Higher Ed Not Debt

"Ensuring a Brighter Future" through Equitable Investments

Wed, 05/24/2023 - 4:30pm
Despite a record state budget surplus, Governor Ned Lamont's proposed fiscal blueprint calls for destructive cuts to public higher education. Louise Williams (middle, in photo below), the president of our affiliated CSU-AAUP in a recently published opinion piece warned of the consequences; faculty and staff layoffs, student tuition hikes, program cuts and campus closures. She urged action so that "Rome does not have to burn in 21st-century Connecticut:"
 

Advocating for those Who Have Been Historically Under-Resourced

Thu, 03/30/2023 - 5:30pm
Effectively teaching and supporting students, whether in PreK-12 or higher education settings, requires the entire school or college community to embrace a “whole child" approach. That is one of the central themes of a recently published op-ed by Christopher Trombly (speaking in photo, below), a member of our recently affiliated CSU-AAUP. It drives his demands for state elected officials to invest the resources needed to fund our state’s future on behalf of the students he and his colleagues serve:
 

Offering Hope through Union Activism

Thu, 10/13/2022 - 5:00pm
Members of AFT Connecticut-affiliated local unions representing health professionals in an increasingly consolidated industry are raising the alarm when it comes to an escalating patient care crisis. In an interview for our national union's online "AFT Health Care," Backus Federation of Nurses President Sherri Dayton (left in photo, below) offers insights and suggestions for overcoming challenges. Her timely advice includes supporting candidates seeking political office this November running on the "labor is your neighbor" platform:

Helping Members Beat Back Student Debt

Mon, 03/19/2018 - 5:30pm
Across the country last year, staff and leaders from our national union held scores of clinics to guide thousands of members toward relief from the weight of their student loans. AFT Connecticut at the same time organized training sessions to help affiliated locals offer the workshops themselves, exponentially increasing the number of those that can benefit. Soaring student debt may seem like old news, but for current and former students locked in its grip, it feels relentlessly fresh and relevant.
 
Click here for our previous report on the clinics' launch.
 

The Challenge of Precarious Labor in Higher Ed

Fri, 12/23/2016 - 2:00pm
The landscape of America's working world continues to shift, with the number of unstable — and, often, part-time — jobs, low pay and exploitative conditions increasing at a rapid rate. At a daylong Washington, D.C., conference earlier this month, union leaders, policy experts and academics examined the contingent labor force and how to ensure fair working conditions for all. Much of the discussion centered on the issues impacting higher education adjunct faculty and graduate student employees; two groups participating in a "day of action" next month here in Connecticut.
 

Reigning-In Predatory For-Profit Colleges

Mon, 06/27/2016 - 3:30pm
Leading the charge to clean up exploitative policies and practices hurting students in higher education — and costing all taxpayers — is a new report released last week by our national union. Among highlights are the 2014 collapse of Corinthian Colleges as both an example and a call to action for increased oversight of the growing for-profit higher education "industry."
 
Click here for the full report.
 

Student Debt Clinics Save Borrowers Thousands

Wed, 06/08/2016 - 3:30pm
The crisis of student debt is holding back millions of Americans, and our union is taking it on not only on a policy level, but one borrower at a time. AFT has begun holding student debt workshops to help individuals drop hundreds of dollars from their monthly loan payments and even qualify for loan forgiveness.
 

Six Steps to Debt-Free College

Tue, 07/21/2015 - 5:00pm
The number of debt-free college proposals can be confusing, but their core message is simple; higher education should be accessible to everyone, regardless of income and without the cost of crippling debt. A coalition including AFT, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Demos last week clarified that goal by unveiling the "Debt-Free College Checklist."
 

Sen. Warren Charts Bold Path to College Affordability

Fri, 06/12/2015 - 12:00pm
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) this week reached beyond recent calls for student loan forgiveness and free community college to urge the nation toward an entirely debt-free education. Warren unveiled her proposal during a forum hosted by AFT and the Albert Shanker Institute noting specific actions to ease the debt she says is drowning young people, and drowning the country's future.
 
Click here to watch Sen. Warren's speech.
 

Student Debt: Inequity Far Past Graduation

Thu, 05/28/2015 - 11:00am
The fact that student debt continues to soar is troubling enough; now there is clear evidence that it also deepens the gap between the haves and the have-nots. "The Debt Divide: The Racial and Class Bias Behind the 'New Normal' of Student Borrowing" describes the impact of near-universal reliance on student loans: they actually extend inequity. 
 
Click here for the full report.
 
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