Dear Betsy Devos,
This morning I woke up to several articles posted by my social work friends indicating PSLF would likely be cut when the new education budget is presented. I felt instant anxiety and panic. Simply put, I need this program. In fact, I made the decision to go ahead and get my MSW because of PSLF and every professional decision I've made since was based off whether or not the employer would meet the program expectations. Every job I've taken has required me to go into homes where my personal safety is jeopardized not to mention countless exposures to lice, bed bugs, scabies, and who knows what else. I've had to strip down before going into my house after 12 hour days and immediately throw my clothes in the washer to help prevent what I could. These just aren't the things I had in mind when choosing to be a social worker but I kept/keep sticking with it in hopes of being able to financially free in the next 7 years. Plus, I've learned to really love the families I work with and become more comfortable in environments that I wouldn't have been exposed to otherwise. I don't consider myself a "system moocher." I live in a 900sqft home. My husband and I both work full time. We grocery shop at Aldi and try hard to budget. I wasn't lazy in college. I found jobs in undergrad and grad school where I could live for free in exchange for developing community programming. I worked additional jobs on top of that, as a nanny and in Detroit Public Schools, and believe it or not, it's still not realistic for a student to come up with an additional $50,000 for education. Yes, that's how much my MSW costs. It was one year. I think the Trump administration is trying to convey the message of "America, pull yourself up by your own bootstraps and dig yourself out." I don't think you realize the cut of this program is affecting hundreds of thousands of the hardest working people there are. The most empathetic, compassionate, and driven people. We care about social justice and are trying to build bridges for the gaps this administration continues to create. Our bootstraps are pulled up and we are in the trenches. Most recently, I've realized I will have to give up a full maternity leave in order to avoid taking FMLA (if you don't know, my on-time payments don't count if I make them while on a family leave). I've given up staying home with my baby boy and have another baby who will be sent to daycare full-time at 8 weeks old in November so I can stick with the program requirements. I know I speak for myself and so many friends when I say we need this program, and call me a Millennial, but we deserve it, We were promised it in exchange for our work in public, non-profit fields doing jobs most people wouldn't dream of doing for double or even triple our salaries. I have friends working MSW jobs in the public sector making $37,000 a year so please don't say we are in it for the wrong reasons or interpret my thoughts on the potential cut of the program wrong. Most of us really love the people we work with and we are bogged down by the broken systems and lack of support we receive. The thought of almost 3 years of my work in the field not counting towards PSLF, or anything is sad and terrifying. (Edited to say, of course it's not going to waste because it's important work. It's humbling to see families put in really hard work and create lasting positive change. But I could have taken a higher paying job in a privatized organization where I felt more personal safety and financial security for my family). I now owe more on my loans then I took out due to an income-based forgiveness plan I'm enrolled in as well as sky high interest rates in the meantime. Honestly, what are we supposed to do? My loan payments would be more than my mortgage without this program. People laugh at Gofundmes and what not but I'd be lying if I said I haven't sat down with a friend who has really thought out how to get her student loans forgiven by ordinary Joes and I'm totally inspired and on board with her. Education is a human right, turned privilege, with the end result of your average person in being in crippling student debt. To my social work friends, we are in this together. "A billionaire president and billionaire education secretary, neither of whom spent a single day of their lives in public service before stumbling their way into positions of immense power, are targeting a program that's basically meant to make life in underpaid government work a little more tenable. And don't talk to me about budget savings when this same administration is currently planning a historic tax cut for the rich. If you're even going to talk about fixing the budget, maybe try balancing it on the back of hedge funders first before sticking it to public defenders."
4 Comments
Marla
5/19/2017 07:44:53 am
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Paul
5/19/2017 08:41:18 am
Forgot to add the link
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Paul
5/19/2017 08:35:16 am
Note the use of the word "may". You made these choices. You took the loans. The public should not pay them back
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Tina
5/19/2017 08:46:24 am
Paul, I'd love to know when you graduated, what degree and what your family background is.. for those of us that graduated within the last ten years the cost of education is NOT in line with the pay you receive on the job. As an educator I'm expected to get a masters degree which cost 40,000 dollars and yet the compensation in my salary is literally about 2000 extra a year! So using that math it would take me 20 years to pay off JUST the loan not including interest with the additional compensation in my income from my employer. Educators and social workers work 59 to 60 hours a week and yet our pay is not reflective of this! Sure we could have picked a different profession....and eventually people will and we will not have the quality teachers that we need for the future of this country....and shootings, and other mental Heath issues will sky rocket with the shortage of social workers....until we are valued by society we will continue to be a sick nation!
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