Since his first days in Washington, Congressman Yarmuth has worked hard to give every American the opportunity to pursue a world class education. As a member of the House Education and Labor Committee, Congressman Yarmuth is a leader in education reform--earning national recognition as the "Outstanding New Member of Congress" by the Committee for Education Funding (the largest non-partisan education organization in the country), and "Best Legislator" by the Kentucky Reading Association.

A vocal opponent of the current No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), Congressman Yarmuth is working to improve our K-12 education system. He has called on leadership to replace the punitive structure of NCLB with positive goals that reward success and provide professional development and financial support to help turn around struggling schools. He has introduced comprehensive literacy legislation to make sure all children are reading at grade level, and has taken the lead on several important teacher quality initiatives--including calling on his colleagues to increase funding for the only teacher training program in the Higher Education Act, and securing legislation to ensure that all teachers have the skills to help students read at grade level. He is also working to empower teachers of special needs children, creating a new grant program that will help general education teachers reach students with autism and other disabilities in the classroom, and introducing legislation that will help educators identify the learning strategies necessary to create a positive, learning environment for students with special needs.

As a member of the Higher Education & Lifelong Learning Subcommittee, he is also working diligently to make college more affordable, helping enact the largest investment in higher education funding since the GI bill--at no new cost to the taxpayers. Congressman Yarmuth helped champion initiatives to cut student loan interest rates in half, raise the federal Pell Grant by more than $1,000, and ensure that no college graduate ever has to pay more than 15 percent of his or her income on student loan debt. He is also working to enact legislation that will expand loan forgiveness for public servants, establish student support programs at colleges and universities to help students stay in school and attain a degree, and create a national center that will revolutionize the education system by integrating the latest technologies into the classroom.

Congressman Yarmuth understands that there is no greater investment in the future of our country than building a world class education system. His goal is to give every family the chance to pursue the American dream, and ensure that our nation's workforce remains the most educated workforce in the world.