I believe that all teachers, regardless of whether they work at a povery school or any other school should qualify for any Teacher Forgiveness program. Teachers are paid by the county they work in so if a teacher works at a Title I school or a “wealthy” school they receive the same amount of money, regardless of what school they are employeed by. This also includes any subject area they teach. A math teacher is not paid anymore than a social studies teacher, so why should a math teacher get paid more? Just because it is a “High Need Area?” Teachers of any and all subjects are in need. A teacher is a teacher no matter what subject they teach. What about elementary teachers, they teach all subjects, should they get more more or a forgiveness because they teach all subjects? Teacher are so grossly under paid that it is impossible for them to make a living and pay for students loans. Student loan lenders threaten to pull a teachers license if they do not pay their loans, so here is the Federal Governments way of saying you are still not wanted. We talk a talk but do not walk the walk. If a teacher has $100,000.00 loan, their payment is over $1300.00 per month, and considering the average teacher pay, say for instance in Florida is not even $40,000.00 a year after 10 years of teaching. That is 50% of their monthly salary. They may qualify for the 20% of their gross income but they have to at least make the interest which is the $1300.00, so the 20% rule does not apply to them. This county doess not want good quality teachers, they simply want an excuse to get more money for themselves.If this is not true, why is education the first to get cut during budget cuts?

Teresa MacInnes

You don’t think that there should be some incentives to fill high-need positions that are hard to fill (like high school math or science)? If fewer people are graduating with such degrees and fewer people are capable of teaching those positions, it’s ridiculous not to give them incentive pay.

I teach in a low income school. I’m a reading specialist and a first grade teacher. Nearly all our students are second language learners. This is my 14th year teaching there and my sixteenth in the field. I’m still paying off my student loan.
I’ve sought loan forgiveness and there is just nothing for California teachers who borrowed before 1998.

It’s so unfair–there are programs for new teachers, and teachers who borrowed after 98. Mine was a Stafford loan, they sold it to Sallie Mae, and they have such horrible customer practices–They make up fees and steal your money, and lie to you. They read from scripts and try to trick you into doing things that will cost even more money. I’m a very good teacher and I feel very overlooked while people who have walked away from the field have had there loans paid off for them.

There should be a way that a California teacher, especially one who has been dedicated to the field, should have her student loans forgiven.

This is very, very unfair!!!

Wow, my quesiton to Teresa is why would a teacher have $100,000 in student loans? That seems quite extreme tuition unless they are going to an Ivy League school or they had continued through a doctorate degree. Are all of the loans in this example for a teaching degree? Or are some of those loans for prior degrees? The reason I ask is that I am in an M.Ed. program at U of A and I will graduate next May I will only have about $35,000 in student loans. I was just wondering because that seems like a rediculous amount of money to pay to obtain just a Bachelor’s degree in teaching. It seems more like the amount of money an attorney would pay for law school.

How does this new studnet loan law just signed by President Obama help teachers who have loans before and during 1998 and if so, when do it go into effect and what are my steps to start the forgiven process?

Kenny Rose