Secure a stable source of funding to ensure access to Quality Health care, preschool, child care, afterschool academic support, or all the children in marin. Since moving here she spends time every week at the Alameda County juvenile justice center. Please join me in welcoming dana king. [applause] thank you very much. It is so nice to be back in marin. It is sunny and warm over here. Who. I heard a gasp when someone said oakland. What . Do miss marin and i was here for 15 years and it will always, always be my home. My children were raised here and attended school year. Now they are grown, so when they flew the coop, so did i. Justts not that far, im over the bridge. Come and visit us. We have great restaurants in oakland, incredible art. Forgoing to do a little pr oakland. Thank you so much for coming out today. We have a very, very Important Program to discuss. Our agenda is to jumpstart the middle class. Shall we . Yes. Are incredibly fortunate today to have our esteemed representatives in for more and and to talk about this crucial congressional plan. Nancy pelosi, Democratic National leader. [applause] and our very own congressman. Ared huffman [applause] we will hear from the congressman in the moment. He is going to give us a thumbnail sketch of the action plan. Then we will hear from students who will share their personal stories. We will follow with work on the andd of College Access affordability. And the importance of preschool and the need for childcare, without which many families cannot afford to send their children to preschool. Take youre going to questions. I know it is rare to have a power base at the table in front of you. I am sure there are many things you want to discuss, but we want to stay on topic so we will go through the questions and make sure we do that. So, we will be passing staff has taper and pencils if you have questions. They will be passed up to me and when you are done writing raise your hand and we will pick them up. All right . So, shall we get started . All right. I want to introduce congressman hoffman. You know him, you see him all the time. An incredibly hard worker. First and foremost, he is a dad. A father of two children married to a wonderful woman who is a Public School teacher. For him education is of paramount importance. He values it as a necessary ingredient for a vibrant society and for our economy and he values it personally for his children and their future success. Was sworntive hoffman in as a member of the 113th congress on january 3 of 2013. He represents our second district. The district spans from the Golden Gate Bridge north to the oregon border and covers six counties, including all of marin , mendocino, humble, trinity, delmore day, and much of sonoma. A member of the committee on Natural Resources and the House Budget Committee in congress, as in the assembly. He has distinguished himself as a legislator who tackles complex. Ublic policy challenges he works tirelessly and he gets results. Often by forging bipartisan consensus on very difficult issues. You all read the news, right . You know that bipartisanship is hard to come by, but that is what the congressman does on your behalf. , a husband, aher member of our community and the leader in congress. I am honored to call him my friend and your friend. We welcome him now to the podium. [applause] thank you, dana, for that great introduction. Thank you for every thing you have done for the whole bay area. As a broadcaster and Community Leader i know i am not supposed to say this, but we hope you will do even more as a member of the Oakland City Council soon. [applause] i want to thank all the students, the guest, the dignitaries certainly the college of marin for hosting this important discussion today. Of course, i want to thank my colleague, our great democratic leader, nancy pelosi, for giving us some quality time in the schedule that you would not believe. The fact that she has chosen to spend this time with us is an honor and a privilege. To beat as it is for me here, i have to tell you honestly i would rather be back in session in congress right now. Theuld rather be working on mountain of work that needs to be done right now. We urge the speaker to Keep Congress in session in order to address a number of critical priorities, including passing something president obama has requested, a critical supplemental funding bill to address the humanitarian crisis at the border area the president has also requested critical funding to federal agencies attempting to fight wildfires throughout the west. While we are at it, if we were working like we should be in this congress, we could have votes on bipartisan bills to raise the minimum wage, provide longterm unemployment, assistance to job seekers we could reauthorize export import to support american small asiness manufacturers without cost to taxpayers. A bipartisan Immigration Reform bill in the senate to bring up a bipartisan commonsense background check law so that we could better protect our college campuses, schools, and communities from these acts of gun violence that have become too common in our country. But since the speaker declined our request to work on those things and stay in session, i am happy to make the most of this opportunity in the district. My district covers the north the last i have spent few weeks in places like trinity county, working with firefighters on the fire lines. I have met with agricultural ,eaders, broadband advocates and the Community Health clinic and a lot more. Of course, today there is the great opportunity to be with all of you to talk about another very critical priorities, which is in highquality affordable education for everyone in america. You will not find a more passionate advocate for education and the middle class than leader pelosi. She is the architect of the middle class jumpstart agenda. We have got that backtoschool energy here on the campus. Leader pelosi has been in congress a long time. But she still manages to bring that backtoschool energy to urge out every single day and all of for work on behalf of the middle class. Three months ago we had the honor of addressing the college of marin in the graduating class. There was a palpable sense of ride, accomplishment, and optimism that you get from graduates. If anybody wants to understand what education means to the lives of a person, come to a Community College commencement and look around. You will get it instantly. Struck mething that was their incredible personal stories. Stories of hard work, grit, and determination. In our famous alumni, like the great Robin Williams who we tragically lost last week, but the college can take equald should pride in the Diverse Group of graduates we met last month at the commencement. Including the mother of three children working her way through school. This young mother, after several years of hard work and coming through to get hurt credentials will be entering uc berkeley to study sociology. There was a young man who i met the came to america from taiwan at age 16 and did not speak a word of english, did not have his parents with him, he worked so hard not only to learn a new language but to get good grades and lift himself up to education. Not only did he make it through college, but he will be starting at san jose state in a few days. There were so many stories like that. Stories not only from the college of marin, but all over educationry about how transforms lives, families, and communities. We think about it, when i think about my own experience with what i thought was significant student that, although by todays standards it seems almost trivial we absolutely have to do much more. If we won a vibrant and healthy economy, if we want young people to keep reaching up and pursuing Higher Education and everything it can do for them and their communities and country and economy, then we have to do more to make sure graduates can enter the workforce without crippling levels of student debt. Here we are fortunate to have some Community Partners who are working to help students gain access to College Without the kind of debt. Folks like the next generation of scholars, 10,000 degrees, and the marin foundation. But we have to do more. Specifically we need congress to do more. That is why i am so happy to be here to talk about our middle class jumpstart plan. About what wes would do to turn around the middle class, including education. It is a straightforward list of priorities that i think everyone should support. It includes tax breaks for jobs instead of shipping them overseas. Raising the minimum wage in giving america a raise. Focusing on supporting women and families through paycheck fairness. Education to keep america number one is how we frame it. We specifically think there is a lot to do to improve the bookends of our k12 education system. College affordability and one end, Early Childhood education on the other. The leaderg with a program that will let folks refinance their college loans. But we are doing more than that, we are working to advance the president s call for universal Early Childhood education. We know the children that dont attend preschool are often behind that they dont attend kindergarten and many of them never catch up. For many families, child care is an important prerequisite. We have to include affordable childcare when we talk about our preschool initiatives. County, one marin of the most affluent in the united states, one out of every four children does not attend preschool. Only futurity to only 32 of latino children attend preschool. Percent of economically disadvantaged children do not read at grade level here in murdering county. So, we have got a lot of work to do. Andill take federal, state, local leadership to realize our Broader Vision of highquality affordable Education Systems that work for everyone in the country. We have a terrific program today. I am looking forward to hearing from the other speakers. Thank you for joining us. [applause] thank you, congressman. The work that you do helped to build the foundation. When a child does not go to prek compared to one that does, the one that goes ahead of the child doesnt, they never catch up. So, i am looking forward to seeing the bills signed and the work begun. But we are talking about college right now and the affordability of it. Sometimes the lack of affordability. Can be to keept a job, go to school, get good grades, eat well, and have a life. I would like to bring some into the stage who entered college of marin just this spring after attending city college in San Francisco and the Fashion Institute of technology in new york city. She transferred in order to save money and continue her education without having to take time off from college. She is majoring in International Studies and currently serves as a student ambassador. As an ambassador she focuses on helping students ettore understand the true costs of college so that they can make informed decisions. [applause] good afternoon. Whoops. Good afternoon, anybody everybody. I am glad to share my stories so that other students will be more aware and can make better decisions about college. After high school i first attended the city college of San Francisco and then transferred to the Fashion Institute of technology. Not realizing how expensive it was going to be. Thats when i learned the true cost of college. Unfortunately, could not afford to help me. I wound up coming back to california not too long afterwards for my realized how much debt i had already accumulated. Trying to work and stabilize my financial situation , but at a much more reasonable. Ost in a Supportive Community my advice to other students would be to do your homework on Different College options. What you might qualify for in terms of Financial Aid and dig into in terms of scholarships. Regret my College Experience so far, but at the same time i wish i was not 22 years old and 52,000 dollars in debt. Optionsing different can really pay off and you will be able to make more decisions that will make college less stressful and more enjoyable. Thank you. [applause] thank you very much. Debt. 0 in that spirals into the economy. If a student comes out of school with huge debt, they cant buy cars, they can buy furniture, they cant start their lives. We really have to work on this. I would like to bring to the stage young man who was originally from los angeles. He enrolled at the college of inin as a reentry student 2010. During his time here he was active in the Latino Student Union and served as the associate student president and peer tutor. He spent much of his time advocating on behalf of students, working on projects that increase access to Educational Opportunities, with special attention to the unique needs of supporting Student Success academically and socially. He majored in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences and transferred to uc berkeley this fall. [applause] congressman hoffman, special guest, i want to thank you for being here today and thank you for your continued service and receptiveness for American Students and the american people. My story is one that strays from attrition the path. I did not go to college straight out of high school. I never felt like college was for me. For job rightok out of high school and wound up in an Apprenticeship Program where i learned the electrical trade. That component had a night class. Andined the confidence stride to want to do more. That robbie back to school. When i was looking for how i would go about this, i wanted to look for a place that had smaller classes. I needed something that made sense to me. Community college. Smaller classes. There was also affordability. That was a huge factor for me. I didnt have a lot of means to go to university straight out of college. I enjoyed every minute of it. But it was not easy. There were a lot of times when i had to think about the cost of education not stopping. Housing,pplies, time to fix an ac problem, Something Like that. I had to look for resources. One of them was the pell grant. It wasnt easy. Fromory does not different a lot of other students. Many are probably even worse. What made the difference for me was being able to come to a that i knew was affordable and have the resources i needed to get my education. Many of our students face a lot of obstacles. Others face even more, where they worry about their legal status and whether they will be deported. As another psychological effect that most students are not aware of but should be . Ask that you continue to support legislation that not just opens the door but expands the door. For many students like myself, who never felt they had the opportunity but are now reaching their dream school. Thank you. [applause] inspirational voices. There is a struggle. The question is, how much does it have to be . He introduced me, so now i get to introduce the college of marin superintendent and president. He began his tenure here in 2010 in december. Throughout a 25 year degree 25 year career he has been recognized for his leadership locally, regionally, and nationally. He came here following a successful five year stint in san jose where he championed a richly diverse arty. Prior to this he held a variety of administrative positions. From Central Washington university, a masters of education in Student Personnel Administration from Western Washington University and a doctorate of education in Educational Leadership with emphasis on Organizational Development from seattle university. The 2006esented with by the Achievement Award alumni association. In may of 2007, Central Washington university dedicated to David Wayne Center for excellence in leadership. Pretty awesome. [applause] arent we fortunate. He has taken break great pride in shaping the center with his own sense of humility, integrity, and commitment to service. [applause] thank you for that kind introduction. It occurs to me that at the beginning of the program i asked you to acknowledge the leadership of the School District and it occurs to me impact thelks that lives of our Young Students on this stage are our teachers. Please stand so that we can Technology Great work you have done. [applause] thank you for being here today. I would like to provide some context for the conversation today by sharing information about College Affordability, Financial Aid, and the college Early ChildhoodEducation Teacher training