教育公平与学生权利

Cheryl graduated from Temple Law in 2005. Good school. Not Ivy League, not predatory for-profit. Just a decent state law school. Borrowed $79,000. Made every payment for 19 years. Never missed once. Income-driven repayment plan. Today's balance: $329,000. The interest capitalized while she deferred during the bar exam. Then capitalized again during financial hardship. Then daily compound interest on the capitalized interest. She'll die owing more than a million. This is normal. This is 45 million Americans.

August 2024. Supreme Court kills Biden's forgiveness plan. October 2024. SAVE plan blocked by Eighth Circuit. February 2025. Department of Education announces "return to standard repayment." Translation: Your payment just tripled. That income-driven plan keeping you afloat? Gone. The pause that let you breathe? Ancient history. Default rates about to explode like it's 2008 again. Except this time, you can't discharge it in bankruptcy. Death or disability. Those are your exits.

The Parent PLUS Loan Trap That Destroyed Retirement

Gloria wanted her son to be first in the family with a degree. Howard University. Pride of the family. Parent PLUS loans: $126,000. Interest rate: 8.5%. Her teacher pension: $3,200/month. Loan payment: $1,400/month. She's 67. Still working. Will work until she dies. Son got the degree. Works at Target. Not his fault—computer science degree, 200 applications, four interviews, zero offers. Both drowning. This is the American Dream's fine print.

Private loans are worse. Sallie Mae (now Navient) created SLM Private Education Loan Trust. Bundled student loans like mortgage-backed securities. Remember 2008? Same playbook, different asset. Variable rates starting at 3%, now 17%. Can't refinance—credit destroyed by the payments. Can't default—they'll garnish wages, tax refunds, Social Security. One missed payment triggers universal default. All your rates spike. Credit cards, car loans, everything. The spiral is designed. Working perfectly.

The Special Education Funding Crime

Federal law requires schools to provide special education. Federal government promised to fund 40%. Actual funding: 13%. Schools must provide services anyway. Where's the money come from? Regular education budget. Music programs cut. Art eliminated. Libraries closed. Special needs kids get blamed for underfunding they didn't cause. Parents fighting parents while Congress laughs.

Marcus has autism. IEP requires speech therapy, occupational therapy, one-on-one aide. School offers 30 minutes weekly group speech. No OT. Shared aide with four other kids. Parents hire lawyer. Due process hearing. School's attorney costs: $87,000. Marcus's services would've cost: $22,000. School spent 4x fighting what law requires. This is every special needs family's reality.

Community colleges are dying. Enrollment down 37% since 2020. Not because people don't need education. Because they can't afford to not work. One semester at community college: $3,800. Lost wages for one semester: $12,000. Total cost: $15,800. For an associate degree that might get you $2/hour more. If you can find a job. If the credits transfer. If the program still exists when you graduate.

The PhD scam deserves its own investigation. Seven years average completion. Stipend: $23,000/year in cities where rent is $24,000. Teaching four courses while writing dissertation. Graduate to find 70% of positions are adjunct. Adjunct pay: $3,500 per course. Teach six courses at three colleges to make $42,000. No benefits. No office. No future. Universities posting "must have PhD" for $38,000 administrative jobs. The credential inflation makes everyone poorer except administrators. University president salaries average $600,000. Some make millions. While adjuncts qualify for food stamps.

Education was supposed to be the equalizer. Instead, it became the debt trap, the segregation tool, the profit center. Student loans turned into intergenerational poverty. Charter schools resegregated faster than Jim Crow. For-profit colleges stole futures and left bills. The solution exists: Free community college. Actual special education funding. Debt cancellation. But that would hurt the loan servicers' stock price. And their lobbyists write the laws. So Cheryl keeps paying on her $329,000 balance. Gloria works through retirement. Marcus doesn't get services. And somewhere, a university president gets another raise for "navigating challenging times." The house always wins. The house of education is a casino. And you're not allowed to leave the table.