AFT President Randi Weingarten Responds to Budget Agreement

Contact: Marcus Mrowka

202-531-0689

mmrowka@aft.org

www.aft.org

 

AFT President Randi Weingarten Responds to Budget Agreement

WASHINGTON— AFT President Randi Weingarten released the following statement responding to the budget agreement reached in Congress:

“Let’s be clear: This fiscal 2017 budget agreement, by investing in public education, healthcare, and programs that help working families and particularly their children, is a strong rebuke to President Trump’s scorched earth 2018 budget proposal. While elections have consequences, and this is by no means our ideal budget, Democratic leaders Schumer, Pelosi and others deserve extraordinary credit for working tirelessly to reach a final agreement that first and foremost does no harm to working people.

“This agreement has big pluses: It creates a healthier America by increasing funding to the National Institutes of Health and fighting opioid addiction; it provides aid to the people of Puerto Rico who continue to struggle through an economic crisis; and it provides mine workers the healthcare they deserve and were promised. It stands in stark contrast to Trump and DeVos’ efforts to defund public education by reaching consensus across party lines to invest in public schools, including additional funds for community schools, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, year-round Pell Grants, Head Start, and other programs that help kids and strengthen our schools and communities. Congress should follow this blueprint to invest in public schools in the 2018 budget as well.       

                 

“While the agreement includes no new voucher initiatives or new funding for vouchers, we are disappointed that the GOP leadership insisted on extending the DC voucher program—especially in light of new research showing that the program, in place since 2004, fails to help kids. Ironically, these champions of vouchers moved to increase investments in public education for kids in their own districts while pushing this failed strategy for those parents and kids with no voting voice in Congress.” 

Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten

Coalition calls on states to protect student borrowers after DeVos betrayal

Contact: Andrew Crook

607-280-6603

acrook@aft.org

www.aft.org

Coalition calls on states to protect student borrowers after DeVos betrayal

Broad alliance tells state attorneys general to use authority to investigate and sue student loan servicers

WASHINGTON— A cross section of labor and community groups has written to 56 state attorneys general and state banking commissioners to demand immediate action to protect students and families and prevent an imminent financial catastrophe on the scale of the mortgage crisis.

The letter urges attorneys general, state regulators and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to use their power to clean up the mess left behind by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and the Department of Education, which earlier this month abandoned 40 million student loan borrowers by winding back borrower protections.

It asks states and the bureau to commit to an industry wide investigation and sue servicers to make harmed consumers whole, develop enforceable nationwide servicing standards and ensure servicers adhere to clear standards that protect borrowers against further abuse.

If regulators fail to do so, the millions of distressed borrowers who have defaulted on their student loans multiple times will never escape their status unless they’re able to pay the full amount they owe—an impossibility for most borrowers. Their predicament mirrors that of mortgage holders in the lead-up to the global recession.

This week, attorneys general in 20 states and the District of Columbia wrote to the Education Department to demand action on the crisis.

AFT President Randi Weingarten said: "Students need protections from predatory lenders like Navient—and stripping those protections as Secretary DeVos has done shows the Trump administration is on the side of lenders and the bad actors rather than those trying to make it in America.
 

“It’s a betrayal—not just of borrowers but of what Trump promised in his campaign—to address student debt issues. State regulators, who already have the authority to act, need to urgently fill the void left by the department’s callous actions. If these regulators fail to do so, 44 million student borrowers will continue to be fleeced by an unregulated market where servicers get to play by their own rules.”

The letter can be read here.

Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten

MSCF Committee Position Statements

At the last MSCF Board of Directors meeting, two more MSCF standing committee position statements were approved by the board.  Click on the following links to view each position statement the board has approved this year:

Academic Affairs Position Statement
Faculty Rights Position Statement
Racial Equity and Diversity Position Statement