Supportive organizations

:https://reclaimtheamericandream.org/organizations-debt/embed/#?secret=rzy60kJVmS#?secret=rspJnf2OxF

Sub Groupings:

DEMOS

220 Fifth Ave,. 2nd Flr.
New York, NY 10001
(212) 633-1405
demos.org/

Education Trust

250 H Street, N.W., Suite 700,
Washington, D.C. 20005
(202) 293-1217
edtrust.org/

Federal Education Budget Project, New America Foundation

The New America Foundation
1899 L Street, N.W., Suite 400,
Washington, DC 20036
&
199 Lafayette Street, Suite 3B
New York, NY 10012
febp.newamerica.net

Jason Delisle, Director, delisle@newamerica.net

My congressional representative/recipient of the advocacy letter:

Congressional District Representative

Congressman Bill Huizenga

huizenga@mail.house.gov

616-570-0917

Two additional federal politicians:

Debbie Stabenow office phone # 202-224-4822

Email is internal and attached to her senate web page:

https://www.stabenow.senate.gov/contact

Gary Peters office phone # 202-224-6221

Email is attached to the senate web page:

https://www.peters.senate.gov/contact/email-gary

Bureaucrat:

Dr. Miguel Cardona

Secretary of Education

Contact:

https://www.ed.gov/

• U.S. Department of Education Offices Secretary of Education, United States Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20202 (202) 401-3000: Fax (202) 260-7867

Copy of Advocacy Letter:

The Honorable William P. Huizenga

Washington, D.C. Office
2232 Rayburn HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-4401
Fax: (202) 226-0779

Dear Congressman Huizenga,

        I am writing you to express my concerns related to the crisis many of our youth are facing upon graduation from college. Many disadvantaged students who attend institutions of higher learning receive degrees tied to the crippling debt of student loans. According to several studies this problem also disproportionately effects minority students hindering the potential for equal playing fields in their future. I have experienced this problem firsthand years ago. When as a very young father with no outside support, I was crippled with high payments that made providing even the basic needs of my family difficult.

        The struggle that I experienced is felt across many middle- and lower-income students who emerge from our universities. How can we expect the future generations of bright minds to achieve when we saddle them with explosive debt? I am not advocating for complete student loan forgiveness nor for a blanket forgiveness without any caveats. The solution I am advocating for is much more nuanced and amounts to an investment in America’s future.

        We as a nation have many areas in which we need improvements such as education, social work, law enforcement, and health care related areas. What we lack is a workforce willing to work in the communities that have the most need. The difficulty in placing teachers in low-income communities is likely contributed to by the lower base wages those communities can provide. How is a student facing crippling loan debt able to accept a job with below average wages? The answer is they are not able to and will seek employment in better funded communities. The solution to this problem is a beefing up of federal public service loan forgiveness programs.

        I know that your political stance favors accountability within government and a restructuring of these programs to be inclusive of more career choices would fit this ideology perfectly. A blanket student loan debt forgiveness program favored by some without specific guidelines and procedures would be disastrous to our economy. A program that targeted fields of need in society and created contracts that could be signed for services rendered post-graduation would eliminate the uncertainties in the application of this proposed program.

        The accountability that you favor would come if the student failed to live up to the contracted years of service which would equate to the average length of the repayment contract. This elimination of a loan burden would balance out the income benefit that many receive by serving communities that have greater levels of pay. As the pandemic of 2020 showed us often the poor communities are underserved in the field of healthcare and this contract related restructuring of weak government forgiveness programs would likely greatly increase the number of practitioners and nurses willing to serve.

        I have experienced firsthand the heavy weight of student loan debt; a particularly heinous debt which can not be forgiven through the usual means that individuals pursue when they are facing economic ruin. To restore a bright future for middle- and low-income families and to promote a more equitable society I urge you sir to look into service-based forgiveness and equip the program with structure and legitimate power.  

Sincerely,

Timothy Fewless