SAFEGUARDING CHILD NUTRITION The Chamber recognizes that nutrition programs play a key role in keeping children in the Oklahoma City region fed. The Chamber supports utilizing and funding programs that best feed the children of the Oklahoma City region. PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN A CHILD’S EDUCATION The Chamber supports awareness efforts in promoting parental involvement in a child’s education as it increases academic achievement for youth by 40%. The support of literacy clinics to engage parents in understanding their child’s progress as well as quality of school based on NAEP data.
• Farm and Small Business Exemptions – The Chamber supports efforts to help students who are from families who are farmers or small business owners maximize their eligibility for federal financial support to pay for higher education. • Safeguarding Child Nutrition The Chamber recognizes that federal nutrition programs play a key role in keeping children in the Oklahoma City region fed. The Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act has not been updated in more than a decade. The Chamber supports the reauthorization of this act to better serve the children of the Oklahoma City community. The Chamber supports using all available federal funding to support the health, mental health and wellbeing of our future workforce, using all available tools to ensure the academic success of our students. This includes ensuring the state administers the summer EBT programs to ensure students are fed.
FEDERAL ISSUES
HELPING STUDENTS PAY FOR HIGHER EDUCATION The Chamber recognizes that students need financial resources to complete postsecondary education. We support broad outreach and awareness of financial resources available to potential Oklahoma college students and young adults such as FAFSA, concurrent enrollment, Reach Higher, Oklahoma’s Promise and others: • FAFSA Completion – The Chamber supports efforts to increase the number of students who complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) because it helps students learn about how to pay for higher education. The Chamber supports efforts to ensure a timely, reliable and accessible application process for students to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA), with a release date by October 1 each year increasing accessibility to financial support for student applicants; therefore, providing students and institutions time to effectively plan for financial aid, and in turn aligning associated data reporting. Delays in FAFSA processing and inadequate communication can hinder college access, which in turn negatively impacts workforce development. Ensuring timely financial aid decisions is critical to supporting students in pursuing postsecondary education and filling workforce needs in high- demand sectors. • Pell Grants and TRIO – The Chamber supports continued availability of Pell grants to help students pay for higher education and short-term Pell grants for students seeking credentials or other nondegree education/training. We also support federally funded TRIO grants that help disadvantaged individuals prepare for and succeed in higher education.
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