Schools systems facing considerably greater challenges than Burlington’s have made “substantial strides in academic performance for their most vulnerable students,” according a new report from Diversity Now, a Vermont group formed in 2009 to address ethnic diversity issues.

The report says the local pace of change has been “torpid” and the administration’s attitude “laissez-faire.” Diversity Now examines achievement gaps, and charges that, at the root of the problem, is “the tendency for school district personnel to reproduce and reinforce social hierarchies based on race, ethnicity, and class than exist in our society.”

Such harsh conclusions came as no surprise to most parents, students and teachers who brought their complaints to a meeting of the Burlington School Board held at the high school on Tuesday night. During two hours of public comment, dozens of people described personal struggles and demanded immediate steps to address unequal treatment and harassment.

Many who attended want new school leadership, and specifically the replacement of Superintendent Jeanne Collins. Appointed in 2005 Collins has a contract that is supposed to continue until 2013, and, despite the recent drumbeat, says she has no plans to leave.

Tensions have been building since last October, when a school district task force released its strategic plan for diversity, equity and inclusion, and especially since a pointed refutation of that document’s findings was issued by math teacher David Rome. Disputing much of the statistical analysis underlying the plan, Rome has argued that hiring more “culturally competent” teachers of color won’t solve academic problems.

For some students, particularly English language learners (ELL) from Africa, the resulting discussion of their academic performance was deeply offensive, and triggered protests outside the school. The teens charge that, in spite Burlington’s liberal reputation, they are frequently the targets of harassment, hate speech and unfair treatment.

“I know it takes time,” acknowledged 17-year-old Fama Abuka at the meeting. She quickly added, “But how much longer do you guys need? How much longer? It’s true we need to take baby steps. But we’re going to have to move faster, because this is not getting us anywhere.”

The latest report from Diversity Now makes a similar point, and adds a warning. “As minority groups increase their presence, a ‘tipping point’ is reached.” This can trigger a backlash, “the emergence of what had previously been dormant racial, cultural and class prejudice.” As an example it mentions one recent protest at the school by African students during which white students voiced “racial/cultural epithets many thought did not exist in our community.”

A less confrontational, but revealing reaction was expressed by Kevin Ryan on Truenorth Reports. Headlining his May 8 blog post “When the race card is played, Burlington needs a full house,” Ryan argued that the strategic plan makes excuses for non-white students who have academic or behavioral problems.

“Racism and bias must be assumed the causation, simply because white people run the show,” he wrote. “In fact, the school system which shows such disparities between students of color and those termed to be white must be ‘institutionally racist,’ even if the staff is not even aware that they themselves are racist.”

Differences over staffing

Few people deny that some progress has been made in addressing racial discrimination and disparities. According to UVM faculty member Denise Dunbar, who has attended recent student protests and addressed the School Board this week, a number of the recommendations in a 1999 report on racial harassment in Vermont’s public schools have been adopted.

A brutal incident sparked that initiative – the beating of a 13-year-old African American boy by several white teenagers on June 25, 1997. Witnesses said the teens were shouting racial remarks at the time. According to a subsequent statement by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, Burlington was not doing enough to respond to “unprecedented increases in minority student population.”

After several community forums, a Vermont Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights concluded that racial harassment was “widespread and pervasive” in and around public schools throughout the state. The recommendations included state-level efforts to raise consciousness, full compliance with Vermont’s 1994 Anti-Harassment in Education Act, curriculum development that celebrates diversity, mandatory teacher training, and a coordinated system to deal with complaints.

More than a decade later many people continue to insist that experiences of racism “are some kind of fiction,” Dunbar charged. “When it comes to the issue of race and racism cognitive dissonance takes over.” The term refers to the discomfort that can result from attempting to reconcile conflicting values or ideas; for example, the image of Burlington as a progressive community and the persistence of institutional racism.

Since 2005 the school district has attempted to respond by creating an Equity Council to provide overall direction, as well as an Office of Recruitment and Retention to increase cultural competence and improve the hiring process. Staff and faculty receive annual anti-bullying training.

In 2010 the district hired six new teachers of color, according to a list of “diversity and equity actions” provided by Collins. But Diversity Now points out that when the district was recruiting two new principals that year, whites were selected and candidates of color were overlooked. The group argues that those decisions reproduced “past inequalities and obstructions” and “led to a perception of an unlevel playing field.”

Vince Brennan, a member of the Burlington City Council. Photo by Greg Guma

One recent addition to the faculty roster has been Reuben Jackson, a National Public Radio commentator and former Smithsonian curator who teaches at the high school. Responding to an article about Vermont’s lack of teacher diversity in 2010, Jackson noted that he had “bumped heads with some of the most overtly patronizing and unabashedly — let’s call them provincial — administrators this side of Little Rock.”

On Tuesday several speakers questioned why Jackson, a popular substitute teacher, hasn’t been offered a full-time position. “He is one of the only African American teachers at BHS,” said UVM faculty member Nancy Walsh. Calling this decision a “serious failure of leadership,” she urged officials to offer Jackson a contract and replace Superintendent Collins.

Somali students protest at Burlington High School. Photo by Greg Guma

The question of whether recruiting a more diverse staff, administration and faculty will improve educational performance and reduce racism is one of the key points in Rome’s rebuttal of the strategic plan. He argued that “hiring teachers of color has little, if any, correlation to student performance.”

Instead, he wrote, the district should focus on “improving the economic situation of lower socio-economic families and educating them about the link between academic success and their future.”

Understanding achievement gaps

Why do students of color tend to lag behind others in academic achievement? One argument has been that the root of the problem is socioeconomic status. But Diversity Now notes that “students from poor families may be white or black, new Americans or native English speakers, boys or girls.”

A largely unrecognized factor may be “stereotype threat,” a phenomenon identified by former Columbia University Provost Claude Steele. The idea, explains the report, is that when a group is negatively stereotyped “they are likely to become anxious about their performance, which will hinder their ability to perform at their maximum level.” In other words, the underlying problem may be the local climate rather than student ability.

In any case, gaps in achievement due to economic status may not be inevitable. Diversity Now suggests that professionals from school systems that have succeeded in narrowing such gaps should be invited to a “summit” in Burlington where best practices can be explored.

Local students who are recent immigrants to the United States question their segregation into English-as-a-second-language classes and argue that they should not be judged based on New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) scores, a mandatory standardized test.

Internal segregation, through tracking and in ELL classes, “perpetuates stereotypes that have made our schools a hostile environment, undermining achievement,” according the Diversity Now Steering Committee.

In a statement read during a protest outside the high school, 16-year-old Jacques Okuka explained, “Coming to America is hard enough! Sometimes a week later we were given a test to take in a language that we can’t understand.” Low scores also lead to “racist jokes” by white students, he added.

Another sign of discrimination identified by the students is unequal application of discipline. Abukar recounted an incident in which, after a student used “the N-word” and she responded by calling her attacker “white trash,” she was suspended for three days.

Statistical evidence backs up her contention that discipline policies may reflect a form of discrimination. In a 2011 report on “Ethnic Differences in Academics and Disciplinary Actions” Diversity Now noted that although minority students are 27 percent of the student body in Burlington, they represent 34 percent of those receiving in-school and 60 percent of those getting out-of school suspensions. Nationally, black boys are three times more likely to be suspended than white boys. The disparity is even larger for black girls.

“I don’t see the big steps they (school leaders) are taking right now,” Abukar concluded. “We’ve been talking about it for days, weeks, even months now and no progress has shown up.”

Time for Transformation

In 1997, one of the 36 panelists who offered views and experiences about harassment to the Vermont Advisory Committee was Ayana Al-Faruk, who had four sons in Burlington schools at the time. After recounting incidents in which racist taunts were hurled at her children she concluded, “The Burlington school system and Vermont generally likes to pride itself on being liberal and progressive. Being progressive, however, does not mean being anti-racist?”

Fifteen years on, the city has become considerably more diverse. More than 60 languages are spoken by local families, additional evidence that a racial and ethnic “tipping point” has been reached. But critics of the school system claim that many of the problems identified in the 1990s persist – a culture of denial, a hostile learning environment, hate speech, unequally applied discipline, and what the 1999 harassment report called a “general insensitively to minority student safety concerns.”

The main difference today is that students, as well as adults, are prepared to speak up, protest and demand change. Burlington has reportedly taken more concrete steps than most other Vermont school districts – but not fast enough, according to those who have voiced their concerns and sentiments to the board.

District staff haven’t done nearly enough, charged UVM student David Buckingham. “Instead, the students have been told their demands are not valid” and that their protests have been provoked by “outside agitators.” He read a list of petition demands including integrating English-language learners into the rest of the school population, recruiting more minority faculty and counselors, adding black history to the curriculum, hiring an outside evaluator to assess student satisfaction, and replacing the local leadership.

“We’ve had enough time,” said Progressive Counselor Vince Brennan, who chaired the task force that produced the strategic plan and more recently called for Collins’ replacement. “It’s time for transformation,” he said.

Robert Appel, executive director of the State Human Rights Commission, also attended, and said that he and other members of the commission are following the situation with “great concern – and promise,” particularly since Burlington is the largest, most diverse district in the state. Appel argued that the problem is not primarily a matter of administrative leadership but rather true communication. “People seem to be talking by each other instead of with each other at this point,” he said.

Others were less conciliatory, however, calling the school district’s leadership “an abject failure” and warning that, unless things change dramatically and soon, the situation could “implode.”

“It’s shameful that we’re having this discussion today,” remarked Dr. Ken Palm, a black parent. “I feel frustrated and angry that the children of color in this school district attend school every single day in a hostile environment without protection and without advocates.”

Although he enjoys living in Vermont, Palm said he would “do everything I can to keep my grandchildren from going to school in this district.” The problem, he added, is that white administrators often don’t see students of color as their children, or even as human beings. In such cases, “the honorable thing to do is to step down.”

Burlington Rabbi Joshua Chasan agreed that bold actions will be required. “We need to be working together,” he counseled, “responding to the new racial and class realities.” Yet he found the tone of some comments on Tuesday, particularly angry calls for Superintendent Collins’ removal, a bit troubling.

“I thought there was a no bullying policy in this building,” the rabbi concluded, “and I’ve heard a lot of bullying tonight.”

VTDigger

A proposed amendment to Burlington’s Comprehensive Development Ordinance that would extend a residential occupancy limit of four unrelated adults to high-density areas returned to the City Council on Monday, and so did frustrated residents and wary landlords.

In February six of seven Democrats supported the same proposal, designed to deal with noise, vandalism and other problems attributed mainly to college students. But three Republicans, including then-mayoral candidate Kurt Wright, joined two Progressives, two independents and Democrat David Hartnett to defeat it in an 8-6 vote.

This time the amendment survived a first reading with 12 of 14 votes, resulting in its referral to the Ordinance Committee for further study and public hearings. After that it will go to the Planning Commission, and ultimately return to the council for a final vote.

More than a dozen homeowners, renters and landlords addressed the council before it acted. Residents provided examples of unruly behavior and placed much of the blame on landlords whom one person called “college town profiteers.”

According to resident Emily Lee, more than 75 percent of the population in her Buell Street neighborhood is between 18 and 24 years old. When she complained to the police about one loud, late-night party her home was egged, she reported. “Our neighborhood is in crisis and we ask for your help,” she said.

If high density housing is going to be permitted, Lee added, “then there must be rules and they must be enforced.”

Most landlords who spoke agreed with her about the need for vigorous enforcement. But they also argued that the proposed ordinance change is not a solution. “You guys are not enforcing the laws you have,” charged Gene Richards, a landlord who also serves on the Airport Commission.

Richards claimed that landlords haven’t been contacted to help deal with misbehaving tenants. “You can’t be bad if you don’t know you’re bad,” he said. “The bottom line is you need to fulfill your commitments.”

Another landlord, Eric Winslow, said that most landlords did not even know an ordinance change was in the works when it first came to the City Council in February. He also disputed the connection between having more than four bedrooms and the number of noise violations.

Bob Hemley, an attorney with the Gravel and Shea law firm who represents several landlords, suggested that density may be a “code word” for students, and urged both enforcement and a full deliberative process. However, he also warned the council about “inviting legal challenges” if his clients find that the ordinance affects their rights as property owners.

He and others, including some residents, noted that the past policy of imposing a $200 fine on those who violate the local noise ordinance seems to have been abandoned.

The city’s current occupancy limits do not include high density neighborhoods, although the Planning Commission has recommended in the past that all residential areas should be covered.

“It’s an untenable situation,” said Councilor Max Tracy, a sponsor of the change who was elected to the council in March representing Ward 2, an inner-city area where many students live off campus. Like others on the council, and in the audience, he does not consider the proposal a panacea. But he called it a necessary step “toward regaining the dignity and control of our neighborhoods.”

Ward 3′s Rachel Siegel, another Progressive recently elected to the council, said she would support the decision to move forward but isn’t yet “sold on the change.” Siegel worries that it could hurt low income residents who live together or possibly lead to rent increases.

Ward 1 Democrat Ed Adrian acknowledged that the city already has legal tools to deal with “parties, trash and noise.” But he called them Band-aids that do not get to the root of chronic problems in neighborhoods with a high percentage of student-occupied units.

Bad behavior is not the only problem, added Bram Kranichfeld, who also represents Ward 2 and sponsored the proposal back in February. Housing stock has been “irreversibly turning into low-quality, crowded housing,” he said, and the city has “sold out” his constituents “for the benefit of a few landlords” by failing to impose occupancy restrictions much earlier.

Kranichfeld has previously noted that his ward is dealing with deteriorating housing stock, maintenance issues, vandalism, litter and other problems.

Although there was broad agreement that the problem is reaching the crisis level, Ward 7 Republican Paul Decelles spoke for those with doubts about the cure. Early in the evening, he attempted unsuccessfully to add an item to the agenda that would delay any action until at least September, and called for creation of a special committee to consider whether the proposed occupancy restriction is appropriate and what other measures could help.

After the public forum, when the proposal was up for a vote, Decelles offered an amendment to strike the new language and raised the issue again. He suggested that the committee include representatives from the council, Planning Commission and Police Department, as well as residents, landlords, the Office of Code Enforcement, the Department of Planning and Zoning, a City Attorney, and the Community and Economic Development Office.

Independent Karen Paul countered that she trusts the Ordinance Committee to create such a group if it appears necessary. As the discussion proceeds, she added, it should also consider any “displacement” that may result and whether restricting occupancy will have an impact on affordable housing.

“Let’s make sure it’s the right step,” warned Ward 4 Democrat David Hartnett. “Sometimes we’ve made up our minds and not heard from everyone.”

In a brief comment Miro Weinberger, the city’s new mayor and a housing developer himself, said he is “sympathetic to the residents’ perspective” and linked the problem to high rents and a general housing shortage.

Board President Joan Shannon, who co-sponsored the proposal with Tracy, noted that increased enrollment at the University of Vermont appeared to be extending the same problems to the city’s South End, “in places where we have never had these problems before.”

That echoed an earlier criticism from a member of the public that it was irresponsible for UVM to grow by an estimated 42 percent “without thinking about where these students might live.”

City government is about to negotiate a new memo of understanding with the university covering housing, traffic, parking, public services and taxes. This will replace two agreements that expire in two months. But the process could be delayed since the school’s new president, legal scholar Tom Sullivan, will not begin work until July 15.

In February, the council adopted a resolution to guide the administration’s negotiations. The priority list includes a commitment by UVM to house 75 percent of undergraduates on campus.

Mindful of the problems the ordinance change is supposed to address Adrian said at the time that that school “needs to spend more on creating more student housing. The rest is window dressing.”

VTDigger

Gov. Peter Shumlin signs H.440. Photo by Taylor Dobbs

Gov. Peter Shumlin signed a bill on Thursday that moves the education system directly under the governor’s control.

The bill, H. 440, created a new cabinet position for the secretary of Education who will report to the governor. Under previous law, the commissioner answered to the State Board of Education which also set policy for the state agency.

Similar bills have come up before, but never made it through the legislative process, despite support from both parties. Former Gov.Jim Douglas testified in favor of the bill last year.

Shumlin said the legislation gives governors a stake in the state’s education system, which is essentially run by local school boards.

“I have long felt, as have many governors before me – both Republican and Democrat – that it’s very difficult as a governor to ultimately have a single voice that implements a vision for quality education when the governor does not have direct intervention or input on who the commissioner or secretary of Education might be.”

Critics of the bill said the State Board of Education served as a buffer for the political whims of elected officials. The bill reduces board member terms from six years to three. Members are selected by the governor. Shumlin said the new process would allow for more effective educational policy and hold governors accountable for that he said was the “most important obligation in a democratic society” – education.

“There was tremendous skepticism, tremendous fear that we were somehow politicizing a process that shouldn’t be politicized,” Shumlin said. “I say what we’re doing today is ensuring that we have accountability from the governor and the ability for the elected governor to care about educational quality by having a secretary, a full member of the cabinet, to ensure that that vision is being carried out.”

Stefan Morse, chair of the state board, said he is not worried about the politicization of the education system because the board retains its authority on education policy under the new law.

Commissioner of Education Armando Vilaseca said the bill would be good for Vermont’s schools.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to have the governor have a very, very strong voice in education, speaking with one voice,” he said. “I think in the past, with a state board of education and a commissioner that was not working under the governor may have led to some issues that may not have been unified.”

In January, the State Board of Education will present Shumlin with three secretary candidates and the governor will make the final selection.

Morse said the board is currently working on formulating educational priorities for Vermont, which will give the new secretary a checklist of what the board deems the most important educational issues in the state.

“We think that’s a healthy way to get the process started,” Morse said.

Lisa Ventriss, executive director of Vermont Business Roundtable, has been a proponent of quality early childhood education. Her organization produced a report in 2007 that showed the state needed strong leadership with a vision for education.

“This has been a long time coming,” Ventriss said.

VTDigger

Rep. Peter Welch hears from Leahn Bass about student debt. Bass has about $20,000 in federal student loans. VTD/Taylor Dobbs

Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., was at the University of Vermont today, but he wasn’t making any speeches. Instead, Welch was all ears as students told him about their financial situations, debt and jobs.

Students will face another financial hurdle on July 1, when the interest rate on federally subsidized Stafford loans is set to double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent.

According to U.S. Department of Education projections, 21,007 students in Vermont will take out $78,775,944 in Stafford loans. Nationwide, more than 9 million students are projected to take out $31.6 billion in Stafford loans.

Welch heard from about 15 students in a wide range of financial situations during an hour-long visit at UVM’s Davis Center.

Julian Golfarini, a 23-year-old senior at UVM, said he feels lucky because he doesn’t face any debt when he graduates next month. He said the fact that he is debt-free doesn’t mean the system is working. Golfarini, UVM’s former student body president, attended a conference in Washington, D.C., this spring with 100 other student body presidents from around the country, and he said tuition costs and student debt were “issue number one” at the conference.

“You’re punishing the wrong people in the students,” Golfarini said.

Leahn Bass is a junior at UVM majoring in social work. Unlike Golafarini, she does have debt – about $20,000 of which comes in the form of federal loans like the Stafford loan. The 25-year-old works full time in social work as she continues her studies as a full-time student at UVM. The income helps pay for her education and support her and her 5-year-old son.

Welch’s focus as he collects stories like Bass’ is the July 1 interest rate hike, but he is also taking a look at the economics of higher education at large. His sentiments echoed President Barack Obama’s remarks in this year’s state of the union address, when he said tuition increases are also to blame for the more than $1 trillion of student debt in the U.S.

Welch said that in addition to government regulations, university administrators were responsible for keeping their tuition in check.

“We’ve got to look to the administrations of the schools to find creative ways to keep those tuition increases at or below the inflation rate,” Welch said.

Gavin Caster, a 21-year-old majoring in economics at UVM, said the solutions didn’t even necessarily have to be creative.

“It wouldn’t even have to be a creative process,” he said. “It would just have to be a more intellectually and rigorously honest process” of looking through school’s budget and taking time to examine if certain increases were really necessary.

Part of the problem, Caster said, is that loans are currently subject to market trends, with private corporations holding the loans and therefore controlling students’ financial situations. He suggested isolating the loans from market pressures, keeping the rates low, and – perhaps most importantly – reducing the overall use of loans to pay for college.

“If you isolate loans and reduce them,” he said, “you’ll inherently control tuition.”

While there was a consensus today at UVM, the issue in Washington is divisive. Welch said he was happy to see the House of Representatives pass legislation that would prevent the interest hike, but that it was hard to see it as a win since the GOP-backed legislation makes up the difference using money currently designated for health care. Democrats would like to see the money steered from subsidies to oil companies. Welch said there might be another way.

“My preference would be that we work together on the larger question of college affordability. Not pitting health care and oil company subsidies against each other,” he said. “The big issue is: Are there some ways we can pay for this by easing regulatory burdens, by providing incentives for college administration to find ways to lower tuition increases?”

Welch said he is determined to get an agreed-to piece of legislation through before July 1, and he plans to use the stories collected at UVM today and on his website to make his points on the floor in Washington.

While the details are still uncertain, Welch said his ultimate goal is to keep students in school, and to make sure as many as possible could pay for an education.

“The broad question here is college affordability,” Welch said.

VTDigger

Claudine Nkurinziza, far right, addresses race issues in Burlington schools with members of the House Education Committee. Photo by Taylor Dobbs

After protesting at Burlington High School last Thursday, a group of students took their complaints to the Statehouse on Thursday, joined by a contingent from Winooski High School. They met with the House Education Committee to air their grievances.

The students described a culture of discrimination at BHS, where English Language Learning (ELL) students – largely Somali and Nepalese – are outcasts among their peers.

Students said there is a lack of diversity both in the material taught at the schools and the teachers presenting it. They said there is no black history class, for example.

“I know how the United States developed … but I know nothing about some black people who did good history. Sometimes they say ‘Malcolm X,’ and I don’t even know that guy,” said Fama, a Burlington High School student, at the meeting.

“I’m really surprised there’s no course in black history at Burlington High School,” said committee chair Johannah Donovan. Donovan and other committee members said they felt the system had failed the students.

The students also said ELL classes are segregated in one school building separate from other classes held elsewhere on the BHS campus. This lack of integration, students said, doesn’t give ELL students a chance to utilize the language they’re learning in a social setting. They also said the ELL classes failed to adequately teach them English. In a list of demands the group brought to the meeting, they said they are “given the same materials every year; there is no progress.”

Burlington school administrators have been looking into the issue. In October 2010, the Burlington School Board authorized a Task Force on Diversity and Equity to assemble a report on the state of diversity and equity in Burlington’s schools and provide recommendations for a “strategic plan for diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

The task force’s report, released in October 2011 calls for some of the same things the students demanded at the Statehouse, including “a multicultural mindset,” and “hiring staff of color and culturally competent staff.”

The task force report consists of a list of recommendations. The Diversity and Equity Committee is in the process of formulating the district’s strategic plan based on those recommendations.

The committee is scheduled to present the proposed plan in October 2012.

VTDigger

As most students went to classes at Burlington High School on Thursday morning about 40 students, most of them English language learners from Somalia, gathered at the entrance for a surprise protest.

Angered after seeing a newspaper article posted on a school bulletin board that described them as “statistical outliers” who lagged behind, they overcame embarrassment and delivered their message with youthful energy and creativity. They feel unfairly judged by outdated tests and object to statistical analysis that correlates poverty with poor academic performance.

They also made it clear that, despite any progress or the promises of change ahead, racism remains a real and persistent problem in local schools.

Their goal, chanted while marching around school property, was to “end racism at BHS.” When a school official invited them back to classes some said they weren’t coming in until their goal was achieved.

When the findings of the Diversity and Equity Task Force established by the Burlington School District were released last October Vince Brennan was almost as optimistic.

As Task Force Chairperson and a Progressive member of the City Council he saw in the year-long effort the “noble ideal of building a better future.” Six months later what he sees instead is “fear and a loss of hope for change.”

Last Monday, during the city council’s first working session with the new Weinberger administration, he had some strong words for BSD Superintendent Jeanne Collins after a report was delivered by school officials on the new strategic plan for diversity, equity and inclusion.

Vince Brennan, a member of the Burlington City Council. Photo by Greg Guma

In a commentary submitted to the Burlington Free Press in late March – but not published – Brennan questioned whether Collins was “really being true to her words about free speech or is picking and choosing who to silence.”

The school system needs “new leadership,” Brennan concluded. He was calling for the superintendent’s replacement because she had declined to intervene after Math teacher David Rome issued a pointed refutation of the report’s findings.

Brennan’s commentary was written in response to a Burlington Free Press op-ed that said he was wrong to criticize Collins for not speaking out about Rome’s rebuttal. The teacher’s questioning of statistics and conclusions cited as the basis for the school system’s strategic plan undermined the report’s initial public reception and has raised fresh questions about racism in the schools.

Brennan insists he does not want to silence Rome, despite suggestions in the press that it is a free speech issue. But he does think that “not participating with the Task Force while it was assembled and then condemning the whole process after it was accepted is exercising what researchers call ‘privilege’ based on race.”

Disparities and disagreements

Schools in Burlington are considerably more diverse than most in Vermont. Students of color—Asian, Black, Latino, Native American and Multiracial—make up 27 percent of student body, according to school district figures. About 15 percent are English language learners from other countries. Over 60 languages and dialects are spoken by their families. Statewide, the ELL population has more than doubled in the last ten years.

Minorities will be more than 50 percent of the U.S. population by 2042. Although the white community may be able to maintain the status quo, the report argues, doing so will create “an inhospitable climate for students and families of color and will severely limit the potential of all our students to succeed in a rapidly changing environment.”

With these and other trends in mind, the Task Force attempts to make the case for rapid change with a portrait comprised of “statistically measured facts” about the local system. The report states, for example, that the dropout rate for African American students is measurably higher, that “students who are eligible for free and reduced lunch” are 25 percent less likely to graduate, and that “there is nearly a one in five chance that an otherwise qualified student of color did not take the SAT or ACT exam.”

It also notes that minority students “are extremely over-represented (60%) in being punished through out-of-school suspensions,” and although students of color make up 27 percent of the student body, they represent only 13 percent of those passing Algebra 1.

The strategic plan that has emerged from this analysis involves top-to-bottom change in educational policies. That includes ongoing training and professional development for all employees, hiring more people of color along with “culturally competent” staff, leadership and accountability by the school board and administration, increased transparency, and incorporation of a “multicultural mindset” into curriculum, hiring and other policies that “values cultural pluralism and affirms students from all backgrounds.”

In a section on what needs to be done during the next year to change the local climate, the primary objective is to “infuse the district with the message that the social and educational climate in our schools requires urgent attention to erase many negative stereotypes, subtle and overt behaviors, assumptions, and decisions that favor conventional, white upper middle class Judeo-Christian values and beliefs.”

Rome’s response focuses mainly on statistics he has found inaccurate, but he also calls the report’s references to Judeo-Christian culture inflammatory and divisive. “The use of this phrase is truly an insult to the professionals who work with individuals at BHS to make the school as inclusive and welcoming to as many students as possible,” he writes. At least one other teacher has publicly agreed with him.

Rome’s central argument is that factual errors in the report have produced “false conclusions leading to a reaction by the Board and community members that the school system is badly flawed and in need of drastic repair when, in fact, it is doing a remarkably fair and equitable job.”

Somali students protest at Burlington High School. Photo by Greg Guma

The Task Force cites a 5 percent dropout gap between African American and White students, but Rome notes that only one African American dropped out of the senior class last year. He adds that it is unfair to expect newcomers to the country to graduate within four years. On math performance he argues the figures actually indicate improved course completion for students of color. He also disputes suspension statistics cited in the report.

Sara Martinez De Osaba, director of the Vermont Multicultural Alliance for Democracy, sees such criticisms as an attempt to “negate that there are disparities.” Like Brennan she describes Rome’s critique as an example of “white privilege.”

Developing the new roadmap

The process that led to the new plan began in 2008 with an attempt by the board to define diversity. “We are a community of many cultures, faiths, abilities, family constellations and incomes, birthplaces and aspirations,” said the resulting statement. “The depth and richness of this diversity is our strength when we work toward a common goal.”

The Task Force on Equity and Diversity was created two years later, and initially grappled with the hiring of a new principal for the Integrated Arts Academy. Since the district “faced extensive needs in recruitment and hiring of teachers and staff of color,” it focused in the early months on human resource questions. A Town Hall meeting and three other community input events helped to inform the work.

After the report was completed and accepted by the school board last fall a town hall-style gathering was staged in February to present the findings and strategy. About 120 people attended. By then Rome had released his rebuttal and the local mood gradually turned less hopeful.

According to the Task Force “troubling educational disparities exist in Burlington along race and socioeconomic status. They represent an ‘opportunity gap’ as well as a shortfall in the overall number of high school graduates and potential college grads.” The situation produces “inequalities of all kinds which in turn have multiple long-term effects.”

BSD’s plan describes broad-ranging changes in leadership, human resources, climate and curriculum. Within the next year, for example, one objective is system-wide staff training aimed at creating an “anti-racist and culturally responsive curriculum to support all students.” The idea is to have teachers “consistently reference the multicultural nature of their teaching tools, noting the contributions and accomplishments of distinguished individuals from a variety of cultural, racial, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds.”

One example in the plan discusses teaching about westward US expansion. Rather than focusing on the perspective of hunters, pioneers, the beginning of the industrial age and the harnessing of natural resources, the report suggests that curriculum should look at the impacts on different groups and cultures, as well as the role of various institutions “in achieving specific outcomes.”

Curriculum activities during the first year are expected to include an online resource guide for teachers; workshops and use of diversity coaches; advisory groups at each school; an Interdisciplinary Curriculum Guidebook that presents “the rationale for using an anti-racist, culturally responsive and socially just method of inquiry;” and development of working definitions for key terms like “anti-racist,” “culturally responsive,” and “social justice.”

To jump-start that process the report includes a six-page glossary of terms. Defining “anti-racist education” it notes that racism is not only manifested in individual acts of bigotry but also in policies like “failure to hire people of color at all levels and the omission of anti-racist regulations in faculty and student handbooks.”

Cultural competence involves “being aware of one’s own assumptions” and “understanding the worldview of culturally diverse and marginalized populations,” the report explains.

Two key concepts are “institutionalized racism” and “privilege,” both of which came up during the city council’s review of the plan.

The glossary explains that “institutionalized racism” is seen in “processes, attitudes and behavior which totals up to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness, and racist stereotyping which disadvantages people from ethnic minorities.”

“Do you believe while privilege exists?” Brennan asked Collins during an extended question period during the council meeting. Absolutely yes, she answered. Ward 1 Democrat Ed Adrian agreed.

But Ward 7 Republican Paul Decelles was troubled by the question and asked, “Could you explain what you mean by that comment you just made.” He didn’t get a direct response but the report includes a definition.

White privilege, it says, “helps explain how white people – relative to people of color and who do not present as part of the white racial group – and despite their intentions, are ‘advantaged’ to access and opportunities over people of color and those who do not appear to be in the white racial group.”

Voicing frustration and dissent

Faulty research and conclusions by the task force are pointing Burlington in the wrong direction to address the real problems, Rome argues. “Hiring teachers of color has little, if any, correlation to student performance, but hiring competent teachers, regardless of color, does.”

He also suggests that the district should focus on “improving the economic situation of lower socio-economic families and educating them about the link between academic success and their future.”

Beyond questioning the statistics used as a rationale Rome also finds fault with the report for failing to mention areas of local success, a list on which he includes a higher rate of students of all colors going to college than the state average, a knowledgeable staff with “a great amount of diversity and cultural experiences,” student resources like the Homework Center and Shades of Ebony, and “the conscious choice that most staff members make to work at BHS precisely because of the diverse student population and the high level of professionalism of the staff.”

Rome also claims that both teachers and students were excluded from the task force report committee. “At no time were teachers interviewed or questioned for their expertise about the veracity of the comments made at the meetings or discussions in an effort to get their input for further discussion,” he charges. As a result the report’s release was “a blow to morale” that he claims has upset many teachers.

As evidenced by the Thursday protest many ELL students at the high school are also frustrated and upset. According to De Osaba, who put out a call to local activists to show up in support, students are offended by the suggestion that they are “statistical outliers.” The term does not appear in Rome’s report, but she says that he has used the term in a hand out. Others claim that he has brought up the dispute in class.

Like teachers who feel their efforts have been undervalued, students attending the protest were angry and disappointed by the sense they are being blamed for the school’s problems. The ELL curriculum used at the high school is outdated, they charge, and they don’t want to be judged on the basis of unfair testing.

“BSD has been beleaguered with racism issues since the ’80s,” De Osaba contends. She adds that tensions are increasing because many steps identified years ago by the school system have not been taken. “None of this is the fault of the African ELL students. They are not running the schools.”

UVM faculty member Denise Dunbar, who also attended the protest, points to the emotional toll of social isolation and humiliation faced by students attempting to learn English and adjust to a new society. Some statistics in the plan may be off, she acknowledges, but the problems should not be minimized and cannot always be measured.

Collins sees things similarly. There is room for debate about the math, she admits. But despite some suggestions that the report should be rescinded she continues to think the conclusions and strategies are on target.

That position hasn’t been sufficient for Brennan or others who believe that failing to respond to criticism by Rome has undermined what the district is trying to accomplish and should be grounds for administrative change. De Osaba goes farther, charging that the administration condones the Rome’s report by not taking steps to refute or stop him.

Collins insists that a greater concern is “silencing any voice in this important conversation.”

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The House Chamber of the Vermont Statehouse. Photo by Ceilidh Galloway-Kane

A Senate panel has come up with a novel form of property tax relief: Mailing a check to taxpayers.

Sen. Jane Kitchel, the chair of Senate Appropriations, says the payback proposal isn’t a gimmick. Frustrated with the ever-rising school spending and little or no control over how the money is spent, she said the members of her committee wanted a sure way to shift half of all General Fund surplus money in refunds to taxpayers.

If surplus revenues are plowed into the Education Fund, she said, there is no guarantee that taxpayers will benefit because in the past schools have absorbed additional funding.

“When the expectation is created that someone will see a financial benefit from our actions, how would anyone see it in the Education Fund transfer?” Kitchel asked.

The Senate’s chief budget-writer said under the plan if there is a surplus “we could ensure a direct benefit to the Vermont homeowner.”

Should General Fund revenues increase (a promising, but not guaranteed prospect), 50 percent of the proceeds would go directly into taxpayers’ pockets, instead of the Education Fund.

The payback? Anywhere from $30 to $100 per homeowner per year. The total cost of the proposal wasn’t available at press time. Only Vermont residents who claim a homestead exemption would be eligible.

The House, in three separate pieces of legislation, sought to send half of any surplus monies to the Education Fund in order to correct the “rebasing” change that will go into effect in 2013.

Lawmakers cut funding for the General Fund transfer to the Ed Fund by $27.5 million last year. Instead of transferring $309 million from the General Fund to the Ed Fund in fiscal year 2012, including inflationary increases, the transfer will be $282 million. The reduction will result in a roughly 3 cent property tax increase at the local level on average.

Kitchel said in 2010, when the Douglas administration and the Legislature agreed to a Challenges for Change proposal which reduced spending in many areas of state government. Part of the plan was a $23 million reduction in school spending, with the savings to be realized in the General Fund transfer.

That savings, however, didn’t materialize. The Department of Education and the lawmakers worked with schools to identify specific targets based on school enrollments and other factors in 2010, but when the Shumlin administration came on board, the governor decided to allow schools to use $19 million in additional federal stimulus funds as bridge money for schools in 2011. The idea was that by 2012, schools would find those savings.

Instead, school spending increased by 2 percent this year.

To complicate matters further, the Grand List, as a result of soft real estate values, has dropped. That means the statewide property tax will likely go up 2 cents for every $100 worth of property value in 2013, and will jump 7 cents in 2014, if school spending remains at 2 percent, according to initial estimates from the Joint Fiscal Office.

Total revenues for the Education Fund are projected to drop by about $10.7 million in 2014 to $1.363 billion; estimates for total spending go up to $1.437 billion in 2014. That leaves the fund with a $73.6 million gap if the state doesn’t raise the statewide property tax rate in 2013 (by 2 cents) and 2014 (by 7 cents). The education “outlook” developed by the Joint Fiscal Office is a early projection, and subject to change, according to Mark Perrault, who developed the spreadsheet.

House Ways and Means members wrestled with that information a few weeks ago. Rep. Bill Johnson, R/D-Canaan, said the increase was a result of the Legislature “kicking the can down the road.”

Senate budget and finance leaders say they’ve been too busy to figure out how they will address the projected increase.

Sen. Dick Sears, who serves on Appropriations, stands by the idea of ensuring that all property taxpayers who file a homestead exemption benefit from the surplus. “Those are two separate issues,” Sears said. “When you have a surplus and how you spend it is one issue. How we pay for education is another issue and it needs to be examined.”

The Legislature needs to re-evaluate the property tax system, in his view, but lawmakers, he said, haven’t had the will to do so.

He says he wants the refund program “to go on indefinitely.”

“If you want to use it to pay down your property taxes or go to McDonald’s, it’s your money,” Sears said.

The governor told reporters at his weekly press conference on Wednesday that he supports the Senate’s surplus refund to property taxpayers.

“I do believe the Senate’s goal of sending hard-pressed taxpayers of Vermont more dollars so that we reduce property taxes on Vermonters, not second homeowners, not businesses but on hard-pressed Vermonters struggling to pay property taxes is a better solution than the House plan that scatters it across all property taxpayers, to some that don’t need it — second homeowners, businesses.”

House Speaker Shap Smith says he hasn’t seen the proposal yet.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 6:40 a.m. April 19.

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Gov. Peter Shumlin. VTD/Josh Larkin

Shumlin vs. Vermont realtors?

Gov. Peter Shumlin is opposing a bill backed by the Vermont Association of Realtors that would make homeowners agree to share private or community road maintenance costs as a condition of their mortgage if they used such a road to access their homes.

Since 2002, Fannie Mae has required that homeowners who don’t have an agreement with neighbors and who live in states without a statute on the books addressing maintenance costs be liable for those expenses. There is some contention between Shumlin and the realtors about what counts as statute, common law precedent or an actual law.

Christopher MacDonald, a lobbyist for the Vermont Association of Realtors, said that he had “heard several anecdotes from House members reporting constituents having a hard time with other neighbors helping out with this agreement. There’s always that one person who won’t agree because it’s not on statute.”

Shumlin believes there is no need for such a law because a common law precedent is already on the books, from a 1984 Vermont Supreme Court decision, Hubbard v. Bolieau.

“The governor does not understand why a law about a law is necessary. It seems that our existing Vermont law on the subject, Hubbard v. Bolieau, may meet Fannie Mae needs, but it just hasn’t been tried yet,” said Sarah London, counsel to the governor, in an email.

According to a letter from Fannie Mae to Shumlin on their policy, the mortgage lender “takes no position on whether such legislation should be adopted.”

Sen. Jeanette White, a member of Senate Judiciary – which will be taking testimony tomorrow – said that the disagreement might come from the fact that Fannie Mae had been sending mixed messages to each side.

“It seems what Fannie Mae has told the administration is that they haven’t had any cases in Vermont where they’ve had to not accept a mortgage or write a mortgage because of this lack of agreement but what they’ve told the real estate community and housing community is that they won’t underwrite the mortgage without the legislation. So I think it’s very confusing.”

However, White added that while road maintenance hasn’t held up private home mortgages, it has had an impact on public housing projects. Senate Judiciary received a letter from Sarah Carpenter, the executive director of the  Vermont Housing Finance Agency “saying they have had a number of housing projects that they’ve funded that have been held up because of this.”

“It would be nice to think as the governor says is that we should do it on a handshake, but when one person on the road refuses to do a handshake that becomes a problem,” White said.

~Erin Hale

VIDEO: Equity and race in Burlington schools

Racial disparities in Burlington schools turned out to be the main event at the first working session of the City Council since a new mayor took charge. Students of color are now 27 percent of the student body in public schools. According to a Task Force report, more black students drop out of school. They’re less likely to take SAT tests and more likely to be suspended. The report is to set the stage for a strategic plan to address diversity, equity and inclusion.

On April 16 School Superintendent Jeanne Collins joined Board Chair Keith Pillsbury and staff members to outline some of the efforts that led to the report and its recommendations. But not everyone is satisfied. Some teachers say they’ve been excluded, and several residents at the council forum pointed to ongoing racial disparities.

~Greg Guma

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Amy Ligay, executive director of the Children's Early Learning Center, stands with Sen. Peter Shumlin during the 2010 gubernatorial campaign.

Editor’s note: Jon Margolis is a political columnist for VTDigger.org.

It was a union gathering to support a bill, but any doubts about it being an unconventional union gathering ended when the first speaker, Catherine Ste. Marie, said, “This legislation is not about us.”

John L. Lewis never said any such thing. Neither did Walter Reuther or Cesar Chavez. Neither does AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka. Union leaders have not been shy about declaring that their goals were all about their workers, and that what they wanted, in the celebrated and pithy description of 19th century labor leader Sam Gompers, was “more.”

So do the members of Vermont Early Educators United. But there’s one major difference, which was clear despite Sen. Richard McCormack’s invocation of famous lines from old labor anthems. It was a “which side are you on,” state of affairs, McCormack said, and he was “stickin’ with the union.”

But a traditional union organizing drive pits the workers against their employers, often called “the bosses” in the songs the Bethel Democrat was quoting. In this organizing drive, the union members are the bosses.

They are the operators of independent child care centers. The collective bargaining rights they seek are not vis-a-vis their employers. They have no employers. Some of them have employees, and the bill before the Legislature would not give those employees bargaining rights vis-a-vis their bosses. Instead, the amendment proposed by McCormack would give the operators the right to bargain collectively with the state, which subsidizes most of the cost of day care for lower income parents.

It’s an unusual concept which has aroused some opposition. So far most of the opposition has been muted. Proponents, including Gov. Peter Shumlin, the Vermont Democratic Party, and several lawmakers have praised the bill (H. 97) that passed the House last year and that is almost identical to McCormack’s proposed amendment to another labor bill. With one exception, opposition tends to be whispered rather than proclaimed around the Statehouse.

One reason so many Democrats support the measure and so few oppose it – or, perhaps more accurately, why so few will say they oppose it – is that Vermont Early Educators United is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, which contributed both money and shoe-leather to Democratic campaigns in 2010.

According to Senate President Pro tem John Campbell, a Quechee Democrat, at a meeting in February, the AFT’s Vermont president, Ben Johnson, slid a piece of paper across a table to Campbell, on which was written the amount the AFT had provided Vermont Democrats during the last election.

Perhaps not a wise move. Campbell is the one exception, the only senior Democrat who never supported the collective bargaining bill, worrying that if the state starts subsidizing “someone who just receives a subsidy, hundreds of other groups could do the same thing.”

Campbell said he considered Johnson’s reminder of the union’s financial backing a form of “intimidation,” strengthening his determination to block the bill. But it might be hard for him to stop McCormack’s amendment from coming to the Senate floor. It appears germane to the workers compensation measure it would amend, and many members of the Democratic majority would no doubt find it difficult to vote against an amendment with strong backing from unions and from their own party organization.

Sen. John Campbell, file photo by Josh Larkin.

Another reason few legislators are vocal in their opposition to the legislation is that most of them would like to help the women (and very few men) who care for two-, three-, and four-year-olds while their parents are at work. The child care workers may be independent entrepreneurs, but they are hardly in the top 1 percent of income-earners. Most are probably not in the top 50 percent.

Anna Gebhardt, who describes herself as a registered, licensed, “early educator” in Burlington said the most she can charged is $210 a week per child, as much as $110 of which could be paid by the state. Child care providers can have as many as six children in their care during the school year, which would bring in $1,260 per week or about $45,000 for the school year. Providers could gross  as much as another $20,000 during the summer, assuming their facilities were full all summer.

But that assumes that the day care facility will be full for the entire school year. And that’s gross income. The care providers obviously have expenses. Gebphardt, for instance, has one employee. All the providers have to buy equipment and furnishings.

Like the other providers, Gebhardt said money was not as important is being “respected as a professional,” and being “treated as the true experts” in early childhood education.

But respect and income are related in this country, and despite their rhetoric (and t-shirt slogans) insisting that their chief concern is for the children, all of them acknowledge that a higher income is one of their goals.

They have rejected suggestions, including, reportedly, one from Campbell, that they accept more money in return for dropping the collective bargaining demand. No doubt this position is encouraged by the AFT, which wants more dues-paying members. But the child care providers are also serious about playing a role in forming early childhood education policy.

Ste. Marie, a home provider in North Troy, said that the state recently changed its bonus payments plan for providers like her who qualify for the STARS (Step Ahead Recognition System) designation, in which providers with superior credentials and performance get slightly higher subsidies. The state increased the bonus, she said, but gave the increase to the parents, not the providers.

“It was a wonderful thing to do but the wrong way to do it,” she said.

Asked what would be a better way, she said, “I don’t know, but I want (the provider community) to be part of the process for making those decisions.”

This raises the possibility that officials from the Department of Children and Families, the agency that arranges the subsidies to the providers, are not in favor of the collective bargaining bill. No such opposition has been voiced, but government officials rarely like to see any reduction in their ability to set the rules as they see fit.

Though collective bargaining between states and independent businesses is rare, it is not unheard of. Martha Braithwaite, an organizer for the union effort, said 14 states have similar systems of collective bargaining for child care providers.

The final outcome remains uncertain. Campbell has reportedly indicated to some that even if the amendment passes, he might refuse to name Senate members to a House-Senate conference committee to resolve the differences in the two measures. That could effectively kill the bill for this year.

If that happens, expect Early Educators United and the AFT to be back next year, when (if Statehouse scuttlebutt is to be credited) there might a different Senate President. The providers insisted at their demonstration Tuesday that they were determined, and they appear to be, inspired, perhaps, by one of the few old labor song lines Dick McCormack did not recite for them: “Don’t mourn. Organize!”

A child care provider’s possible earnings figure was corrected in this story on April 18 at 10:23 a.m.

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Unless Congress acts before the end of June the interest rates on federally subsidized education loans for thousands of college students will double, warns U.S. Rep. Peter Welch.

The current interest rate for Stafford loans, an assistance program named for Vermont’s late Senator Robert Stafford in honor of his work on higher education, is 3.4 percent. Welch calls the program “a legacy for every Vermonter and every American to be proud of.”

But the rate will double to 6.8 percent in less than three months unless legislation extends the lower rate, he said at a Monday press conference.

In 2006 Congress established the 3.4 percent rate for federally subsidized Stafford loans – but only for six years. Now the time is up, and unless the increase is blocked students and their families will face as much as $11,000 more for a 20-year Stafford loan, Welch said.

Meeting with reporters on his way to a flight at Burlington International Airport, the congressman called the situation “ground zero for the middle class” and asked, “Are our children of middle-class parent going to have a shot at an education they can afford, or are they going to graduate with a financial albatross around their neck?”

His immediate goal is to prevent the interest rate from doubling, calling the possibility “a hammer blow to aspirations of these kids.” But Welch added that the country faces a decision; whether “to renew our commitment to giving middle-class students — and low-income students – an opportunity to get into the middle class, or are we going to go with trickle-down economics?”

He nevertheless denied that the problem is partisan politics. “I don’t believe this is a partisan issue,” Welch insisted when questioned. “It’s caught up in the toxic budget politics. But we all have kids.”

College tuition rose 9 percent last year, Welch reported. He also mentioned a tough job market for graduates and entry level salaries that aren’t enough “to pay the debt service.” To provide concrete examples of the need to extend the low interest rate he introduced two Vermont college students and a parent with children who are expected to seek higher education some day.

College students Cody Paiva and Patrick Magnus called the prospect of increased interest rates frightening. “It scares me to think of all the student loans I have now and to stack other ones on top of that later on,” said Paiva, a UVM microbiology student who is paying his own way.

“I don’t think it’s fair for students who are already struggling financially to take out more money to pay back more interest than they need to, just to get a higher education,” he added.

For Ben Truman preparing two sons for college is an exciting prospect. “But then my wife and I look at each other and think: now we’ve got to pay for it.” The Trumans don’t want to saddle their kids with debt, but just refinanced a home. He called doubling the interest rate for a college loan “unfathomable,” especially since it is “almost twice as much as we are paying on our home loan.”

Students could also face a larger burden under the Republican budget plan developed by Rep. Paul Ryan. One of its primary targets is the Department of Education, specifically Pell Grants, an Obama administration job-training initiative and Stafford loans. The three programs help lower income students attend college.

Democrats say the GOP is targeting education for cuts and calls it a fairness issue. Republicans claim they simply want to control government spending and rising tuition rates. In a recent budget hearing Education Secretary Arne Duncan predicted that passage of the Republicans’ budget would “propel the educational success of this country backwards for years to come.”

The Ryan budget also calls for the interest rate on federally subsidized Stafford Loans to double. Under that plan the government would also no longer subsidize the interest low-income students accrue while in school.

If the Stafford loan rate increase takes effect the cost of borrowing money over a 10-year period will go from 18 percent to 38 percent with interest costs.

Welch said the current congressional deadline is a “solvable problem.” But he identified troubling long-term trends. The average college loan for a Vermont student has reached $30,000, and “we have the sixth largest indebtedness among students in the country.” Nationally, college loan debt has reach $860 billion, more than credit card debt and auto loans.

As a result he claims that a growing number of his congressional colleagues are asking, “If the government can borrow at 2 percent, should Stafford loans be charged at 6.8 percent? What’s the justification? Keep in mind that this is a lending program.”

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