Senator Sanders: We Will Not Stand By As You Attempt To Turn Back Clock On Education In America

Senator Sanders: We Will Not Stand By As You Attempt To Turn Back Clock On Education In America

Editor’s note: Earlier this week, we covered Senator Gillibrand’s concerns regarding shuttering the Education Department.  As she mentions, the changes at the Department of Education may have a negative effect on students who generally apply for federal student aid via the FAFSA.  According to the Dept. of Education’s website, there are no plans to remove the FAFSA, and everything is on track for some minor changes (regarding gender and other questions on the form), but nothing major is planned.  However, the move of the student loan department from the DOE to the Small Business Administration is currently causing confusion for students who presently have loans, especially since the SBA is, at the same time, slashing their own current staff.  This may make it more difficult for borrowers to get answers about their loans and repayment.  In addition, according to the same report, the Department of Education is required under federal law to administer the student loans that are in its portfolio, so they cannot be transferred to any other federal department. In this previous article, we also shared the benefits, in real numbers, that the federal department of education has made in this country.  The two very positive changes that occurred since its inception is that the high school graduation rate significantly increased, as did the college enrollment numbers. 

WASHINGTON – As the Trump administration and Elon Musk attack public education in America by closing offices and laying off 1,300 workers at the Department of Education, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), alongside 37 Senate colleagues, sent a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon expressing outrage at the administration’s reckless and illegal firing of half of the workforce at the U.S. Department of Education, which will devastate America’s public education system and impact students across the country.

Joining Sanders on the letter are Sens. Maize Hirono (D-Hawaii), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Chuck Schumer  (D-N.Y.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.).

“At a time of massive income and wealth inequality, when 60 percent of people live paycheck to paycheck, millions of Americans cannot afford higher education, and 40 percent of our nation’s 4th graders and 33 percent of 8th graders read below basic proficiency, it is a national disgrace that the Trump Administration is attempting to illegally abolish the Department of Education and thus, undermine a high-quality education for our students,” wrote Sanders and the lawmakers.

The lawmakers noted that these layoffs and closures will have devastating effects on the nation’s students, including by limiting the department’s ability to guarantee federal funding reaches communities that rely on it, ensure students can access federal financial aid, and uphold students’ civil rights. Not even 24 hours after the staff reductions were announced, the Free Application for Federal Financial Aid (FAFSA) experienced a glitch that prevented students and families from accessing the application. Education Department workers responsible for fixing it had reportedly been fired.

The lawmakers continue: “[The layoffs] would also mean decreased enforcement of rights for children with disabilities and fewer resources for students from low-income backgrounds and children with disabilities, like the 26 million students from low-income backgrounds and over 100,000 public schools in every community across this country that rely on Title I funding; the 7.5 million students with disabilities who benefit under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and the 7 million students who receive Pell grants to help access higher education.”

“We will not stand by as you attempt to turn back the clock on education in this country through gutting the Department of Education. Our nation’s public schools, colleges, and universities are preparing the next generation of America’s leaders—we must take steps to strengthen education in this country, not take a wrecking ball to the agency that exists to do so,” concluded Sanders and the lawmakers.

Read the text of the letter here.

Banner Image: Child in school. Image Credit – Dany_Sthalin07

Senator Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders is serving his third term in the U.S. Senate after winning re-election in 2018. His previous 16 years in the House of Representatives make him the longest serving independent member of Congress in American history.