June, 29 2012, 03:19pm EDT
Responding to Students, Congress Extends Low College Loan Rate
Student Loan Interest Rates Will Not Double On July 1
WASHINGTON
Statement of Rich Williams, U.S. PIRG Higher Education Advocate, on the Congressional passage of bipartisan legislation to prevent subsidized Stafford student loan interest rates from doubling:
"Congress listened to students and their families and delivered a bill that stops student loan interest rates from doubling. Students already face unprecedented student loan debt and adding an additional $1,000 more would not only crunch individual borrowers, but would have further weighed down the recovering economy. We applaud Congress for coming together to pass this much-needed legislation.
"Without Congressional action, the interest rate would have doubled from 3.4% to 6.8% on July 1st. An interest rate increase would result in additional debt over the life of the loan for 7.5 million low and moderate-income students who borrow new federally subsidized Stafford loans next year.
"Three months ago observers couldn't predict whether Congress, mired down by partisanship and focused on the November election, would act on this critical issue. Yet a wave of student and borrower mobilization changed the political calculus, confirming that college affordability is a key concern for young people, their families, and anyone who cares about the U.S. having a high-skill, competitive economy. Today's victory is another important step in getting rising student loan debt under control. When Congress considers further action to decrease student loan debt, they'll know that students are paying close attention.
"Students and borrowers saddled with debt all across the country made their voices heard. In March, dozens of students gathered in front of the Capitol to deliver over 130,000 letters telling Congress Don't Double My Rate! In May and June, students lobbied their lawmakers and participated in media events to amplify their voices. Student body presidents across the country rallied their campuses, with 275 presidents writing letters to their lawmakers and newspapers demanding action to extend the current low rate.
"Widespread action across the country continues to show Americans strongly support making college affordable. A large coalition of student, youth, consumer, parent, higher education and religious groups organized dozens of on-the-ground events in districts and mobilized hundreds of thousands of citizens to call or write their lawmakers.
"The House of Representatives passed legislation on Friday with a strong bi-partisan vote of 373-52 and the Senate passed the bill with a 74-19 vote. The student loan provisions were included in H.R. 4348, which included a package of issues including the 2-year reauthorization of the transportation bill. The President is expected to sign the bill before Sunday."
U.S. PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs), stands up to powerful special interests on behalf of the American public, working to win concrete results for our health and our well-being. With a strong network of researchers, advocates, organizers and students in state capitols across the country, we take on the special interests on issues, such as product safety,political corruption, prescription drugs and voting rights,where these interests stand in the way of reform and progress.
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Demanding "respect and dignity" for tens of thousands of school support workers who help the Los Angeles Unified School District run, the union that represents 35,000 teachers in the city has called on its members to join a three-day strike starting Tuesday as school support staffers fight for a living wage.
Members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 99 "work so hard for our students," said United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) on Monday. "They deserve respect and dignity at work. We will be out in force tomorrow to make sure they get it."
Roughly 65,000 teachers and support professionals including bus drivers, cafeteria workers, teaching aides, and grounds workers are expected to walk out from Tuesday through Thursday this week, nearly a year after SEIU Local 99 entered contract negotiations with LAUSD, the second-largest school district in the United States.
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The school district offered a 20% overall pay increase spread over several years on Friday, along with a one-time 5% bonus.
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SEIU Local 99 members voted to authorize a strike in February, and said the limited three-day action is a protest against the district's negotiating tactics.
LAUSD has claimed the strike is unlawful and that workers are actually staging the walkout over pay without having exhausted all bargaining avenues. A state board over the weekend denied the district's request to block the strike.
As In These Timesreported, negotiations between the district and SEIU Local 99—as well as separate ongoing talks with the teachers' union about educators' contracts—are being led by Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho, "whose $440,000 salary is nearly 10 times that of a starting salary for a LAUSD teacher."
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She continued:
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According to the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit investigative journalism organization, Bush and top administration officials—including then-Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and Rice—"made at least 935 false statements in the two years following September 11, 2001, about the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq."
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