GET OUT YOUR NATIONAL BADGE OF HONOR

Faith SandlerAdvocacy and Policy, Democracy, Education, Financial Aid, Words of Faith

URGENT ACTION NEEDED:

distressed American flag

If you are reading this blog, chances are good that you are committed to educational equity and to the principles of democracy. Your action is needed now.

First, a refresher in higher education history. In 1963, President Lyndon Johnson spoke of the importance of the Higher Education Facilities Act, legislation which created and enabled each of the major federal financial aid programs.

This legislation is dramatic, and it is concrete evidence of a renewed and continuing national commitment to education as the key to our Nation’s social and technological and economic and moral progress. It will help meet the demands of our economy for more skilled personnel; it will enable many more of our young people to cope with the explosion of new knowledge and to contribute effectively in a world of intellectual, political, and economic complexity…

…It clearly signals this Nation’s determination to give all of our youth the education they deserve, and as long as we have a government, that government is going to take its stand to battle the ancient enemies of mankind, illiteracy and poverty and disease, and in that battle each of you are soldiers who wear the badge of honor.”

Today, The White House announced a 2018 budget proposal that dismantles or disables many of the key programs created and sustained by the United States for 54 years, and counting.  It is time to do battle to protect and preserve those programs, and (in the words of President Johnson), “each of you are soldiers who wear the badge of honor.”

Contact your United States Senator or Representative and express your views directly.  The viability and future of our students is at stake, and as they go, so goes our nation.

For specific and reliable reference to the proposed cuts and implications, please read the following blog post from our colleagues at National College Access Network. Herein you will find more than enough material to spark your thinking.

http://www.collegeaccess.org/BlogItem?dg=2c02c1db-6c5a-4738-a8fc-c23111d58511

– Faith Sandler