Etheridge and Price have led efforts in North Carolina and in Congress to draw attention to the growing problem of over-crowded classrooms. Last August, Etheridge and Price released a report they commissioned in Congress that showed that over ninety percent of Triangle-area children in kindergarten through third grade are taught in overcrowded classrooms. In addition to supporting the Class Size Reduction Initiative, Etheridge and Price have fought for funds to help local school systems build and modernize school buildings and for legislation to encourage states to establish innovative programs to attract the best and brightest students to the teaching profession. Although the Class Size Reduction Initiative was a brainchild of the previous administration, it has received bipartisan support in Congress and Etheridge and Price will urge President Bush to continue to make reducing class sizes a high priority of school reform efforts. Etheridge, the only former state schools chief in Congress, is the Co-Chairman of the Education Task Force for the House Democratic Caucus.
Price is a lifelong educator.