PRESS
RELEASE from Hillary Clinton for President
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 6 2007
Contact: NH for Hillary Press Office
Kathleen Strand
NEA-NH Endorses Senator
Hillary Clinton
MANCHESTER, NH – At an event in Manchester this afternoon, the
New Hampshire affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA-NH)
officially announced its endorsement of Senator Hillary Clinton for President.
With 16,000 members, NEA-NH is the largest union in the Granite State.
“I honored to have earned the support of this incredible organization,”
said Senator Clinton. “Together we will work to strengthen America’s public
education system, ensure that every child has the opportunity live up to
his or her potential, and provide our educators with the resources they
need.”
As an advocate, First Lady, and United States Senator, Hillary has fought
to raise the education standards in our nation’s schools. Hillary is committed
to both fully funding and reforming No Child Left Behind (NCLB). She is
also working actively to secure additional funding for early childhood
education programs, such as Head Start, that help prepare children to succeed
in school.
“We are extremely proud to announce our support of Senator Clinton for
president today,” said Rhonda Wesolowski, NEA-NH President. “Senator Clinton
has been working to improve education for 35 years. She has laid out a
plan to establish universal pre-kindergarten, and is committed to reforming
and fully funding the No Child Left Behind Act. We believe that Senator
Clinton will be a president who advocates on behalf of our nation’s educators
and works to improve our public education system.”
As an advocate, First Lady, and United States Senator, Hillary has fought
to raise the education standards in our nation’s schools. Hillary is committed
to:
Closing the Early Achievement Gap by:
-
Investing in innovative nurse home visitation programs to help first-time
mothers prepare for, and care for, their newborn children.
-
Expanding access to high quality child care by increasing funding for the
Child Care Development Block Grant to keep pace with rising costs.
-
Expanding Early Head Start, which Hillary helped to create when she was
First Lady.
-
Providing $10 billion in funding to states to establish high-quality pre-K
programs. States would provide pre-K at no cost to children from low-income
children and/or limited English homes, and could use the funds on a range
of early childhood programs once they had reached that benchmark. Programs
will be administered through existing community-based preschools to ensure
that parents have a range of options.
Cutting the drop out rate among African American and Hispanic students
in half over the next decade through:
-
Expanding mentoring and support programs to help one million at-risk youth
aspire for college and job success.
-
Launching a $100 million Public/Private Internship Initiative to give at-risk
middle- and high-school students job skills and work experience during
the summer.
-
Investing in innovative initiatives like early college high schools and
multiple pathway programs.
-
Doubling federal support for GEAR UP, an early intervention and college
preparation program for at risk students.
-
Providing financial incentives to recruit and retain outstanding teachers
in high-need areas.
Making college accessible and affordable for all Americans by:
-
Lowering the cost of college through a $3,500 tuition tax credit, enough
to cover more than 50% of the cost of tuition at the average public institution
for many families.
-
Increasing the Pell Grant.
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Providing $500 million to strengthen community colleges.
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Providing $250 million to improve college graduation rates.
-
Providing a $10,000 scholarship for people who complete a full years of
public service.
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Simplifying the federal student aid process.
-
Providing clear information about the real cost of college well in advance
to help families plan.
This agenda builds on Hillary’s long record of support for education. In
Arkansas, Hillary chaired the Arkansas Educational Standards Commission,
which improved schools; as First Lady of the U.S., she helped grow the
federal afterschool initiative from a $1 million pilot program to
$1 billion program, reaching children in every state. As Senator,
she created programs to recruit and retain teachers and principals to underserved
areas; enacted legislation to eliminate environmental toxins in schools;
helped write legislation to reauthorize the Individuals with Disabilities
in Education Act; championed successful efforts to expand the number of
math and science teachers and provide math and science educators with innovative
teaching tools; and enacted legislation to create income-contingent repayment
programs for student loans and to reduce student debt for teachers, child
care workers, and other service professionals.
The New Hampshire for Hillary campaign has announced the names of over
500 educators from across the state who are supporting Senator Clinton.
In addition, Dr. Lyonel Tracy, New Hampshire Commissioner of Education,
recently announced his endorsement of Hillary for president.
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