Here are some highlights of these reforms:

• Funding for Pell Grants will keep pace with rising college costs, so more families can afford to send their kids to college.
• Annual student-loan repayment amounts will be capped, so lower-income students won’t have to worry that their education will end up costing more than they can afford.
• Tax credits for families putting their kids through college will be tripled.
• The reforms also save the taxpayers millions every year by cutting government subsidies to banks.

In short, more American kids will be able to afford to go to college than ever before.  Thanks to you.

For years, you’ve been asking Congress to help America’s college-bound kids.  In December, education voters from across the country wrote their senators to let them know that we can’t allow rising college costs to prevent our kids from getting the education they need.  And just last week, hundreds more sent the same message to Congress before the big vote.

Even in the midst of the health-care debate, one thing was clear: education is still a priority for Americans, and we’re glad to see that Congress and the president made it a priority as well.

Thank you.  Your voices helped persuade Congress to make college more affordable.

In September, the House of Representatives passed the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA), which would help the United States produce more college graduates by 2020 than any other country, while also helping states improve early-childhood education and job-training programs. This bill helps students at some of the most crucial stages in their education, when spiraling costs can have the most detrimental effects on their futures.

Three months have passed and the Senate has done nothing to pass this extraordinary bill. In any other year, such a wide-ranging and innovative investment in our future would be cause for big headlines, and politicians would be working around the clock to take a leadership role in getting it passed. But as 2009 comes to an end, this huge boost for our education system faces an uncertain future in the U.S. Senate.

Click here to send a message to your senators. Tell them to support the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, and to do whatever they can to make sure the bill is sent to President Obama.

SAFRA would provide $87 billion in assistance to students, making college affordable and transforming the way our student loan programs operate. It would expand quality early education opportunities, putting more children on the path to success in school. It would strengthen community colleges and training programs to help build a highly-skilled, innovative, 21st-century workforce ready for the rigors of a global economy. And it would even take steps to reduce the deficit.

Click here to tell your senators to send help NOW to the kids that need it most. SAFRA helps students at every level, and helps our communities by spending – and saving – education funds efficiently.

We all know how important the next year is going to be for the fight to reform education in America. Let’s start 2010 by making sure that Congress finishes what it started in 2009.