Sending the wrong message
Despite bipartisan support, Bush vetoes children's healthcare 

Asserting ideology over a bipartisan agreement by members of Congress, President Bush on Oct. 3 vetoed legislation that would have renewed and expanded the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which provides healthcare coverage for children from low-income families.

The bill to renew and expand SCHIP, a compromise measure hammered out between the House and Senate, would expand the $5 billion-a-year program by an average of $7 billion a year over the next five years. That would be enough to boost enrollment to more than 10 million children, up from 6.6 million, and dramatically reduce the number of uninsured children in America, currently about 9 million. SCHIP helps children whose families don't qualify for Medicaid but can't afford private insurance.

Problems ranging from undiagnosed and untreated diabetes and asthma to depression, anxiety or behavioral difficulties affect students and their families every day, Chandrai Jackson-Saunders, a school psychologist and Washington (D.C.) Teachers Union member told a Capitol Hill press conference held to highlight the importance of children's healthcare. "Society at large benefits when we meet the needs of the whole child by fostering, identifying and preventing physical and mental health problems early."

The bill has garnered wide support, even among conservative industry and healthcare organizations. The Senate, at 68-31, has enough votes to override the president's veto, but the House, at 265-159, still needs 19 more votes. You can help support the passage of SCHIP by contacting your member of Congress.
Visit www.unionvoice.org/campaign/schip092807.

"An overwhelming majority of Americans support this bill, as does a strong bipartisan majority in Congress," says AFT president Edward J. McElroy. "Congress should make it a priority to override this veto, delivering the strong message that the president's obstruction will not jeopardize children's health."

Making tuition relief a reality
Congress offers historic increase in college aid

AFT member Cynthia Tuell teaches English at the University of California at Riverside. For her, there is nothing abstract about the crisis in college affordability—the battle to keep the doors of college open is one that her students fight every day.

"I have students who are deeply in debt after only one quarter of college," says Tuell. "They are sometimes helping to support their families at home, working part and even full time, while they are enrolled full time in college."

It's also an issue that engages Tuell as a parent, because she has children who are preparing for college.

The message got through to Capitol Hill and translated into action on Sept. 27, when Congress approved the largest increase in student assistance since the GI Bill. The new law, called the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, was signed into law by President Bush, who stood down from earlier threats to veto the law—which generated deep bipartisan congressional support.

It increases Pell Grants by nearly $12 billion, increasing the maximum grant from $4,300 to $5,400 by 2012. It also cuts rates on student loans from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent by 2011 and trims waste in the student loan industry by rolling back taxpayer-funded subsidies for lenders like Nelnet and Sallie Mae.

One of the most constructive features of the law is a new loan-forgiveness provision that will encourage more college students to consider careers in public service and in public education—including early childhood education. After five years of employment, graduates who enter these professions will be eligible to have up to $5,000 in interest and principal forgiven on their federally backed student loans.

The new law "helps make college a reality for low- and middle-income students by providing more needs-based aid and making student loans more affordable," says AFT president Edward J. McElroy.

The AFT lobbied aggressively for the law, which faced stiff resistance from a student loan industry keen on protecting its higher rates of interest and other "special allowance payments."

"For too long, lenders have profited at the expense of the very people they were supposed to help," McElroy says. The new law "puts the emphasis back on helping students attend college, not on subsidizing banks."