Jahana Hayes

A cluster of factors is making it increasingly difficult to for teachers to enter the profession or pay off student loans, U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, has said. To combat the issue, the Connecticut congresswoman has introduced the Teacher Debt Relief Act.

Hayes, a former Waterbury teacher and national teacher of the year, said Thursday that the legislation makes a technical correction to allow teachers with five years of classroom service to qualify for both the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which allows forgiveness of federal loans after 10 years of payments, and the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program.

“Currently, educators are eligible for partial debt relief after five years of service. However, federal law forbids simultaneous enrollment in the general Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Teacher Loan Forgiveness programs, forcing educators to work for up to an additional 10 to 15 years to qualify for full relief,” according to a release from Hayes’ office.

The goal of the legislation, which Hayes has been introducing for several years, is to encourage teachers to enter the profession amid a national teacher shortage. According to Hayes, one in eight teaching jobs in the U.S. is either unfilled or improperly filled, impacting the quality of education for children.

A complicating factor, she said, is that teacher salaries remain stagnant as school districts and towns struggle with municipal funding.

“Teachers make $3,644 less on average than they did ten years ago when adjusted for inflation. Additionally, 40% of school districts employing half a million teachers still offer a starting salary below $40,000,” according to Hayes’ office.

The average starting salary for a teacher in Connecticut is $51,053, which is 14th in the nation, according to a study by the National Education Association. The average teacher salary is $89,593, according to the report, which notes that the minimum living wage in the state is $96,544.

In addition, Hayes said, the Trump administration has made loan forgiveness more difficult, Hayes said, by advancing a rule that would allow U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to disqualify employers from the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program for activities she deems illegal. Under the rule, teachers who work in a school district that is deemed to participate in activities not complying with the administration’s policy could lose their loan forgiveness.

The rule has been challenged by a coalition of 21 states and the District of Columbia.

“The Trump Administration has made the promise of higher education a distant dream for many by forcing students into unaffordable repayment plans and predatory private loan markets, and threatening access to critical loan forgiveness programs. Federal policy should incentivize teacher recruitment and retention – not create unnecessary burdens that keep educators out of the profession they love,” Hayes said.