Roadblocks to student debt relief
By Bonnie Weiler-Sagraves
I’ve been a teacher for nearly 30 years, and when I look back on my first years in the profession I have to smile. I am the only one in my family to go to college, so becoming a teacher was a real accomplishment. I was newly married when I started teaching — back in 1988 — an “instant mother” of two young children, and so excited to be in a field where I could mold young minds and make a difference.
However, I did not realize that my career choice would be a detriment to my financial independence.
Like most teachers, my pay was so low that my family could hardly pay our bills. Even though I worked a second job for most of my career, the amount my student loan servicing agency said I was able to pay back on my loans barely covered the interest — so my debt just kept growing.
I originally borrowed $10,000 for my bachelor’s degree. My master’s degree cost me $28,000. Even after paying on my loans all these years, my current balance is $61,942.42 and climbing. And I’ve participated in practically every loan forgiveness program possible.
FIRST
I worked at a Title I school serving children in communities with low socioeconomic status. That should have qualified me for student loan relief, but by the time I learned of the Title I loan forgiveness program, it was too late to qualify.
NEXT
I moved from elementary to middle school so I’d qualify for the loan forgiveness available to teachers who work in a “critical shortage” area, where students needed more teachers. I worked hard to get my science certification and started teaching science. However, when I submitted the paperwork for loan forgiveness, I was told my loans didn’t qualify because they originated before 1997.
THEN
Navient, my loan servicing company, told me about a program that would forgive my loans in 10 years. But they lied. Instead of loan forgiveness, the advice they gave extended the life of my loan, racking up even more debt. To qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program— which is in fact designed to forgive student loans after 10 years of on-time payments — I switched to FedLoan Servicing, but I only knew to do this because my union advised me on the details.
NEXT UP
I spent three years and $2,500 obtaining my National Board Certification, the most respected qualification a teacher can earn. I thought that was the answer to my prayers. The government promised that I would receive $6,000 a year for 10 years if I got board certified — an amount that would pay off all my student loans with extra to spare. However, due to the government changing their promise, the first year I only received $2,500, the second year $1,250, and nothing after that.
STILL TRYING
My next effort was to get my master’s degree. I was told that the TEACH grant would pay off my master’s degree loans if I specialized in reading. With the small boost in my pay, I would be able to pay more toward my undergraduate loans. But when I finished the program, I was told that because I finished the program in two years instead of four, only $4,000 of my $28,000 debt would be forgiven — and then only if I taught in a critical shortage area for four years. Again, I was let down by the system and promises that were made and then broken.
TODAY
I am enrolled in Public Service Loan Forgiveness, but even though the program started in 2007 (and I began paying off my loans in 1988), I have at least six more years before I will complete the program. I will be 60 years old this year, and I am not sure I have it in me to work another 6 1/2 years of barely scraping by to get my student loans forgiven.
My husband died two years ago, and I had to sell my home because I could no longer make the payments on my own. Once my student loan payments resume, they’ll be more than $220 a month based on my household size and my gross income.
I will be 60 years old this year and I am not sure I have it in me to work another 6.5 years of barely scraping by to get my student loans forgiven.
After deductions, my net income is only $33,468.24. Out of that, I must pay off my late husband’s credit card debt, car payments, insurance and gas, rent, electricity, home insurance and taxes, cable and internet, groceries, out of pocket health care expenses and more. I also have monthly payments for my funeral expenses, so my children won’t be left with those — as I was for my parents and husband.
I have worked hard my entire life, and I should not be penalized for a broken student loan system that is beyond my control. I did everything right. I have never been one to ask for a handout, but promises are promises. I am hoping there is some way to change the system so that public school teachers like me, with years of service to their communities, can get some relief.
Bonnie Weiler-Sagraves, NBCT, M.Ed, is a national board-certified teacher at Atlantic High School in Port Orange, Fla., and a member of Volusia United Educators and the Florida Education Association.
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