AFT’s Weingarten Cheers Expansion of Targeted Student Loan Relief

WASHINGTON—American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement responding to the Education Department’s release of new proposed regulations to improve major student loan discharge programs.

“These changes allow hundreds of thousands of borrowers to breathe a sigh of relief that the student debt cancellation they’ve been promised will be honored rather than ensnared in red tape. Students shafted by rogue colleges, borrowers with disabilities, and public service workers who’ve dedicated their lives to helping others can now access the benefits denied by what has been a broken system.

“The proposed rules will codify what the AFT has been demanding for years—protections for adjuncts who scramble to work full time and make ends meet, and a codified and strengthened Public Service Loan Forgiveness reconsideration process that we sued former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to secure.

“While we believe in broad-based student debt cancellation, President Joe Biden and Secretary Miguel Cardona have delivered student debt relief to millions of Americans—more than any administration in history. This administration can build on its success by taking commonsense steps to extend the PSLF waiver, eliminate more debt and continue the student loan payment pause.”