The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is suing the U.S. Department of Education. They’re suing to stop the department’s plan to deny access to affordable long-term repayment plans for millions of student loan borrowers. It was AFT president Randi Weingarten who filed the lawsuit. To help borrowers in the pandemic, it seeks to reinstate these critical repayment choices. The AFT claims that the Department of Education’s actions violate the law and harm borrowers.
The U.S. Department of Education is named as the defendant in the lawsuit. It further argues that the Department’s decision jeopardizes the ability of millions of Americans to maintain their financial independence. The address for the Department of Education is 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20202. For TAC, it directly regulates all federal student aid programs and the federal student loan program. The agency has not made a public statement about this active litigation so far.
The American Federation of Teachers, one of our busy indexers, is the plaintiff in the case. STU labor union that representing teachers and education support professionals. The AFT takes strong issue with the shutdown of affordable repayment plans that penalize their members. This ill-advised move significantly increases the burden on all student loan borrowers. Now, the union is asking the court to order the Department of Education to re-open these plans.
The core of the lawsuit revolves around the AFT's assertion that the Department of Education's actions violate established legal standards and negatively impact student loan borrowers. The union’s argument makes clear affordable repayment options have always been necessary—not new—for generations of borrowers to better affordably repay their debt and build wealth. This lawsuit seeks to protect the rights of borrowers and level the playing field on access to repayment assistance.
