Untitled Document

Education

Congressman Towns has recognized the importance of education and the support thereof during his entire tenure as a Member of Congress due to his experiences as a student, a coach, a social worker, and as both a parent and a grandparent. He understands that education cannot be fully addressed without significant and consistent support for students, educators and administrators.

In the 111th Congress, Rep. Towns has introduced:

H.R. 795, the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young Jr. Social Work Reinvestment, seeks to expand support for the social work profession through a number of tools: 1. Create a Social Work Reinvestment Commission that would analyze current trends in the profession, as well as make recommendations to improve the profession for workers and 2. Allocation of funds to schools to promote social work and provide more grants to students majoring in the field.

H.R. 1361, the Increased Student Achievement through Increased Student Support Act, would direct the Secretary of Education to provide grants for partnerships between low-income local education agencies and schools that offer graduate programs in school counseling, social work, and psychology. The goal is for the bill to increase the amount of student support in low-income schools in order to perpetuate student achievement.

Congressman Towns co-sponsored the following legislation:

H.R. 1615, the Medical Economic Deferment for Students Act. (MEDS), would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 in regards to the definition of economic hardship. The new definition would affect borrowers under the Federal Family Education Loan, Perkins Loan, and other related loan insurance programs who may not currently be considered as under “economic hardship.”

H.R. 1751, the American Dream Act, seeks to amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 in order to permit States to determine State residency. The bill would allow the Secretary of Homeland Security to cancel the removal of any alien who has been accepted to an institution of higher education, or has graduated high school.