Andrea Seastrand: “as a former fourth grade school teacher and the mother of two, I understand the importance of education to the health…”

“as a former fourth grade school teacher and the mother of two, I understand the importance of education to the health and vitality of our Nation. We who are in positions of authority have a solemn responsibility to formulate policies that will provide all children with access to quality education. Mr. Chairman, 66 percent of 17-year-olds do not read at a proficient level, and 30 percent of all children entering college have to take remedial education classes. These sorry statistics are the unfortunate result of several factors, the most important of which is the unrestrained growth of the Federal education bureaucracy. Only about 6 percent of all education spending in the United States comes from Federal sources, yet one study found that it accounted for over 50 percent of all the paperwork for local school districts. We need more teachers, we need better teachers in the classrooms with the students, not more bureaucrats buried under mountains of paper. This Congress has trimmed the fat from the education budget but it has not cut vital and effective programs. Both Pell grants and the work-study program reach an all-time high under the Republican budget this year. These programs are proven successes and should be preserved. Yet out of a Federal education monolith consisting of 760 programs and costing $120 billion a year, there is much that must be reformed.”