DES MOINES, Wash. — U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan urged Congress on Friday to act soon to increase education funding because cash-strapped states can't wait until the fall to determine if they must lay off thousands of teachers.
Duncan made his remarks at a forum on innovation in education at Aviation High School in Des Moines, a small college prep school that focuses on science, technology and mathematics.
At the forum, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray said she hopes fellow lawmakers spent their Fourth of July break hearing from parents and teachers, like she did. Murray said if they got the message about how urgent the school budget crisis is, they will return to Washington, D.C., with the drive to find more money for schools.
A proposal to send billions more to the states has hit a number of roadblocks.
The U.S. House has proposed cutting money from Race to the Top and other Duncan initiatives in order to send $10 billion to the states to keep 140,000 teachers in the classroom, and about $5 billion to shore up the Pell Grant program, which helps low-income students pay for college.
Murray and Duncan both said many different proposals to pay for the emergency dollars are on the table.
"He and I have to go back to Washington and make this work," the senator said.