Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS -- (Senate - July 24, 2008)

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By Mr. DURBIN:

S. 3326. A bill to authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to local education agencies to improve college access; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation designed to make it easier for students to reach college and to succeed in college. An educated workforce is crucial to the success of the American economy, but too many students are not receiving a college education. Of students who were in eighth grade in 2000, only 20 percent of the lowest-income students will earn a college degree by 2012, compared to 68 percent of the highest income group. Every student who wants to go to college should have that opportunity, and we should provide them with the tools they need. Today, I am introducing the Pathways to College Act, which creates grants for school districts to help them increase the number of low-income students who are entering and succeeding in college.

Lack of guidance and information about college has a real effect on students in poor schools. The Consortium on Chicago School Research recently released a report called ``Potholes on the Road to College.'' This report examines the difficulties faced by Chicago Public School students during the college application process. The Consortium discovered that only 41 percent of Chicago Public School students who wanted to go to college took the steps necessary to apply to and enroll in a 4-year college. Only one-third of students enrolled in a college that matched their qualifications. Of the students who had the grades and test scores to attend a selective college, 29 percent went to a community college or skipped college entirely.

But the most heartbreaking parts of this report are the profiles of smart, ambitious students who find themselves helplessly lost in the college admissions process. One student, Amelia, worked hard in her classes at Silverstein High School and dreamed of studying criminal justice. Amelia never received the help she needed to achieve her goal. The wait was two weeks to see a guidance counselor, and so Amelia learned about the process on her own. She did not apply for federal financial aid and ended up at a local community college where she described the classes as easy and ``just like high school.''

The Pathways to College Act would create a grant program for school districts serving low-income students to increase their college-enrollment rates. The Consortium's ``Potholes'' report found that the most important factor in whether students enroll in a four-year college is if they attended a school where teachers create a strong college-going culture and help students with the process of applying. The Pathways to College Act would provide the funding to help school districts improve the college-going culture in schools and guide students through the college admissions process.

A school with a strong college culture is a school where the expectation throughout the school is that every single student will go to college. Administrators, teachers, and staff members embrace and act on that goal every day. With a grant through the Pathways to College Act, schools could train student leaders, integrate college planning into the curriculum, and provide opportunities for college fairs, college tours, and workplace visits. Most importantly, teachers and counselors would be trained in post-secondary advising so that they can motivate their students to reach for high goals. Every school in the school district would incorporate these elements and others into a school-wide plan of action to strengthen the college-going culture.

KIPP Ascend Charter School in Chicago is a school that does this well. A few weeks ago, a group of eighth grade students from KIPP came to my constituent coffee here in Washington. Each one was wearing a shirt that said ``I am college bound.'' Every child and each teacher believed the message on those shirts, and I did too. The facts prove we are all right. Eighty percent of students in the KIPP program nation-wide attend college. KIPP accomplishes this by training teachers to constantly reinforce high college expectations. If you walk into a KIPP classroom, you see college posters on the walls and hear college discussed as part of the day's lesson. If you ask the students about going to college, they will answer without hesitation and might tell you about their last field trip to a local university. When you combine those clear, high expectations with KIPP's rigorous college-preparatory curriculum, you can understand their enormous success.

The Pathways to College Act will also give school districts the tools they need to help students meet their high aspirations. Participating school districts would provide each high school freshman with at least one meeting with an advisor to discuss their goals post-graduation and create a plan to reach those goals. School districts would also educate students and families about the intricacies of the college application process and the federal financial aid application process. The average student-to-counselor ratio in high schools is 315 to one, but schools could use grant money to hire more counselors and form partnerships with community groups to help students with college applications and financial aid forms. School districts also consider could create college planning classes or establish a college access center in their school.

The Pathways to College Act provides flexibility to school districts to achieve higher college enrollment rates, but requires that each school accurately track their results so we can learn from what works. Chicago Public Schools is doing a great job--both in tackling the problem and in documenting progress. Under the leadership of CEO Arne Duncan, Chicago Public Schools responded aggressively to the ``Potholes'' report. A team of postsecondary coaches were deployed in high schools to work with students and counselors. To ensure that financial aid is not a roadblock, FAFSA completion rates are tracked so that counselors can follow-up with students. A spring-break college tour took 500 students to see colleges across the country. Because Chicago Public Schools tracks its college enrollment rates, we know that their efforts are working. Half of the 2007 graduating class enrolled in college, an increase of 6.5 percent in four years. The national increase was less than one percent in the same time-frame. Nationally, the number of African-American graduates going to college has decreased by six percent over the last four years while the Chicago rate has increased by almost eight percent.

Applying to college is not easy. Low-income students often need the most help to achieve their college dreams. When schools focus on college and provide the tools to get there, students make the connection between the work they are doing now and their future goals in college and life. Students in those schools are more likely enroll in college and are also more likely to work hard in high school to be prepared for college when they arrive. The bill I am introducing today tries to ensure that lack of information never prevents a student from achieving his or her college dream.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.

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