Democrats want taxpayers to pay for bad student loans
Student debt
Re “Big student debt with no job? Trump blocks California’s fight on predatory colleges” (sacbee.com, July 14): High-risk loans are made available to borrowers who are not credit-worthy. The students themselves, along with parents in some cases, decide which colleges to give this money to. Some private technical colleges aggressively attract students by promising they will get jobs if they attend and graduate. Sometimes this promise is not realized and some students do not get the job they hoped for and are stuck with the loans to repay. So now Democrats want a law to force taxpayers have to pay back the student loans. They call it “loan forgiveness,” like all that has to be done is to tear up a loan document. But the money will comes from you and me. I do not want my tax money used to pay someone's student loans. I have my own kids and grandkids to pay for.
Steven McKinney, Orangevale
Twitter presidency
I am weary of President Donald Trump’s barrage on the media. The vast majority of reporters and journalists are dedicated and professional. The administration would prefer that we receive news on Twitter. Make America great again? We're the laughing stock of the world. When were we not great? Therein lies the difficulty. If Trump leaves office, we will be stuck with Mike Pence as our new leader. We need a new election.
Todd Mead, Chico
Teacher shortage
Re “Sacramento district can’t find enough teachers, so it turns to Philippines for help” (sacbee.com, July 16): City school officials may claim they are struggling to fill positions locally, but there are local classified and support staff also struggling for a chance at advancement. Why not give para-educators the support that is being given overseas? Most district employees have the experience to fill these teaching vacancies. Clearly, if money can be spent on hotel accommodations for new teachers settling into the country, why can't there be money available for current district employee grants? Let’s give our local community the same support that is being given elsewhere.
Raghni Reddy, Citrus Heights
Visa misuse
The J-1 visa is for cultural exchange purposes, not filling employment vacancies. The Sacramento school district is participating in a program that entices foreign teachers via an agency that charges the foreign worker thousands of dollars, with the promise of high wages. Unlike the H-1b visa, the J-1 will cannot lead to permanent residency or citizenship. The teacher described in the article states his intention is to save up to open a catering business back home. Even if the visa-holder intends to base his catering business on public school cafeteria fare, this is not the purpose of the J-1. The Sacramento City Teachers Association knows the truth: this is solely a money issue. Foreign teachers won't get retirement benefits, lifetime health insurance or other perks that citizen-employees enjoy. Moreover, the recruitment cost is subsidized by the for-profit agency, at the expense of the temporary workers. The school district should be ashamed.
Sophie Potts, El Paso
EXTRA LETTERS ONLINE
Find them at:
sacbee.com/letters-to-the-editor
HOW TO SUBMIT
Online form (preferred):
www.sacbee.com/submit-letter
Other: Letters, P.O. Box 15779,
Sacramento, CA 95852
150-word limit. Include name, address and phone number. Letters may be edited for clarity, brevity and content.
This story was originally published July 17, 2017 at 12:12 PM with the headline "Democrats want taxpayers to pay for bad student loans."