A Look at Senator Harkin’s Education Record

Last week, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) became the new chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP Committee), filling a vacancy created by the death of the previous chairman, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.).

Many observers had expected Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), the second-ranking Democrat on the committee and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Children and Families, to assume the role, but Dodd elected to retain his chairmanship of the Banking Committee, clearing the way for Harkin to chair HELP. Dodd will continue to chair the Subcommittee on Children and Families, which plays an important role on early childhood education issues.

Sen. Harkin, who was re-elected to his fifth Senate term last November, is no stranger to health, education and labor issues. He’s served on the HELP Committee for many years and also chairs the Appropriations Subcommittee that sets spending levels for education, health, social service and labor programs. As chairman of both the HELP Committee and the Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education, Harkin will be a particularly powerful force on education and health issues — more so than any other senator since the late 1960s, according to Politico.

What does Chairman Harkin mean for early education?

During his tenure on appropriations, Harkin has championed federal spending on children, families, and education — including early childhood investments. He is particularly well-known for his advocacy for students with disabilities, leading efforts to secure “full funding” for Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which helps school districts with the costs of educating children with disabilities. Harkin has also been one of the foremost proponents of federal funding for the construction and repair of school facilities.

Harkin is not closely associated with early childhood issues in the same way he is with special education and construction, but he has supported early childhood investments. The general consensus among D.C. insiders is that, as chairman, Harkin will support improvements in and expansion of early childhood programs. He has been a particularly strong supporter of Early Head Start, playing an important role in securing provisions in the 2007 Head Start reauthorization to expand that program.

With the HELP Committee slated to take up the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act — which includes provisions authorizing and funding Early Learning Challenge Grants — sometime this fall, Harkin will have a chance to enact major early childhood legislation right off the bat. Early childhood advocates will be keeping a close watch on the HELP Committee in the coming weeks, and so will we.