A former elementary school teacher, Jon hasn’t completely given up on standing at the head of the classroom. Jon has met with hundreds of students and teachers during his first term. And understanding the challenges of distance and access faced by small, rural school districts, Jon has employed video teleconferencing to meet with hundreds of students from across thousands of miles in Montana. From Billings to Big Timber, from Rocky Boy’s to Red Lodge, Jon never tires of taking questions from, or hearing what’s on the minds of Montana’s students and teachers.

During his first year in office, Jon helped pass into law the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. The law made higher education more affordable for Montana families by:

• boosting Pell Grants for the more than 17,000 Montana students who rely on them
• cutting in half the interest rate on subsidized student loans from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent for undergraduates
• providing loan forgiveness for students who spend ten years in public service, including military service
• opening up TEACH Grants for undergraduates who commit to teaching in high-need districts

Jon also helped pass the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act to keep student loans available during the nation’s credit crisis.

Sweeping student loan reform that Jon helped pass into law in 2010 cut the for-profit bank middleman out of the student loan business, instead putting loans directly in the hands of students and their families. This change means billions of dollars cut from the national deficit, more bang for taxpayers’ bucks, and a more affordable college education through a dramatic boost in Pell Grants.

Jon has also fought hard to replace the No Child Left Behind law’s cookie-cutter education approach with a plan that works for Montana and rural America, including his fight to establish a federal Office of Rural Education.

Within a year of taking office, Jon got a group of Montana teachers and administrators together to meet with the nation’s top education official, then–Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, to discuss the challenges posed by No Child Left Behind.

In 2009, Jon brought new Education Secretary Arne Duncan to Montana to tour some of Montana’s schools and hold listening sessions with parents, teachers, and students.

Click HERE to see more about where Jon stands on education in Montana and rural America.