Dear Federal Loan Department: What is public service?

Dignity. Gratitude. Public Loan Forgiveness Program thanked me for my service today July 10, 2023. They didn’t mention the 45 extra payments I made, but I don’t care. I am grateful.

PS. 6 months later I recieved a letter saying the opposite of this. My loan is still unpaid even though I have fulfilled the requirements of Obama’s deal.

4/11/2024

Dear President Biden

The Federal Loan Department has not counted my payments correctly.

In July, 2023, I received the letter of congratulations and a refund from Mohela. In fact, not only had I fulfilled the 120 months, but I had overpaid. They issued a refund for the overpayment.

Recently, I received a letter from the Federal Loan Department saying that they were very sorry but I have not yet fulfilled the requirements.

Please consider actively helping me with this issue.

Here is the issue:

Overall, I have been actively teaching as a Washington Certified ELA instructor for 26 years and I am 60 years old and single. I have fulfilled the requirements of the 2008 Obama Deal which was 120 payments while in public service.

I worked for 20 years in brick and mortar, then was unable to continue, due to health concerns. Fortunately, I had made a deal with Obama in 2008 and by 2018 I had fully paid this off, but my loan had changed hands and somehow they lost track of me. I would like to repeat this: I paid this off.

Since 2018, I have taught full-time for 6 years online, for a company called Imagine Learning. Online, I am paid 1/2 as much and I work with the same public school kids, and more. In this job, I am required to keep my teaching certification updated, and in fact I have completed the requirements to be a certified teacher in CA as well, which has meant 6 or 7 tests, including an ELL component. I am serving more students than ever. In fact I usually have about 260 students at one time, with no summer break. I'm fine with all that because it allows me to work with students from home.

To repeat, I am 60 years old now and have retired from the TRS2 system. This helps me survive but I am not able to walk back into the brick and mortar setting, much less work there.

Please help me with this. Thank you so much.

Cheryl Ray

304 W. 5th Ave # 104

Ellensburg, WA 98926

Please also consider this letter I wrote, addressing the issue of not considering online teaching as public service.

Online Teachers are public servants, too!

I am writing to advocate for the inclusion of full-time online teachers in the approved public servant category for the Federal Loan Forgiveness Program.

As the COVID-19 pandemic brought about significant disruptions to traditional education, online teachers emerged as frontline educators, dedicating their time and expertise to ensure students continue to receive quality education despite the challenging circumstances.

The pandemic has compelled educational institutions across the nation to shift their teaching methods to online platforms to ensure the safety of students and educators alike. As a result, online teachers have become an integral part of the educational system, shouldering the responsibility of imparting knowledge, providing support, and maintaining a positive learning environment for students. Their commitment and dedication deserve recognition and consideration for the Federal Loan Forgiveness Program.

Here are several compelling reasons to support the inclusion of full-time online teachers in the approved public servant category:

1. Equivalent Service: Online teachers demonstrate the same level of commitment, professionalism, and impact on students' lives as their counterparts in traditional brick-and-mortar classrooms. Their work is instrumental in shaping the educational landscape and ensuring continuity of learning during these unprecedented times.

2. Meeting Critical Needs: The inclusion of full-time online teachers in the approved public servant category would help address the critical need for qualified educators in an evolving educational landscape. By acknowledging their contributions, we can attract and retain talented individuals who possess the skills necessary to excel in online teaching.

3. Educational Equality: Online teaching has opened doors to education for students who face barriers to attending physical schools, including those with disabilities, health issues, geographical limitations, or other personal circumstances. Recognizing full-time online teachers as eligible for loan forgiveness would support efforts to provide equal educational opportunities to all students, regardless of their location or circumstances.

4. Financial Hardships: Full-time online teachers often face financial burdens associated with pursuing higher education and professional development opportunities to improve their teaching skills. The inclusion of online teachers in the Federal Loan Forgiveness Program would alleviate some of these financial burdens, ensuring that talented educators are not deterred from pursuing careers in online education.

5. Public Service Alignment: Online teachers contribute to the public good by fostering knowledge, critical thinking, and personal growth among students. Their dedication to educating the next generation aligns with the goals and values of the Federal Loan Forgiveness Program, which seeks to incentivize careers in public service.

I acknowledge that online teachers are not responsible for curriculum development and face fewer behavior management challenges than their counterparts in brick and mortar schools. However, it is important to recognize that this does not diminish the significance of their role. Online teachers play a vital part in adapting educational materials for virtual platforms, creating engaging digital content, facilitating online discussions, and providing personalized support to students in a virtual environment. Their expertise in leveraging technology and delivering effective online instruction is invaluable, and their contributions deserve to be acknowledged within the Federal Loan Forgiveness Program.

Moreover, considering the financial implications of student loan debt, it is worth noting that many private companies involved in online education have been thriving during the pandemic and generating substantial profits. These companies have the potential to support loan repayment initiatives for their online teachers, given the financial resources they have at their disposal. By partnering with private entities and urging their involvement in alleviating the burden of student loan debt, we can create a mutually beneficial arrangement that benefits both online teachers and the companies that have benefited from the surge in demand for online education.

Considering these reasons, I kindly request your careful consideration of including full-time online teachers in the approved public servant category for the Federal Loan Forgiveness Program. By extending loan forgiveness eligibility to these educators, we not only recognize their invaluable contributions but also promote the advancement of online education as a crucial pillar of our educational system.

Please feel free to reach out to me if you require any additional information or if there is any way I can further support this cause.

Yours sincerely,

Cheryl L. Ray

Meet DAMMIT CHERYL, the rock that perfectly captures my exasperation. It reflects the moment I discovered that despite completing 165 out of the required 120 on time loan payments for Obama's Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (which I initiated back in 2008), my years of teaching online are not considered public service so I am ineligible for the much-needed relief.

I’ll have to find another rock to show how I feel after I ask them to reconsider.

Waiting for no one

I will always remember the 2023 school year as the year technology gave birth to AI. Sure, it has been present and growing and expanding for decades, but this is the year it was born into everyday life.

I am an English Language Arts teacher and have been for 27 years now, with the past six years as a virtual instructor full-time. As you would imagine, I have daily interactions with students who turn in essays. I’ll leave it there for now and come back to it.

To be clear, this is not meant as some kind of warning about AI. George Orwell did that in his novel, 1984. It might be worth your time to read that short novel if you haven’t. Also, I in no way deny that AI has made my life feel smoother. Although I had no clue at the time, I now know that AI that started intercepting spam phone calls and texts for me. We have all felt that satisfaction that comes with our music choices being personalized. And, every time we hit ‘agree, agree, agree’, to get into a website or app, we put our stamp of approval on AI. We are saying: sure take my information, for what it’s worth. (At least that’s ONE thing we are agreeing to in that case.) Ai is nothing new. It is a tool. But it has evolved into a bit of a nemesis because it is a tool that mimics how to be human.

So what is the deal? Humans have to explore their boundaries. That’s what makes us human. Very few of us would be satisfied to say “Sure we can find a technology to eradicate cancer, but who wants that?” We are human, we expand before we deteriorate, whether we like it or not (I’m referring to the physics law of entropy here). I think humans have a biological secret: We grow, and we grow by creating tools. Ai is a tool.

At the moment, I seem to have a series of sentences, lacking fluency and grace, listing my thoughts about ai. But because I feel I have something to say about the topic, I will be back and I will apply sandpaper and continue crafting, the old fashioned way. I won’t ask AI to write this for me because AI has a very clear voice, and I don’t like it at all.

In my mind, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has a face, and this is it. While the nose here is mangled and the face is kind of hairy, this rock expresses AI’s personality in my mind. It’s The Joker, in early phases of finding his voice. I will have more to say on this, soon.

On top of that, there are a few songs from the seventies that portend the coming of ai. If you don’t love AC/DC, you might want to mute your sound. You can read the captions that describe AI.

AC /DC song Who Made Who?

To me, this song, “Don’t Stop Me Now”, Queen captured the power with which AI hurls forward. I believe that whether it becomes sentient is not the main danger. As Trump proved, much chaos can commence without sentience.

The Court Jester

A hot beverage,

a spiral notebook, unused,

freshly cut grass,

new socks, still in the bag,

a book the librarian is going to share,

a newborn baby,

picking out colors for a new house,

the canvas, prepared,

White shorts,

can you feel that?

It’s hope, but it is joking

because

Hope is, I think, a court jester.

CLR 2022