Working to Support Vermont’s Next Generation
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CHILDHOOD HUNGER AND NUTRITION
Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Nutrition Program. Senator Leahy is a longtime advocate of the WIC program which provides health care referrals, nutritional education and supplemental food to children, pregnant women, newborn infants and their mothers. WIC provides help to thousands of Vermonters every year and is critical to ensuring that children are provided with adequate nutrition when they are most vulnerable.
Farm to School. Senator Leahy has been a leader in efforts to improve nutrition in our nation’s schools. Most recently, he has been at the front of the effort to support local farmers and good nutrition through farm to school programs. He authored legislation amending the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to promote a variety of farm to school activities. This includes not only using food from local farms for school meals, but also integrating farming and food education into the education curriculum, and getting students out into the community where they meet farmers and learn firsthand about locally grown foods.
Soda in Schools. As a part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s campaign to fight obesity, Coke, Pepsi and Dr. Pepper have committed to remove all full-calorie soft-drinks from schools. This comes on the heels of five years of state and school district lunch room soda bans, and legislative proposals to tax sugary drinks to reduce their consumption. Senator Leahy was among the first to bring up this issue when, as the Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, he held hearings with Coke and Pepsi and introduced legislation to implement such bans. He continues to fight for stronger nutritional requirements for all foods sold in schools.
EDUCATION
Head Start. Senator Leahy has been a long-time advocate for pre-kindergarten programs which promote school readiness by providing educational, health, nutritional, social, and other services to children and families. These programs currently benefit more than 1,500 Vermont children. Senator Leahy has supported increasing appropriations to these programs so that more young Vermonters might benefit.
No Child Left Behind. Senator Leahy opposed then-President Bush’s No Child Left Behind legislation because he saw that its one-size-fits-all approach failed to meet the needs of Vermont’s students and teachers. He shared the education community’s concern about the legislation’s overemphasis on testing and lack of financial support to meet the mandates set by the federal government. Since its passage, Senator Leahy has worked to improve NCLB by introducing language that would provide greater financial support while allowing more flexibility.
Boys and Girls Clubs. As parents and grandparents themselves, the Leahys know full well the importance of strong childhood development programs like the ones at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Vermont. Almost 10,000 youths are involved at programs in their 25 facilities across the state. Senator Leahy has worked to secure more than $9.6 million in federal funding for their work. He also recently introduced bipartisan legislation to reauthorize its funding through 2015.
Teacher Retention. Senator Leahy supported provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that provided much needed financial relief to schools hit hard by the recent economic crisis. In addition to helping schools retain their qualified teachers, the Recovery Act provided Vermont schools with additional funding for Special Education and technology for Title I disadvantaged students.
Senator Leahy also supports the current Education Jobs bill that would mean an additional $45 million for Vermont schools, enabling them to keep low student-teacher ratios and enrichment activities that are currently at risk.
Job Training. Senator Leahy has been an advocate for strong youth vocational training programs to help our young people contribute directly to Vermont’s economy. One example is ReSOURCE’s (formerly ReCycle North) At-Risk Youth Green Training Program which works with 16- to 24-year-old youth who are economically disadvantaged, have dropped out of high school, and in need of a comprehensive development and job training opportunity. The program trains these youths to rehab and construct dozens of energy efficient building and housing units around the state. Another example is the Linking Learning to Life program which helps Vermont high school students transition into successful employment by offering pre-employment training and on-site internship followed by work with the host employer.
The Cost of College. A strong believer in post secondary education, Senator Leahy is concerned about the skyrocketing cost of college and knows that our student financial aid programs must ensure college is an affordable option for all students, regardless of their background. To maintain those opportunities, he has been a consistent supporter of federal student loan and grant programs such as Pell Grants and the Federal Trio Program. He pushed to make sure that much of the savings derived from the Obama Administration’s changes to student loan programs were reinvested in our young people in the form of direct grants, lowering their costs, and allowing for greater access to college for students across the country.
Vermont Student Assistance Corporation. In March, President Obama signed into law legislation ending government subsidization of private bank student loans, by initiating direct student lending by the federal government. This will streamline the lending process and save more than $60 billion over the next ten years. While Senator Leahy supports this legislation, he also knows how important the services and guidance provided by not-for-profit lenders like VSAC are to students and their families. He worked with the Vermont congressional delegation to preserve a place for those not-for-profit lenders currently operating to continue to administer loans, maintaining VSAC’s valuable services.