Senator Murray Tours Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood, Highlights Importance of Federal Funding Amid Trump Attacks on Education

***PHOTOS, B-ROLL HERE***

Lakewood, WA - Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, toured Clover Park Technical College (CPTC) in Lakewood, met with students, educators and workforce readiness partners, and heard about how the college utilizes essential federal funding streams to support their students-support that could now be at risk with the Trump administration's all-out assault on American education and their plans to dismantle the Department of Education, which provides critical resources for students and colleges in Washington state and across the country. Last year, the Department of Education distributed over $40 million in annual funding for career and technical education and workforce development in Washington state, and over $100 million in federal financial aid and support to help students across Washington attend and complete college.

During the visit, Senator Murray spoke with educators and their partner workforce readiness organizations about the programs that teach students transferrable professional skills that are vital for today's workforce. Senator Murray met with educators and students in the college's manufacturing, welding, and health sciences programs to learn about the hands-on approach their classes have been taking to prepare them for jobs. Clover Park receives over $3.2 million in annual federal financial aid and $1.1 million in federal loans to support students, through Pell Grants and programs including the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), Emergency Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (EFSEOG) and Child Care Access Means Parents in School Program (CCAMPIS), which Senator Murray has long championed.

"It's important to hear about and see firsthand the many unique workforce training programs Clover Park Technical College offers-and how students from different backgrounds are succeeding and integrating into the local workforce. It is schools and programs like these that help make Washington state's economy stronger and prepare our students for the future," said Senator Murray. "Right now, President Trump is taking a wrecking ball to education in America and trying to dismantle the Department of Education-which provides critical support to students and colleges, everything from Pell Grants to workforce development programs. The billionaires running our government may not understand why federal funding for our students and colleges matters-but the students and educators I met with today do. I will not sit back quietly while Trump tries to destroy public education in America."

"We are thankful to Senator Patty Murray for visiting Clover Park's Lakewood campus. We always welcome the opportunity to demonstrate our programs and to provide real-life examples of how education in a technical field can change students' lives. Federal support for higher education not only allows our students to access the means to fund their education, it also builds capacity for small colleges like ours to equip our faculty to become exceptional teachers," said Joyce Loveday, President of Clover Park Technical College. Joyce has been President since June 2016 and has been working with the CPTC community since 2002.

A senior member and former chair of the HELP Committee, Senator Murray has championed students and families at every stage of her career-fighting to help ensure every child in America can get a high-quality public education. Among other things, Senator Murray negotiated the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), landmark legislation that she got signed into law, replacing the broken No Child Left Behind Act. As a longtime appropriator, she has successfully fought to boost funding to support students and invest in our nation's K-12 schools, and she has secured significant increases to the Pell Grant so that it goes further for students pursuing a higher education. Senator Murray also successfully negotiated the FAFSA Simplification Act, bipartisan legislation to reform the financial aid application process, simplify the FAFSA form for students and parents, and significantly expand eligibility for federal aid.

Earlier this month, Senator Murray led a letter to Secretary Linda McMahon demanding a reversal of a new policy the Department of Education announced recently that suddenly upended departmental policy and imposed new red tape on states, which will prevent them from accessing pandemic relief funds they are counting on to support students' learning. Senator Murray also led a letter demanding detailed answers from the Department of Education about the mass firings and other detrimental actions which risk major reductions in support for and oversight of federal investments in our nation's K-12 schools and institutions of higher education and threaten vital support for students with disabilities, access to Pell Grants and other financial aid, oversight of student loan servicers, scrutiny of for-profit colleges, and more. The letter follows an earlier March 6 letter Senator Murray sent alongside colleagues demanding answers about the chaotic, harmful actions taken by ED since January-which the Department has yet to respond to.

During Secretary Linda McMahon's confirmation hearing, Senator Murray pressed McMahon on whether she will ensure approved funding gets out to serve students as the law requires and whether she would protect students' data from DOGE. She also asked McMahon to name a single requirement of ESSA-and McMahon couldn't name any. Ahead of McMahon's confirmation, Senator Murray spoke out on the Senate floor against her nomination and sounded the alarm over President Trump and Elon Musk's plans to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.

A fact sheet outlining how the Department of Education supports students in Washington state is HERE.

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