Educators Give Chairman Alexander’s Higher Education Act Reauthorization “Incomplete” Grade

WASHINGTON - National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen García provided the following statement in response to Senate HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) introducing his so called ‘Skinny’ Higher Education Act Reauthorization, which fails to address many key issues:

“When a student hands in their homework half-done, they get an ‘I’ for incomplete. So, when the Chairman of the Senate HELP Committee today filed a scaled-down Higher Education Act Reauthorization bill, which fails to address key issues including student aid programs, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and teacher preparation programs, educators today are standing together to give Chairman Alexander an ‘I.’ Despite tackling a few areas where reform is needed, the bill is a far cry from the comprehensive reauthorization needed to provide all students with an opportunity to obtain an affordable and equitable higher education.”

Previously, NEA has laid out the key principles Congress should consider while working to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, which can be found here.