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Hillary Clinton Explains Her Education Platform
In an op-ed for The Root, the Democratic presidential
nominee discusses her educational plans and how they’ll
benefit black Americans.
This election may be the most important of our lifetimes. It
will determine whether we build on President Obama’s legacy
to create a more just and equitable society, or let all the
progress we’ve made get ripped away.
Every issue we care about is effectively on the ballot. That
includes education. I believe it’s essential to support
HBCUs, which graduate almost half of the black teachers in
America and have helped millions of African Americans gain a
foothold in the middle class.
By contrast, Donald Trump has no plan to support HBCUs. His
view of black communities is both ignorant and insulting. He
says – to largely white audiences – that African-American
neighborhoods are plagued by poverty, and that people get
shot just walking down the street. He claims black
communities suffer from “horrible education.” He asks them,
“What the hell do you have to lose?”
The answer is: A lot.
For starters, Trump misses so much about what makes the
African-American community strong and vibrant. If he ever
bothered to actually look for it, he might see the pride
that black parents feel watching their kids thrive in
school, the widespread success of black-owned businesses, or
the triumphs of black leaders in every field.
HBCUs are a big part of this story. Over the course of the
campaign, I’ve visited nearly a dozen historically black
schools, not just to show my support for their mission, but
to shine a spotlight on many of their talented and inspiring
students. In a Clinton-Kaine administration, we’d ensure
that HBCUs can continue to remain a pivotal force in our
society – not just for African-American students, but for
all the students that attend them.
This work has never been more important. Over the past few
decades, more Americans of every background have been
enrolling in higher education. But African Americans still
face unique barriers when it comes to graduating college.
Black students are still less likely to graduate within six
years, and they are significantly more likely to need to
work part-time while in school. So we need to do more to
close the gaps and give all our kids the best chance to
succeed.
Here’s how we’ll do it.
First, we’ll make college much more affordable – and in many
cases, we’ll make it completely tuition-free. I worked with
Sen. Bernie Sanders on a plan to make sure every student
whose family makes under $125,000 can attend an in-state
public university tuition-free, and all students can attend
community college tuition-free. And we’ll work toward making
sure students attending public HBCUs never have to take out
loans to cover the other costs of obtaining a degree, like
textbooks, activities and living expenses.
Second, we’ll help graduates who are already weighed down
with student debt. Since black students at any given
institution are more likely to need to take out loans and
graduate with more student debt than their white peers, this
issue disproportionately impacts the African-American
community. Our plan will let them refinance that debt,
ensuring they never have to pay more than 10 percent of
their income. And if they work in a public field for 10
years, we’ll simplify the process for forgiving those loans
altogether.
Finally, we’ll make a historic $25 billion investment across
all HBCUs – public and private – so each one has the funding
to keep creating opportunities and providing more support
services for underserved students. That includes expanding
on-campus child care and creating more scholarships for
students who are also parents to make it easier for them to
obtain a degree.
This has to be more than just a public-policy issue. It has
to be a voting issue.
I began my career at the Children’s Defense Fund, working to
help children with disabilities get the education they
deserved and going undercover to expose segregated academies
in the South. I worked for a remarkable woman named Marian
Wright Edelman, who said that “education is a precondition
to survival in America.”
Today, those words ring as true as ever. We ought to make it
a national priority to provide a quality education to every
single American – no matter what they look like, where they
live or how much money they have. That’s the only way to
make sure the next generation not only survives, but
thrives, in the global economy.
So, on Nov. 8, I hope you’ll stand with us. Vote for the
kind of country we want to be. And remember that all it
takes is a small mark on a ballot to make a huge mark on our
nation’s future.
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