The Largest Teacher Union Reaches ‘Landmark Settlement’ in Student Loan Forgiveness Lawsuit
One of the country’s largest teacher unions has reached a “landmark settlement” with the Department of Education in the case Weingarten v. Devos over the federal government’s failure to carry out the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, according to a press release.
The lawsuit was filed in July 2019 against then-Secretary of Education Betsy Devos on behalf of eight teachers previously denied PSLF, who acted as plaintiffs in the case. In addition to providing nearly $400,000 in debt relief for the plaintiffs, the agreement will implement concrete guidance on how the Education Department must improve the PSLF program going forward.
In theory, the PSLF program — a bipartisan initiative — was created to reward public servants by discharging the remaining balance of their federal student debt after they made payments on their loans for 10 years. But in practice, just 2% of applications have been approved since the program began. A borrower could be denied PSLF simply because they don’t have the right student loans or if they haven’t filled out the employment certification form through a qualifying employer.
