美国国家公共电台 NPR Teachers Begin To See Unfair Student Loans Disappear

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

More than 2,000 teachers and counting have just had a mountain of student loan debt lifted off their backs. This follows reporting by NPR that exposed a nightmare for public school teachers across the country. In exchange for agreeing to work in low-income schools, aspiring¹ teachers could get so-called TEACH Grants from the U.S. Department of Education to help pay their way through college.

Sounds good, but those grants, meant to be free money in exchange for service, were often unfairly turned into loans, sometimes upwards² of, like, $20,000. In December, the Education Department proposed a fix. And now that has been expanded to reach even more teachers. Here are NPR's Chris Arnold and Cory Turner.

CORY TURNER, BYLINE³: The trouble at the heart of this story is that small paperwork problems triggered catastrophic consequences for many teachers. The rules said teachers had to send in a form every year to prove they were teaching.

CHRIS ARNOLD, BYLINE: But if they sent that form in one day late or it was missing a signature, a date, or any little problem, their grants were turned into loans. And that was irreversible. We've been following one teacher, Kaitlyn McCollum. And for her and her husband, that meant more than $20,000 in debt that they'd never planned for and couldn't afford on her small teacher salary in Tennessee. They also had a baby on the way.

TURNER: But with this fix, if teachers can prove they've been teaching, like McCollum can, they'll get their grants back. McCollum got her official Ed Department letter a few Saturdays ago. She opened it in the car as she and her family began a spring break vacation.

KAITLYN MCCOLLUM: All right, here we go. You see where it says congratulations? Louie, can you say yay?

LOUTHER: Yay.

K MCCOLLUM: Yay. Whoo-hoo.

A J MCCOLLUM: Yeah.

TURNER: According to previously⁴ unreleased numbers from the Ed Department, almost 6,000 teachers have now applied⁵ for help. And of those, so far 2,300 have been approved, and their loans are getting turned back into grants.

ARNOLD: And the department says fewer than 20 teachers have been denied. So the vast majority who apply for help are getting it. It's just taking time to process all the applications. Diane Aure Jones is acting⁶ undersecretary and acting assistant secretary at the Ed Department.

DIANE AURE JONES: From internal reports, from the work that you did, it was abundantly clear to us that there was a problem with TEACH Grants.

TURNER: It turns out Jones served in the same role more than a decade ago when the rules, known as regulations or regs, were first written.

JONES: We realized that there were certain things that seemed like a good idea when we wrote the reg. But they were just too cumbersome⁷ for students and unfairly so.

TURNER: And so beyond the initial fix for the teachers who got hurt, the department is now making other big changes, too.

ARNOLD: For example, the department has agreed that grants should no longer be turned into loans just because of late or incomplete annual paperwork. So once the new rules are finalized⁸, this draconian⁹ penalty that's been at the heart of a lot of these problems, it'll be gone. The department is also committing to help teachers who had their credit hurt.

TURNER: Hanging over this process, though, has been one thorny¹⁰ question, what to do about teachers who lost their grants and then decided¹¹ to change schools or quit teaching altogether.

VICTORIA LIBSACK: On the phone, honestly, I cried at one point because I was like, this isn't right, you know? It's not fair.

TURNER: Victoria Libsack taught for three years in a low-income Phoenix¹² school. But her grants got changed to loans because of paperwork. When her husband got into grad school, they moved. And since she'd already lost her grants, Libsack took a job at a school that doesn't qualify.

ARNOLD: The problem is that teachers need to complete their required teaching service within eight years. So even with the initial fix, many teachers who changed schools, like Libsack, or who left the classroom, wouldn't have had time to finish.

TURNER: In February, Libsack came to Washington, D.C., to share her story with a government committee tasked with rewriting these rules.

LIBSACK: Living on a teacher's salary at a low-income school, I had just enough to live. I love teaching, but I felt overwhelmed and defeated when my TEACH Grant was converted.

ARNOLD: That rules committee heard Libsack and, in a surprise move, voted to expand the fix to include teachers like her. It's now resetting¹³ the clock back to when teachers lost their grants.

TURNER: That should give Libsack five more years to complete just one more year of required service. Yes, she'll need to change schools to qualify. And she says that's not ideal, but it will mean she doesn't have to pay upwards of $20,000 in loans.

LIBSACK: Now I'm feeling really hopeful.

TURNER: Not only that, she says she finally feels listened to.

LIBSACK: For me, as a teacher, it's awesome¹⁴ because then I can convey that to the students and say, hey, you do have a voice. You are citizens. Like, you have a role in our government.

TURNER: Now, the fix itself has had some problems. Many teachers have told NPR that some call center staff seemed unfamiliar¹⁵ with the new rules and that the paperwork they're sent, even after they got approved, is really confusing.

ARNOLD: Advocates also worry that the department won't do enough to reach out to teachers who need help. Patrick Llewellyn is an attorney at Public Citizen Litigation Group.

PATRICK LLEWELLYN: There is relief available for these teachers, but they need to know about it.

ARNOLD: Overall, 94,000 teachers have had their grants taken away. It's unclear how many of those were unfair. The department says it is reaching out to teachers it believes may qualify for help. It also encourages teachers to reach out themselves. More details on that at npr.org/teachgrant.

TURNER: Diane Aure Jones at the department says she wants teachers to know the Education Department is now determined¹⁶ to make things right. And...

JONES: How sorry we are. We've put teachers who didn't deserve this stress, this pressure, this financial burden in a position that is frightening and confusing. And I can't give them back those years. And I can't take away the gray hairs. And I can't take away the stress. It seems like a small thing to do to say I'm sorry. But I'm very sorry. And we want to work to fix it and correct it.

ARNOLD: For Kaitlyn McCollum and her husband driving off with their son on vacation, she's just happy this ordeal¹⁷ is finally over and that she has her grant money back.

K MCCOLLUM: Honey, two years of us fighting this.

A MCCOLLUM: You're free, baby.

K MCCOLLUM: I'm so excited.

ARNOLD: For NPR News, I'm Chris Arnold.

TURNER: And I'm Cory Turner.

1 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

2 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

5 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

6 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

7 cumbersome   

adj.笨重的，不便携带的

参考例句：

• Although the machine looks cumbersome,it is actually easy to use.尽管这台机器看上去很笨重，操作起来却很容易。
• The furniture is too cumbersome to move.家具太笨，搬起来很不方便。

8 finalized   

vt.完成（finalize的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The draft of this article has been finalized [done]. 这篇文章已经定稿。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The draft was revised several times before it was finalized. 稿子几经删改才定下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 draconian   

adj.严苛的；苛刻的；严酷的；龙一样的

参考例句：

• You can't expect the people to obey such draconian regulations.你不能指望人民服从如此严苛的规定。
• The city needs a draconian way of dealing with robbers.这个城市需要一个严苛的办法来对付强盗。

10 thorny   

adj.多刺的，棘手的

参考例句：

• The young captain is pondering over a thorny problem.年轻的上尉正在思考一个棘手的问题。
• The boys argued over the thorny points in the lesson.孩子们辩论功课中的难点。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

13 resetting   

v.重新安放或安置( reset的现在分词 )；重拨（测量仪器指针）；为（考试、测试等）出一套新题；重新安置，将…恢复原位

参考例句：

• Range represents the maximum strain which can be recorded without resetting or replacing the strain gage. 量程表示无需重调或重装应变计就能记录到的最大应变。 来自辞典例句
• Adding weight to the puddle jumper by resetting its inertial dampeners. 通过调节飞船的惯性装置来增加重量。 来自电影对白

14 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

15 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

16 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

17 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。