Education
Early Childhood Education and K-12 Education
Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia is passionate about expanding access to early childhood education programs and improving K-12 public schools in her district. As a State Senator, she fought for the state legislature to sufficiently invest in Texas public schools, including increased teacher and staff salaries. She also adamantly stood with retired teachers to reform the retired teacher pension system.
Now, she continues to build on this legacy in Congress. She knows that education is a priority issue that intersects with several other critical areas, including child nutrition, anti-discrimination protections, support for English language learners, housing, special education, and mental health.
The American Rescue Plan, which Congresswoman Garcia helped pass, secured more than $1.3 billion total for the school districts in Texas’s 29th Congressional District, including Houston ISD, Aldine ISD, Pasadena ISD, Sheldon ISD, Humble ISD, Channelview ISD, Galena Park ISD, and Deer Park ISD.
She supports increased funding for Head Start programs in TX-29 and throughout the country, which offer high-quality education, health, and nutrition services to children from at-risk backgrounds—those living in poverty, in foster care, or experiencing homelessness—as well as employment and educational support to their parents.
She is a cosponsor of the Stop Child Hunger Act of 2023, which would strengthen the newly established permanent Summer EBT program, filling the gaps for students from low-income families when school is not in session.
As Texas is the state with the highest percentage of English-language learners, she is a cosponsor of the bipartisan the Reaching English Learners Act, which would establish a grant program and preparing future teachers to effectively instruct English learners and helping close the gap, so that English-language learners in Texas and nationwide can succeed in early childhood education programs and in elementary and secondary schools.
She supports the wellbeing of working families putting their children through school, and has cosponsored the Child Care for Working Families Act, and the bipartisan the Care is an Economic Development (CEDS) Act, supporting increased access to care-based services, including childcare, early childhood education, disability and long-term care, and elder care.
The Congresswoman has also previously introduced the No Kids in Cuffs Resolution, which calls for the implementing trauma-informed methods of school discipline and improving upon existing school discipline measures, specifically those that disproportionately target students of color, students with disabilities, and English-language learners.
Higher Education
Congresswoman Garcia deeply cares about improving affordability and increasing accessibility for all students seeking to attend institutions of higher education. She supports increasing federal and state funding for institutions of higher education, particularly community college systems and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs). The Congresswoman believes that streamlining student financial aid applications, simplifying grant letters to potential grantees and borrowers, and allowing more flexibility and eligibility to receive a federal Pell Grant will assist prospective college students seeking affordable college options.
To help tackle the student loan crisis for college graduates, the Congresswoman sought to hold for-profit colleges accountable to ensure students receive a return on their educational investment and prohibit predatory practices of student loan debt collection by private and public lenders. She also fought to strengthen and expand existing student debt forgiveness programs, such as the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF).
The Congresswoman is an original cosponsor on the Equitable Student Aid Access Act, intended to make the FAFSA application and financial aid notification letters clearer for prospective college students.
The Student and Taxpayer Protection Act, also cosponsored by the Congresswoman would ensure that for-profit institutions prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation.
The Congresswoman has previously cosponsored the College Affordability Act, a landmark piece of legislation intended to transform higher education by expanding Pell Grant eligibility, incentivizing states to invest in higher education institutions, as well as providing free community college tuition.
Lastly, as an alumna of Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law, the Congresswoman supported the reauthorization of the Future Act, which permanently funds historically black colleges and universities and other minority serving institutions.
The Congresswoman cares deeply about uplifting Latinos in higher education. She proudly cosponsored the Hispanic Educational Resources and Empowerment Act of 2023, which would authorize a $150 million grant that would go towards supporting partnerships between Hispanic serving school districts and Hispanic serving institutions, with the goal of improving Latino students’ postsecondary education.
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