No Budget Cuts to Department of Education

Today we take pen in hand to write and urge you to use all your office and committee power, to block the destructive attempts to put charter schools funding over public schools by starving public school programs. NO to all of these proposed cuts and program eliminations.   Once again, the Department of Education is under threat, and faces being headed by Linda McMahon, who cares nothing for running the department, only dismantling it. We face losing many valuable programs which include but are not limited to:   1.     Public Service Loan Forgiveness   - this hurts so many middle-income families 2.     Narrower definitions on loan repayment plans 3.     Federal work-study program - for Veterans Education   In no way can the expected cuts help our schools be fun and help young people be good citizens in our changing world.   Even more insidious to the school budget is shifting funds from programs that we pay taxes for to charter schools and increasing charter school programs by another $60-million. Under McMahon, they will try again.   Instead of cuts, I would support legislation to pay more in taxes to support these programs, if necessary, and make sure our schools are up to the task of the 21st Century. Children deserve a fair and equal education. My whole family says NO to cuts of any sort.