Rep. Fattah Wins Major National Award for Leadership in Education

WASHINGTON , April 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-PA), an innovative and effective advocate for education reform throughout his 27-year legislative career, has been honored with a major national award for leadership from the Educational Policy Institute.

Fattah received the 2010 EPI Leadership in Education Award at the Institute's National Capitol Summit this week in Washington. The prestigious award is bestowed on a bipartisan basis. Past winners include Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo), former Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee; and a posthumous award to the late Senator Claiborne Pell (D-RI), father of the Pell Grants.

"Congressman Fattah continues to show great leadership in support of youth around the country, paving the way for brighter futures and a more competitive nation," said Dr. Watson Scott Swail, president and CEO of the Institute.

Fattah addressed the EPI Capitol Summit on Monday, presenting his educational priorities. He has forcefully advocated programs that close the education achievement gap and level the playing field for low-income and underserved students in public schools, ever since beginning his career as a young state representative in 1983.

"I'm honored to receive this bipartisan award from such a significant national organization. EPI is a well-respected advocate for the kinds of education policies that will prepare our youth for the opportunities of today's world – and tomorrow's world," said Fattah, an eight-term Congressman from Philadelphia.

"Claiborne Pell has always been a hero of mine," Fattah added. "The far-sighted and far-reaching scholarship program, which serves as his monument, has helped countless young Americans enroll and remain in institutions of higher learning that they otherwise might not afford."

Congressman Fattah is the architect of GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs), the largest pre-college awareness program serving more than 10 million students and providing more than $3 billion toward the educational advancement and college readiness of low-income students, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

The award comes on the heels of passage of Fattah's American Opportunity Tax Credit, which provides a $2,500 refundable tax credit for tuition and other higher education expenses.

The Educational Policy Institute is an association of researchers and policy analysts dedicated to enhancing knowledge of critical barriers facing students and families throughout the educational pipeline.

SOURCE Office of Congressman Chaka Fattah