Senator Kamala Harris has introduced a new bill that could mean more time at school for elementary students across the country. While it may not sound like every kid's idea of fun, it could be a serious relief for parents currently forced to stretch their resources in order to find care for children who are usually out of school by about 3 p.m.
The Family Friendly Schools Act would create a pilot program that provides schools the resources needed to stay open until 6 p.m., covering the entire standard workday throughout the school year and provide additional care on many days that schools are otherwise closed. In addition, it would invest over $1 billion in supporting summer learning programs.
Harris says the proposed legislation would not increase the number of hours that teachers or staff have to work unless these individuals choose to work extra hours.
For Harris, the legislation is personal: "My mother raised my sister and me while working demanding, long hours… So I know firsthand that, for many working parents, juggling between school schedules and work schedules is a common cause of stress and financial hardship."
The bill is particularly aimed at offering safe care options for low-income families who cannot afford to pay for afterschool childcare. The program would award five-year grants of up to $5 million to districts that have a large number of students in the low-income bracket.
"My bill provides an innovative solution that will help reduce the burden of child care on working families," Harris wrote in a statement.
She has also made education a pillar of her presidential campaign, proposing a plan to spend $315 billion to increase teacher salaries over the next ten years.
Co-sponsors of the legislation include Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).
Gillibrand sent Cheddar a statement Thursday reading in part, "This would provide some much-needed relief for many families and the peace of mind that their children will be somewhere safe.”
“This voluntary program would help local school districts study and explore ways to help schools keep their facilities open throughout the work day,” Brown told Cheddar “for academic, athletic, or enrichment activities without forcing teachers to work longer hours or work for less pay.”
The issue of education has rarely seen the debate stage, but candidates like Harris, as well as Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Michael Bennet, and former HUD Secretary Julian Castro have touted their plans on the campaign trail.
The Trump administration has asked an appeals court to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s board of governors by Monday, before the central bank’s next vote on interest rates. Trump sought to fire Cook Aug. 25, but a federal judge ruled late Tuesday that the removal was illegal and reinstated her to the Fed’s board.
President Donald Trump's administration is appealing a ruling blocking him from immediately firing Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook as he seeks more control over the traditionally independent board. The notice of appeal was filed Wednesday, hours after U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb handed down the ruling. The White House insists the Republican president had the right to fire Cook over mortgage fraud allegations involving properties in Michigan and Georgia from before she joined the Fed. Cook's lawsuit denies the allegations and says the firing was unlawful. The case could soon reach the Supreme Court, which has allowed Trump to fire members of other independent agencies but suggested that power has limitations at the Fed.
Chief Justice John Roberts has let President Donald Trump remove a member of the Federal Trade Commission, the latest in a string of high-profile firings allowed for now by the Supreme Court.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Donald Trump has a message for critics who think turning the U.S. government into a major stockholder of Intel is a “socialist” move: More is coming.
Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook's lawyer says she'll sue President Donald Trump's administration to try to prevent him from firing her. Longtime Washington attorney Abbe Lowell said Tuesday that Trump “has no authority to remove” Cook. If Trump succeeds in removing Cook from the Fed's board of governors, it could erode the Fed’s political independence, which is considered critical to its ability to fight inflation because it enables the Fed to take unpopular steps like raising interest rates. The Republican president said Monday he was removing Cook because of allegations she committed mortgage fraud. Cook was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden in 2022 and says she won't step down.
Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook late Wednesday said she wouldn’t leave her post after Trump on social media called on her to resign over an accusation from one his officials that she committed mortgage fraud.
