Congressman Hoyer is strongly committed to ensuring Maryland schools continue to be among the best in the nation and students have the education and skills they need to succeed.
He is also a strong supporter of Full-Service Community Schools, modeled after the highly successful Judy Centers throughout Maryland, which coordinates educational and social service programs through collaborative partnerships with school districts and community-based organizations. By placing services under one roof, Congressman Hoyer believes schools can more effectively and efficiently provide families with access to services they might not easily have access to otherwise.
Congressman Hoyer also helped enact the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which saved taxpayers money, made critical investments in higher education by significantly increasing funding for Pell Grants, made loan repayment more affordable by expanding the Income Based Repayment program, and provided $2 billion to strengthen our community colleges. Additionally, he supports investing in education for disadvantaged students and students with disabilities, providing additional funds for teacher professional development and protecting Pell Grant funding for needy students pursuing higher education.
I was pleased to attend today's event to commend everyone who has been working hard to expand Judy Centers in Baltimore City.
This is an extraordinary opportunity for the brilliant and innovative students that we have in the Fifth District and I'm excited to help foster their interest in computer science.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to an individual who has made a remarkable impact on higher education in this country and in my state. He's done that for more than half a century.
Today I had the opportunity to visit Larry's Hope, a new prison reentry program that will give individuals who have been incarcerated the mentoring, training, services, and support they need to find jobs and successfully reenter society.
I was pleased to visit the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Maryland today to tour the Avrum Gudelsky Veterinary Center's state-of-the-art facilities and learn about the cutting-edge research programs in animal and public health being conducted.
Today I met with students at the University of Maryland who are participants of the federal TRIO programs.
I was honored to recognize our outstanding educators from across the state and to congratulate Ryan Kaiser on being named Maryland Teacher of the Year.
I am honored to recognize Cardinal Hickey Academy on being one of eight schools in Maryland selected for this outstanding achievement.
I'm pleased that the University System of Maryland and its partners will receive this highly competitive funding for their First in the World Maryland Mathematics Reform Initiative.
I was pleased to meet with Dr. Caret today to discuss a number of higher education priorities in the state of Maryland, including the third building project at the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center.