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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Education
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Biden should pursue student-loan cancellation
One of the single most impactful things President Biden can do is pursue student-loan cancellation. It's entirely within his power. This really isn't a conversation about providing relief to a small, niche group of people. It's very much a keystone
action politically. I think it's a keystone action economically as well. And I can't underscore how much the hesitancy of the Biden Administration to pursue student-loan cancellation has demoralized a very critical voting block.
Source: New Yorker on NY-14 2021 House incumbent, "An Insider?"
, Feb 14, 2022
They're replacing history with white-nationalist propaganda
You have the complete erasure and attack on our own understanding of history, to replace teaching history with institutionalized propaganda from white-nationalist perspectives in our schools. This is what the scaffolding of Jim Crow was.
The question that we're really facing is: Was the last fifty to sixty years after the Civil Rights Act just a mere flirtation that the United States had with a multiracial democracy that we will then decide was inconvenient for those in power?
Source: New Yorker on NY-14 2021 House incumbent, "An Insider?"
, Feb 14, 2022
Made college loan payment during House committee hearing
In a 2019 hearing of the House of Finacial Service Committee on the burden of student debt, AOC paid her student loan bill live during the hearing : "I literally made a student loan payment while I was sitting in my chair and
I looked at the balance, and it was $20,000. I just made a payment that took me down to $19,000 so I feel really accomplished right now."
The national student loan debt is over $1.5 trillion, and nearly one third of her fellow members of congress carry student loan balances as well. AOC brings no shame in talking about
her money, especially if it helps to normalize the burden of debt. She was paying her bill in public and on the record making the point that it is time to challenge and change the status quo.
Source: AOC, by Lynda Lopez, p.116
, Aug 11, 2020
Public option for elementary education is vitally important
Cortez said there are sectors where the profit motive should be removed and that, at the very least, a public option should always be available. She used America's public school system as an example. "Imagine if we had to pay for our children to go to
school from kindergarten all the way to 12th grade. It would be untenable, unfeasible, and we would have to rely on businesses that are always trying to profiteer," she said. " Imagine if Walmart ran your public schools. That does not sound fun at all.
And so, some people are able to send their kids to private schools. You can do that if that's what you want to do. If you want to spend 30,000 dollars to send your kid to kindergarten, which some people do in New York City, that's your business.
But we as a society have to decide that it is important and it is vital enough that we provide a public option for elementary education in the United States,' she said, adding that the U.S. military is "the original federal jobs guarantee."
Source: AOC, by Lynda Lopez, p.153
, Aug 11, 2020
Expand national education into tuition-free public colleges
It's time to expand our national education system to include tuition-free public college and trade school. In tandem with making public colleges tuition-free, Alexandria supports a one-time policy of student debt cancellation, in which the federal
government cancels the loans it holds directly and buys back the financing of privately owned loans on behalf of borrowers to liberate generations of Americans trapped in student loan debt and holding back from participating in the greater US economy.
Source: 2018 Congressional NY-14th election website Ocasio2018.com
, Oct 9, 2018
Tuition-free college spurs economic activity by millennials
Q: You propose tuition-free public college, canceling all student loan debt. How do we pay for it?OCASIO-CORTEZ: This is a broader agenda. If you look at my generation-millennials--the amount of economic activity that we do not engage, the fact that
we delay purchasing homes, that we don't participate in the economy and purchasing cars, et cetera, as fully as possible, is a cost. It is an externality, of unprecedented amount of student loan debt.
Source: CNN 2018 interviews for Congress NY-14 election
, Sep 16, 2018
Voted YES on private lawsuits for school race discrimination.
Ocasio-Cortez voted YEA Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act
Legislative Summary:This bill authorizes private civil causes of action for discrimination on the ground of race, color, or national origin, including anti-Semitism) in programs receiving federal financial assistance.
Trump's Statement of Administration Policy (against): The Administration strongly opposes passage of H.R. 2574. This bill fails to advance equality in education, while expanding bureaucracy, encouraging burdensome litigation, and imposing costs on recipients of Federal financial assistance. H.R. 2574 seeks to validate and expand the divisive regulatory agenda of the previous administration--advancing an ideological mission and enriching favored special interests like trial lawyers at the expense of students, educators, and taxpayers. The bill would require each recipient of Federal financial assistance to appoint a compliance coordinator, which would impose additional administrative burdens.
H.R. 2574 would redirect vital resources that are needed to serve students in the pursuit of an ideological agenda.
Rep. Elaine Luria in support: H.R. 2574 would allow private individuals to file lawsuits under the Civil Rights Act's Title VI authority, allowing students and parents to remedy discrimination in education. "Every student has the right to access public education, free from discriminatory practices, said Congresswoman Luria. "By focusing on equity and inclusion, we move towards a public education system that is more just and will benefit every student, regardless of sex, ethnicity, ability, or their zip code."
Legislative outcome:Passed House 232-188-10, roll no. 192 on Sept 16, 2020; died in Senate without a vote.
Source: Congressional vote 20-HR2574 on May 8, 2019
Page last updated: May 22, 2022; copyright 1999-2022 Jesse Gordon and OnTheIssues.org