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Rep. Fattah, GEAR UP Architect, Will Address College-Readiness

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As President Obama releases his budget plan on Monday, Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-PA), architect of GEAR UP, the nation's most successful college access and readiness program for low-income students, will address a national GEAR UP conference in Orlando, Florida.

Fattah will be the featured Monday morning speaker at the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships/GEAR UP Annual Capacity Building Workshop. He will address 1,300 educators and program staff for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, the $3 billion-plus program that has served about 12 million students in 49 states since its inception in 1999.

"GEAR UP is all about young people from modest backgrounds understanding that their dreams of a college education and a career can be realized," said Fattah, a nine-term Congressman from Philadelphia and leading education advocate. "But it's also more than that. It is about preparing the nation's future leaders, and earners, to compete in a global economy.

"When the President releases his budget for the next fiscal year, I am confident that he will strongly support proven education programs that provide the best investment in our young people, programs that translate into economic growth for our nation," Fattah said.

The Congressman is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies. He is the author of and advocate for numerous education initiatives designed to increase college access and retention for underserved young people.

Fattah won inclusion of the American Opportunity Tax Credit Act, which was recently extended another two years, in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and is the Congressional leader on issues of educational opportunity.

"In these challenging economic times, it is important that every federal dollar serve as an investment in meaningful programs that work to change the future for our young people," Fattah said. "Successful programs like GEAR UP have shown the impact high-quality programming can have on the economic lives of families, communities and the nation. GEAR UP is a gold-standard investment in robust growth and long-term prosperity."

Since the launch of GEAR UP with bipartisan Congressional support, Fattah has traveled the nation and crisscrossed his home town, recently addressing GEAR UP educators and meeting with students in Colorado, Oklahoma and California. Within the past week, Fattah spoke with the GEAR UP students at Germantown High School in Philadelphia.

"I am honored to have the opportunity to speak with men and women who are vigilant stewards of this precious taxpayer investment and who work hard every day to ensure our young people are prepared to attend and succeed in college," he said.

The three-day GEAR UP Capacity Building Workshop will be held at the Hilton Orlando/Bonnet Creek. The Workshop is coordinated by the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP) and planned in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Education.

Contact Ron Goldwyn: 215-387-6404 or ron.goldwyn@mail.house.gov

SOURCE Office of Congressman Chaka Fattah