Access to a high quality education is vital for economic and social success. Students should be equipped for life and prepared for the world in ways that best suit their learning styles and future needs. The past two years have been challenging and raised many concerns. The pandemic shut down schools and educational services. In addition, previously fringe academic movements have gained traction in many American schools, curbing free debate and indoctrinating students with toxic ideologies that divide society and promote victimhood. This watering down of educational standards does nothing to cultivate success; it simply harms students and our communities.

The promise of a high-quality public education is a vital commitment we must uphold. Moving forward we must promote policies that raise academic standards and outcomes while expanding opportunities for every student in all communities. We must ensure students have access to safe in-person learning. We must empower students to be critical thinkers and engage in the robust debate and collaborative decision-making required to succeed in the workplace. And we must provide students with the civic education and background to excel as engaged citizens.

To achieve these objectives, I am backing a multipronged approach to safely reopen our schools, ensure our education system cultivates engaged citizens, and support the educational success of students regardless of the path they pursue. I support a package of bills and policies in Congress to deliver results. Whether they are attending university, high school, or trade school, this commonsense plan will unleash the potential of our students and empower them to succeed.

Safely Reopening Schools for Learning

1. Cosponsored H.R. 682, the Reopen Schools Act: This legislation would require any school district receiving COVID-19 relief funds to provide in-person instruction to at least 50% of its students. Over the past two years of the pandemic, too many of our children have been left behind, unable to receive individual attention and direction.

1. Cosponsored H.R. 2520, the KIDS Success Act: This legislation would mandate that any school district receiving COVID-19 relief funds assesses the impact of school closures due to COVID-19. The report must focus on the long-term effects of extended e-learning and hybrid learning on students as well as the effect of closures on student absenteeism and disciplinary changes. As we move forward, it is important we know the full educational impacts of the pandemic. Only with this information can we ensure we are equipped to address any of the resulting inequalities or deficiencies.

Supporting the Success of All Students

1. Cosponsored H.R. 2174, the Success for Rural Students and Communities Act: This bipartisan bill creates a new grant program to support rural college education as well as the growth and development of rural communities like those in upstate New York.
    
2. Cosponsored H.R. 3586, the Veterans Education Empowerment Act: This bipartisan legislation will make grants available to colleges and universities to create and run veteran student centers. These centers will provide students who are veterans or members of the Armed Services a space to gather, a single point of contact to coordinate veterans support services, as well as access to comprehensive academic and tutoring services.

1. Cosponsored H.R. 2303, the Supporting Apprenticeship Colleges Act: This legislation will create a grant program within the Department of Education to encourage apprenticeship colleges to further develop their construction and manufacturing-oriented registered apprenticeship programs. These funds will be focused on supporting outreach to high schools, local businesses, and local workforce development groups as well as providing advising and support programs to students enrolled in these programs.

1. Support Funding for Campus-Based Aid: This spring I joined my colleagues to support Fiscal Year 2022 funding for the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG) and Federal Work Study (FWS) programs. SEOG provides grants to low- and middle-income students and funds programs that help at-risk students get into and stay in college. Providing low-income students with grant aid, instead of just loans, helps keep them in school and working toward their full potential. With similar long-term benefits, FWS provides a wide variety of on campus job opportunities to help students.

Cultivating Critical Thinking Skills and Engaged Citizens

1. Cosponsored H.R. 4007, the Campus Free Speech Restoration Act: This bill prohibits any college or university receiving federal funding from restricting the noncommercial first amendment rights of their students, such as peacefully assembling, distributing literature, or carrying signs. In the great tradition of America, university campuses must be forums for the free exchange of ideas. Partisan groups or academics cannot act to silence important conversations. In a free society such as ours, it is vital that our colleges and universities are crucibles for good citizenry, not sites of mass indoctrination.

1. Cosponsored H.R. 3179, the Stop CRT Act: This commonsense bill will ban federal funds from being used to promote and teach Critical Race Theory (CRT). For our Constitutional Republic to succeed, we much encourage citizens to work together to debate and advocate for solutions to advance the common good. However, CRT’s cultivation of racial animus and labeling of our Constitution and national ideals such as life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness as inherently racist run counter to these needs. Our educational system must promote constructive debate and national improvement.