***VIDEO FILE INCLUDED*** Rep. Susie Lee, Public School Teacher Expose Blatant Dishonesty Permeating Federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program

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Washington, D.C. – Member of the House Committee on Education and Labor U.S. Rep. Susie Lee (Nev.-03) questioned Ms. Kelly Finlaw, a New York City public school teacher, who is one of thousands of public servants misled into believing their student loans would be forgiven under the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. After a decade of payments under the PSLF program, Ms. Finlaw was told that her payments were insufficient, and she would need to pay off her loans for an additional decade to qualify for loan forgiveness.

Below is an exchange between Rep. Lee and Ms. Finlaw that highlights the blatant dishonesty permeating the PSLF program:

Rep. Lee - "You believed this was a government program, operating in good faith. At any time did you feel you were lied to or misled?"

Ms. Finlaw - "I had no reason to believe this wasn't going to work. I really believed that the couple thousand dollars that had been applied to my loans would be forgiven because they had been so far. Yes, I was lied to several times. Directly lied to. In fact, I was told to do things that in the end put me in a worse place."

BACKGROUND: Congress created the original Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program in 2007 to incentivize students to enter public service jobs—particularly in health care and education—in return for loan forgiveness after 10 years of on-time payments. Tens of thousands of dedicated public servants, including our nation's teachers, first responders, service members, and many others, are counting on the loan forgiveness Congress promised.

In 2018, Congress provided the Education Department $700 million to address issues with PSLF and make it easier for borrowers to receive loan forgiveness. One year later, only one percent of applicants have been approved.

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