Kelly Finlaw is a middle school art teacher in New York City. Over the last year, she has also been called an “essential employee,” a “frontline worker” and — a term she has certainly never attributed to herself — a “hero.” During this time, she has done everything she could to meet the needs of her students and make remote learning work as well as possible, all the while knowing it is no substitute for being in the classroom with her students.
Yet despite delivering on her promise to educate the next generation of Americans — even in the midst of a pandemic — the federal government has broken its promise to her. Finlaw remains stuck with nearly $90,000 in student debt that should have been canceled years ago.
Finlaw, along with millions of others, was made a simple pledge: If she worked for a decade as an educator, as a nurse or in another public service profession, her student debt would be wiped away.
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program
That was the intent of the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program — a bipartisan law that recognized that spiraling student debt burdens are particularly punishing for workers in public service, and that our communities and our country are worse off if this burden drives a generation of students away from careers as educators, healthcare workers, first responders, and other public service workers. CONTINUE READING: Biden needs to pursue student loan forgiveness