Congressman Dent: "I Have Very Serious Concerns With NCLB"

LV Ramblings: What will you do to ensure that ANY qualified student can receive advanced education using INTEREST-FREE loans?

Congressman Dent: "I supported the Higher Education Act earlier this year. We took loan rates down from 6.8% to 3.4% over five years. We are trying to mitigate the cost of higher education.

"But there is a bigger challenge for higher eduction student lending. PHEAA came to see me, and this was several months ago. This was during the prime crisis. They said if something doesn't change, we're not going to be able to make loans. We're going to have to go to direct lending.

"I called Secretary Paulson [Treasury] and ended up talking to him the day after the Baser Sterns deal was cut. I said, 'Hey Secretary, I know you have a lot on your plate right now. But PHEAA, which makes loans to students, not just in Pennsylvania but all over the country, is really worried. They're not going to be able to make loans.'

"I explained their default rate is less than 2% and theirs is not a credit problem, but a structural problem. We worked to resolve that.

"That's the larger underlying issue in student lending. The housing crisis has spilled over into other areas. "

LV Ramblings: Would you vote to eliminate the Department of Education?

Congressman Dent: "No."

LV Ramblings: What do you believe needs to be done to improve our education system in Pennsylvania? Do you believe that NCLB needs to be re-organized to better serve our schools or erased all together?

Congressman Dent: "Yes. I have very serious concerns with NCLB, the way its been implemented, the law itself. What I think is unfortunate is that the Education and Labor Committee has not acted on this. It needs to be reauthorized and substantially reformed.

"Truthfully, I think NCLB really elevated the role of federal government in basic education. Our role has largely been confined to special ed and Title 1. This has expanded the federal role in ways that I'm not entirely sure are positive. It does need to be reformed.

"Here are some suggestions that I've made and that you may have. I presented this to the Education Committee."

Blogger's Note: Congressman Dent's presentation to the Education and Labor Committee is reproduced below.