Joyce, Hatch, Warner, and Kilmer Urge Improvement for Loan Assistance Programs for Teachers

Press Release

Representative David Joyce, R-Ohio, along with Representative Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Senator Mark Warner, D-Va., sent a letter to the Department of Education recommending measures to simplify the loan forgiveness process for teachers. The letter cited department statistics indicating that the United States is in dire need of more teachers, and an effort to improve the loan assistance programs could potentially attract more talented educators to our highest-needs classrooms.

"Providing a high quality education for our nation's children must be a top priority, and that begins with high quality teachers," Rep. Joyce said. "We have a real problem here. In order to solve it, it only makes sense that we make it easier and more enticing for our best and brightest to not just enter our classrooms, but also stay there."

"My folks were both public school teachers and they taught me to value the doors that a good education can open," said Kilmer. "It's why we should encourage newly minted teachers to start their career in the schools where they are needed most. But programs to help ease the burden of teacher loans all too often don't accomplish that goal. Instead, they end up leaving many qualified candidates with costlier loan payments and more debt. It's time to create a more effective approach that gives teachers the support they need to make a difference in the lives of kids everywhere."

"Our top priority in improving education outcomes in the United States should be refining the incentives that attract talented teachers to the classroom, and help them to stay," Senator Hatch said. "Our nation needs more high-quality teachers in our low-income schools. Making teacher loan assistance programs more efficient is a commonsense investment in our future that will pay off for generations."

"Every child, regardless of their background, deserves a fair shot at a quality education that will help them succeed," said Sen. Warner. "We have to make sure that quality teachers are getting the resources and support they need to keep them in the classrooms where they are needed most. Unfortunately, our current federal grant and loan forgiveness programs for teachers are a jumble of uncoordinated programs that are often too difficult to navigate. We have a responsibility to our teachers, students, families and taxpayers to do better."