HELP Committee approves LEAP Act!

With calm restored, the HELP committee worked tirelessly to ensure a better future for our children by approving the Learning Education Advancement for Pupils (LEAP) Act, sending it to the Senate floor for consideration tomorrow evening.

"Long Live the LEAP ACT," tweeted Bernie Sanders (I-VT) "Now, both young children and college-age children will have opportunities."

A competitive grant program would allow 10 states to launch the program. Additional states would be phased in after three years. In order to participate, states would have to establish high standards for early child care and education. Participating states also would have to ensure that qualified teachers participate in the program.

The United States has fallen behind many other nations in critical measurements of educational achievement. The U.S. ranks 33^rd out of 36 nations in reading literacy, 27^th in mathematical literacy, 22^nd in science literacy, and 18^th overall in secondary education, according to a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

From the 1960s to 2006, the United States fell from first to 18^th out of 24 industrialized nations in high school graduation rates. Closing this achievement gap could have increased our 2008 gross domestic product by $2.3 trillion.

Meanwhile, since 2000, the cost of child care has increased twice as fast at the median income of families with children.

In an increasing number of families, both parents work and often struggle to find quality, affordable care and education for their children, with a consequence that many fall up to two years behind their peers even before they enter first grade.

“In a society with our resources, it is unconscionable to that we do not properly invest in our children from the very first stages of their lives,” Sanders said.