Education Matters sent word out to movement supporters and leaders about Kim Clark's August 12th 2009 article, "Is Student Debt Really a Problem?" This article details a recent report from the College Board. In the report, the findings conclude that student debt really isn't as troubling as people would think.
A particular comment sparked outrage (understandably), and a fury of posts, which continue to be added today (SATURDAY), ensued. First off, who wrote this report and what was the remark that caused all this justified anger?
a) The report was drafted by Patricia Steele and Sandra Baum.
b) Steele claimed that the College Board put out the report in order to "take down a notch the sensationalist stories about students drowning in debt [my emphasis]."
The College Board is described by Klark as an "organization made up of colleges." In truth, there's more behind their involvement with this sticky, nasty lending industry, but I'll save that treat for later.
To describe the obvious systemic problems that the media has finally begun to discuss as "sensationalist" was a poor choice of words for Ms. Steele.
Here's what I wrote to them in an email on August 13, 2009:
Dear Authors of Recent (Highly Problematic) Study Regarding Student Loan Debt:
I am a blogger and my blog is about education. I am getting a lot of traffic and also am a supporter and volunteer for Robert Applebaum's Forgive Student Loan Movement. You recently stated that you published your report about student loan debt to "take down a notch the sensationalist stories about students drowning in debt." (You said that, Patricia). I find that remark to be offensive at best and condescending at worst. Your findings are highly questionable and do not take many factors into account. The stories I read on a daily basis about the crushing debt that middle class families have acquired as a result of sky-rocketing college tuition costs are heartbreaking. I am glad I'm on the right side of this argument. It is clear that lenders and higher education institutions are very nervous. They're actually responding. That means this movement is growing and proving to be more than just an irritating itch! We are talking about working- and middle-class families who are trying to better themselves, and you say something like that? Have you even bothered to read their stories? As social scientists who do an excellent job of crunching numbers for the College Board, I can only presume you lack the ability to synthesize these accounts. Thankfully we have historians who can tell richer stories and don't just look at the "numbers." That's a bad way to understand the complexity of modern society. I will be blogging about this piece soon. I will not be the only you will hear from.
Respectfully, Ms. C. Cryn Johannsen
This email got the authors' attention. Patricia was the first to write to me. Most of these emails were essentially "public," because I had cc-ed Robert Applebaum, Alan Collinge (if you're not familiar with his name, Collinge is the founder of Student Loan Justice, and others). Patricia and I argued back and forth for an entire afternoon. I understand why we weren't making much headway. It was cordial but heated. I appreciated that response from Patricia. She reacted quite strongly at first, but then she cooled down. Later that evening I received an email from Sandra Baum. To say it was condescending is putting it lightly.
On several occasions I let them know that I would be writing about our exchange and including their remarks (the ones that were public). But after re-reading the correspondence, and what I've recently learned about the College Board, I've decided that an exercise in providing my readers with a detail by detail account of our conversation is superfluous.
After my final exchanges with Sandra and Patricia, I investigated the College Board and its past. Suffice to say, their relationship with lenders is MUCH bigger than I had originally understood. I realized that the debate was disingenuous . . .
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