If you don't educate those people, you will fill the welfare system. Peterson said one of the major needs of the Senate district he has served is better education access, primarily to higher education. Peterson also helped create the five higher education councils in his Senate district, that serve as a college without walls. They are now allowing somewhere between 7,000 and 8,000 people a year to access education who couldn't do it before. But while Rudy believes the Department of Education is necessary, Peterson said it is not.
Education is the best investment in our future.
Peterson said whether there is a Department of Education is not a big issue. As far as a person that wants to represent this district, one of the committees that I would want to be placed on is the Subcommittee on Post-Secondary Education and Lifelong Learning. Both Rudy and Peterson said improving financial aid programs is necessary to make education affordable as tuition costs rise. I think financial aid programs are essential to keeping higher education within reach for many families and we should not strip them of their federal support. Peterson said he has been fighting for part-time Pennyslvania Higher Education Assistance Agency loans to make education more affordable for nontraditional students.