Education

Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak in support of Computer Science Education Week, which started this past Sunday, December 4, 2011, and runs through Saturday, December 10. This week-long celebration of the teaching and learning of computer science is a call to share information and host activities that will elevate computer science education for students at all levels. In my district in Colorado, the computing achievements of 20 young women will be celebrated at an awards event for the Colorad... Read more

Moderate Democrats Want Tough Education Bill National Journal – Fawn Johnson A coalition of 42 moderate Democrats on Friday will unveil a policy statement saying that anything short of robust legislation to ensure schools are accountable for student achievement is not likely to pass the House. “We have substantial political power. Any reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act would need to be bipartisan,” said Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., who authored the statement on behalf of... Read more

Today, the 42-Member New Democrat Coalition released a framework for the reauthorization of Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) designed to ensure American students receive a world-class education to compete for jobs in the 21st century global economy. The principles, which were developed by the New Democrat Coalition Education Task Force under the leadership of Representatives Susan Davis (CA-53) and Jared Polis (CO-02), have been endorsed by the full Coalition. The framework calls fo... Read more

Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) released the following statement regarding the U.S. Department of Education's announcement that Colorado is in the running for a third round of education funding under the Obama administration's groundbreaking Race to the Top school reform initiative. Colorado and six other states--Arizona, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey and Pennsylvania--will share $200 million provided by Congress to drive reform. "Race to the Top funds are essential for Colorado to co... Read more

Mr. Speaker, I have to voice my opposition to an insidious provision that has been added to this bill at the last minute by agribusiness and the frozen food industry, and that is a change that allows pizza to be counted as a vegetable. They started with French fries; now they've moved on to pizza. This language equates pizza with vegetables and weakens otherwise good school nutrition standards. This false equivalency harkens back to the ludicrous labeling of ketchup as a vegetable made infamous ... Read more

In response to today’s release of the 2011 results of the nation’s education report card, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) recognized some progress in math and reading scores while expressing concern about stagnation of other results. Scores for 8th grade math were up both nationally and in Colorado, but reading scores remained flat in 4th grade and only slightly increased in 8th grade. “It’s great to see improvements in students’ math outcom... Read more

With the need to strengthen the American economy at the top of their agendas, Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) and Senator Robert Casey (D-PA) today introduced the Computer Science Education Act, which will help prepare Americans for the more than 1.5 million high-wage computing jobs that are expected to be created in the U.S. by 2018. The bill will help states to increase and strengthen their computer science offerings in K-12 education. "Computer science careers will provide good paying jobs for... Read more

Mr. Speaker, today we will be discussing two good bills. Both bills under this rule are bipartisan bills. One will support students across this Nation, give parents better choices, improve the quality of our charter schools in our country; and so, too, we will improve and enhance the intelligence gathering of our Nation that keeps us safe under the authorization bill. The Quality Charter Schools Act will improve our global economic standing by improving student access to quality and effective pu... Read more

I thank the gentleman from California and the gentleman from Minnesota. There is a lot of good in public education today. When we look across our country, just as we see examples of what doesn't work--drop-out factory schools where kids are falling further and further behind each year, schools that are unsafe learning environments for their kids--just as we have that, we also have examples of what works, what works with our most at-risk populations in this country showing that every student in t... Read more

Bringing attention to the need to reduce school dropouts, Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) today visited with students at Denver’s Florence Crittenton High School, which specializes in supporting pregnant and parenting students. Polis is the author of the Pregnant and Parenting Students Access to Education Act, a bill to ensure that these students receive the educational guidance and social services they need to continue in school and get their diploma. “Florence Crittenton shows us that by helpin... Read more