Today, over 43 million people in the U.S. are collectively crushed under more than $1.8 trillion in student loan debt.
This fall, the A-Team led our first ever deep canvassing efforts, engaging voters across the Massachusetts 7th to talk about student debt cancellation, discussing how the current crisis impacts our communities, and introducing new perspectives through shared stories and lived experiences.
Between October and December, the A-Team and our incredible volunteers hosted 16 deep canvass trainings and phone banks, and spoke with more than 100 people across the district to advance our grassroots movement to cancel student debt. This is what we learned:
A mother from Dorchester graduated 30 years ago and is still paying for her own debt, plus her 34-year-old daughter’s debt;
A nurse from Hyde Park can barely afford to pay rent and buy groceries because of her student loan payments;
A single mother from Randolph, who worked two jobs to put her daughter through college, now owes $180,000 in student loans;
A young woman from Roslindale just finished paying off her debt and still believes we must cancel student debt for those still struggling;
And so much more from people whose lived experiences continue to affirm what we know to be true: That the student debt crisis is multiracial and multigenerational. That it is a racial, gender, and economic justice issue. What’s more, folks who didn't initially support canceling student debt shifted their perspectives after learning more from our conversations.
Thanks to the tireless advocacy of our coalition to cancel student debt, we succeeded in extending the federal student loan repayment pause for an additional 3 months — but it’s still not enough. We need to keep up the pressure on President Biden to permanently cancel student loan debt.
We’ll keep working to relieve families across the country from this economic burden, to make sure our policies and budgets reflect their lived experiences, and to build this grassroots movement to cancel student loan debt together.
To the volunteers, the A-Team and every single person who took the time to get on the phone with us — thank you.
Thank you,
Ayanna
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Paid for by the Committee to Elect Ayanna Pressley
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