WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) released the following statement today after learning that the U.S. Department of Education had approved $96 million in funding for Iowa. Iowa applied for this funding after the U.S. Senate advanced a measure that provided $10 billion for an education jobs fund to help prevent major teacher layoffs in the coming school year. This effort was modeled after legislation Senator Harkin introduced on April 14th called the Keep Our Educators Working Act.
Harkin chairs the Appropriations subcommittee that funds education efforts and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
"Just a few months ago, headlines in Iowa and around the country told an all-too-familiar story of educator jobs at risk. Our public schools were facing the prospect of massive layoffs, which would have meant larger class sizes and a great risk to the state of our kids' education.
"Today, we have helped to avert a crisis. With the approval of their application, Iowa will be able to use these funds to stem the loss of teachers, librarians, classroom assistants and others who our kids rely on for a quality education. I commend the Department of Education for moving quickly to ensure this critical funding is released to states."
###
