Sometimes, it’s good to notice when something bad doesn’t happen.

This would have been the week when tens of millions of Americans had to start making student loan payments again, for the first time since the federal pause began at the start of the pandemic.

But President Biden extended the pause another time, from May 1 through August 31.

And last week, he confirmed that he’s considering an even bigger step — a step we’ve been supporting for years: canceling student debt.

It’s time for everyone to raise their voices to make this happen. Add your name if you agree: Now is the moment for President Biden to use his executive authority to cancel $50,000 of student debt for tens of millions of Americans.

This is a concrete way President Biden can deliver on a major campaign promise, without needing Congress to act — and he can show the American people what it looks like to have a government on their side.

Right now, millions of Americans are wondering how they’re going to handle student loan payments starting up again later this year. Many families just flat out won’t be able to make ends meet.

And for a long time now, student debt has been growing and growing — and it’s held our country back like an anchor. Holding people back from buying their first homes. From buying cars. From launching new businesses. From starting families.

Student debt is an issue of economic justice, and it’s also about racial justice. After generations of systemic discrimination and a widening racial wealth gap, Black and Brown students have to borrow more money to go to school, and they have a harder time paying off their loans after they graduate. Twenty years out of school, the typical white borrower still owes about 5 percent. The typical Black borrower? About 95 percent.

Canceling $50,000 of student debt is the single most effective step President Biden could take to start closing the racial wealth gap among borrowers.

And it’s a broadly popular policy. Democrats support it. Independents support it. Younger Americans support it. Older Americans support it. People with student debt support it. People who’ve already paid off their loans — or never took out any — support it. A survey even found that more swing-state voters would cast ballots for Democrats this November if student debt had been canceled.

Not to mention, it’s just the right thing to do.

As a country, we tell people that they’ll need some education after high school to get a ticket to the middle class. I was only able to become a public school teacher because I got a second chance at college for $50 a semester. But after decades of disinvestment and hollowing out higher education, we’ve now got a system that buries people in debt — unless they come from a family that can write a big check.

We need to put technical schools, community colleges, and public universities within reach for everyone. We need to hold for-profit institutions accountable for ripping off students. And we need to start righting a generational wrong by canceling debt — debt that students never should have been forced to take out in the first place.

President Biden has already used this power before, and it’s time for him to use it again. Add your name if you agree: The president must cancel student debt for tens of millions of Americans.

Thanks for being a part of this,

Elizabeth