Conservatives Have Always Opposed Education For The Working Class-- Bernie Has Other Plans

Last week, NPR reported that "A strong economy and soaring college costs have made it even more difficult for colleges to persuade students to enroll. And yet, employers still need skilled workers, whether it's a profession that requires a four-year degree, other jobs that require an associate degree, or skills or trades that need certificates or credentials. If fewer people are getting those credentials, those jobs often sit empty. Community colleges play a large role in 'skilling up,' offering associate degrees in technical and high-demand fields. But enrollment at community colleges is down about 100,000 students from the fall of 2018. And despite a healthy economy, many of the jobs that are being filled right now are low-wage ones, Shapiro explains. 'Adults are feeling that, as long as they have a job, they don't need to go to college,' he says. 'And yet many of those jobs today don't really have the career potential or the earnings potential to support a family that they could get if they had a college degree.' In addition to increased earnings over time, research shows that having a college degree means you are less likely to be unemployed and more likely to weather uncertain economic conditions, such as a recession. So if people are choosing not to go to college right now, there may be consequences down the road."

Neither Trump, nor the corporate conservatives running as Democrats take this seriously. Bernie does, of course. His plan is to guarantee tuition and debt-free public colleges, universities, HBCUs, Minority Serving Institutions and trade-schools to all, while cancelling all student loan debt for the some 45 million Americans who owe about $1.6 trillion and place a cap on student loan interest rates going forward at 1.88 percent. He also plans to invest $1.3 billion every year in private, non-profit historically black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions while ensuring students are able to cover non-tuition costs of attending school by: expanding Pell Grants to cover non-tuition and fee costs and tripling funding for the Work-Study Program, thus moving vigorously towards rapidly ending equity gaps in higher education attainment.

"Just 30 years ago," he wrote, "tuition and fees at a public, four-year university totaled $3,360 per year in today’s dollars. That same degree today costs more than $10,000 per year in tuition and fees and more than $21,000 per year including room and board. Meanwhile, median hourly wages for college graduates have risen by less than $1 since 2001, when adjusted for inflation. The promise of higher pay has not materialized for recent college graduates, who have been taking out more and more in student loans to keep up with the skyrocketing cost of tuition. This has led to a generation of young people unable to start families, buy homes, and follow their dreams. We have failed a generation of our young people... The American people deserve freedom-- true freedom. You are not truly free when you graduate college with hundreds of thousands of dollars in student debt. You are not truly free when you cannot pursue your dream of becoming a teacher, environmentalist, journalist or nurse because you cannot make enough money to cover your monthly student loan payments. And you are not truly free when the vast majority of good-paying jobs require a degree that requires taking out tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt to obtain. We are going to end the racial and class disparities that persist throughout higher education. We will close these gaps and ensure all Americans, no matter their race, income, zip code, or immigration status receive a high quality education. Not only will we guarantee the right to a good, public education for all-- from childcare and pre-kindergarten through college-- we will free generations of Americans from the outrageous burden of student loans by canceling all existing student debt."

Bernie intends to "pass the College for All Act to provide at least $48 billion per year to eliminate tuition and fees at four-year public colleges and universities, tribal colleges, community colleges, trade schools, and apprenticeship programs [and] cancel the entire $1.6 trillion in outstanding student debt for the 45 million borrowers who are weighed down by the crushing burden of student debt. This will save around $3,000 a year for the average student loan borrower."

Rachel Ventura, a member of the Will County Board, is running to represent her neighbors in Congress, for a seat held my a multimillionaire conservative New Dem, Bill Foster. Rachel has a very different and far more proactive vision, across the board, than he does. To begin with, she told us that "higher education funding is a question of national priorities" and that she believes that "education, healthcare, and repairing the climate are three big priorities that we need to address before we spend another penny on defense spending."

The U.S. Congress (my opponent included), and the president just increased the military and defense total budget to $738 billion. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said "This defense budget is $120 billion more than what Obama left us with. That could fund free public college for every American. It could fund access to high-speed, affordable internet for every American."

The majority of people running Washington clearly don’t have the interests of the American people in mind when they choose to use our tax dollars for Trump’s ludicrous space army instead of education funding.

The student loan debt crisis is connected to the growing wealth gap in the United States. When students are faced with a mountain of debt after college, climbing housing costs, and very few jobs that pay living wages, many potential students start to question if a degree is worth it.

The decline in college admission rates means that colleges are bringing in less money and the tuition costs per student must increase to fill the budget gap created by empty classroom seats.

The problem will continue to grow until we find ourselves with fewer college graduates, fewer good paying jobs, a shrinking housing market and a ballooning debt.

Some economists are predicting that student loan debt will be the next bubble to burst with over $1.6 trillion in student loan debt. Eventually, more and more students will choose to default on their loans and the house of cards will start to collapse.

I support a plan to eliminate college debt for those who have been saddled with an unnecessary financial burden after graduation. I will work with the next president and my colleagues in congress to find a way to cover this cost by either enacting a speculation sales tax (Robinhood tax) or the proposed wealth tax on individuals with a net worth of over $50 million. Canceled student loan debt will not be taxed as income.

If we want the United States to remain a competitive global leader, then we must invest in our future generations. For individuals looking to further their education through colleges, universities, trade, or technical schools, public education should be tuition-free.

Household income and finances should not be a barrier to a higher degree or a technical/trade certificate. If as a nation, we want to make higher education a priority, we need to give graduating students a fighting chance in life and that begins by not saddling them with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt after graduation. There are a number of good proposals coming from presidential candidates that offer both tuition-free college and loan forgiveness.

Back to that report from NPR, which explains that "This fall, there were nearly 250,000 fewer students enrolled in college than a year ago, according to new numbers out Monday from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, which tracks college enrollment by student." And this is a long-time trend:

One factor is the cost of college. "States are putting less money into higher education, and that's led to an increased reliance on tuition. As tuition goes up, and grants and scholarships don't keep pace, that's pushed the cost of college down to students and their families. Without state investment, institutions are strapped, and so are American families."

Kalamazoo state Rep Jon Hoadley is in a tight race for Michigan's 6th congressional district, currently held by Trump enabler Fred Upton. Hoadley, a long-time ally of public education who was endorsed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus on Thursday, told us this morning that "While Congressman Upton is still offering ideas like increasing the number of student loans a person can take to pay for college, we need real solutions that allow students to pursue their higher education goals without taking on decades of debt."

Neo-fascist Steven King doesn't want anyone to know what a neo-fascist is. So he has opposed public education for his whole miserable career. Progressive Democrat J.D. Scholten nearly replaced him last cycle and he's in it again this time. You can support his campaign here. "When I graduated high school," he told us yesterday, "Iowa was #1 in education. Today, like much of the rest of the nation, we're falling behind in preparing our children for the current and future economy. Student debt has topped 1.6 trillion dollars and about a quarter of low-wage workers have college degrees. If we're going to compete against the growing economies of the world, then we need a skilled and educated workforce-- but that means more than just investing in traditional 4-year universities. We also have to do more than my opponent Steve King, who has an F rating from the NEA, and routinely votes to slash funding for public education, eliminate SNAP benefits, cut after-school programs, and more. We need to lower the cost of higher education, invest in student loan debt assistance, make community college free, and value trade schools that train our high-skilled workers."

Jennifer Christie is the progressive contesting a Democratic primary to determine who will run for the open seat in a suburban and exurban district north of Indianapolis. She's very clear about the way to go about solving the problems go higher education equality. "I strongly support Bernie’s College for All plan," she said. "I worked very hard to pay for my own college education. I worked hard again to pay off every penny of my student debt. I had sleepless nights working 2nd and 3rd shifts in a nursing home to pay for my tuition while I was in school. I graduated with honors in both Chemistry and Biology... two degrees paid for mostly by me. So why do I support this? Because it was so hard. Because I don’t want my kids to have to do what I did. Because we bailed out Wall Street. Now it’s time for Wall Street to return the favor for my kids and yours. Bernie’s College For All plan cancels student debt and guarantees higher education for all by implementing a minuscule tax on Wall Street gambling (speculation)-- 50 cents on every $100. Education would be the best investment Wall Street could ever make! Politicians keep talking about how we should invest in education and how much of a priority it is. I’m tired of hearing politicians use education as a political football. Guaranteeing education for every American would transform our country’s future and give every family and student genuine opportunity. Imagine if we had a culture of education! Imagine if your children and grandchildren were guaranteed a higher education. Imagine what that would do for our nation and the world."

Brianna Wu is running against a different kind of conservative, New Dei Stephen Lynch, another enemy of public education. "Due to the rising cost of tuition," Briana said last night, "a college or trade school education is becoming increasingly out of reach for many Americans. As I campaign throughout the Massachusetts 8th District, countless parents have asked me how they are going to be able to afford to send their kids to school. I can see the fear and worry on their faces. They want their kids to have a chance for a successful future without going into crippling debt from student loans. I support tuition free college for state and local universities and trade schools. My opponent, Stephen Lynch, has said that this idea has too much of a 'socialist bent.'  He offers no plans, no ideas, just criticism. College affordability is one of the top issues in my district, as it is all over the country. Lynch may not see it as a priority, but I sure as hell do."

Julie Oliver is one of the progressives vying to take on lockstep Trumpist Roger Williams in Texas' 25th congressional district. Earlier, she told us that she was a single mom when she "began college, and higher education opened opportunities for me that I know are not typically afforded to the poor in this country. But resources for public education have been in decline for decades, and as federal support for low-income students has failed to keep pace with the rising costs for everything from food to housing to healthcare, the value of aid has diminished, requiring students to turn increasingly to loans in higher amounts. We should open universal public college, community college and trade school to all, and cancel all student loan debt."

The other progressive candidate for the TX-25 seat is Heidi Sloan. Before you read it, I want to tell you that you can contribute to Julie and/or Heidi at the Turning Texas Blue page... if you're impressed with them. Heidi told us that she was "the leader in my primary on abolishing student loan debt and making public college tuition-free. Although my primary opponent has come around on these issues, I expect in the general my opponent Roger Williams won't budge an inch. After all, millionaires don't usually go to public universities-- Williams went to a private university, as did his children. When we talk about the benefit of abolishing public college tuition and student loan debt, the overwhelming majority of that benefit accrues to the working class, not to the rich. It's pure selfishness that will drive Williams' stance on this issue. But our stance on public tuition and student debt is not driven solely by compassion-- the reality is, our current higher education system is not sustainable. Fewer and fewer working class people are able to afford ballooning tuition costs. Those that can attend college are saddled with crippling debt burdens that consume any modest wealth middle-income families might have passed on-- wealth that would have been used to help them invest in a home or a business or a family. We say enough-- public college and trade schools should be tuition free, and existing student loan debt should be abolished for everyone so the working class can have the freedom to invest in our futures."