kennedy was always committed to ensuring that America remains first in the world in innovation and technology by educating the next generation of global math and science leaders. In 2006, he introduced the New National Defense Education Act. In 2007, Senator Kennedy and Senator Enzi joined with the Chairmen and Ranking Members of three other Senate Committees to pass the America COMPETES Act. This bipartisan legislation met the challenge laid out in major reports by national business and science leaders to help the nation remain competitive in the 21st century global economy response. The legislation focuses on increasing research investment; strengthening educational opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics from elementary through graduate school; and developing an innovation infrastructure designed by the President's Council on Innovation and Competitiveness.

As Senator Kennedy had done twenty years earlier, America COMPETES works to ensure America's place in the global economy.