AFT Resolution

OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL: HIGHER EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS FROM WORKING FAMILIES

WHEREAS, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) issued a statement, “Opportunity for All: Higher Education for Students from Working Families” on August 7, 2007, declaring that access to higher education for students from working families is a priority issue for the labor movement; and

WHEREAS, too often, workers and their families face formidable educational and financial obstacles to obtaining a higher education degree, including rising tuition and lack of adequate student aid as well as insufficient information and mentoring about succeeding in college: and

WHEREAS, the AFL-CIO noted in its statement that the United States has shifted away from a policy of strong financial support for higher education in several key areas:

State and local funding per student at public colleges and universities in 2005 reached its lowest level in 25 years when adjusted for inflation.
Cuts in state aid have caused tuition and fees at four-year public universities to increase 52 percent over the past 10 years, while median family income increased only 3 percent.
The system for awarding student financial aid now is skewed against working students and provides little support for part-time students.
The Pell Grant, the federal program that provides the most aid to low-income students and that once covered nearly 60 percent of average tuition, fees, room and board at a public four-year college, now covers only 33 percent.
More students need to take out loans to attend college, and graduates now average debts of $15,000 for attending public institutions, $19,000 for private institutions and $24,000 for attending for-profit colleges.

WHEREAS, these policy changes have resulted in a decline in working families’ access to college so that today in the United States, a low-achieving, high-income student is just as likely to go to college as a highest-achieving, low-income student, and only 36 percent of college-qualified, low-income students complete bachelor’s degrees within eight and a half years, compared with 81 percent of high-income students:

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers endorse the AFL-CIO “Opportunity for All” program under which America’s unions have pledged to lead the battle to restore the nation’s commitment to higher education opportunity; and

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers work in concert with the national AFL-CIO, as well as state labor federations and central labor councils, to:

Restore state support for higher education and adequate federal and state support for student financial aid;
Promote policies that provide students from working families with the educational support they need to complete their education;
Expand education and research in labor studies at the National Labor College and other educational institutions;
Provide information and advisement to students from working families to ensure college access and success.

(2009)