Action Alert: Please place a call to the House to Oppose the Pell Grant and TRIO cuts
Action Alert: Please place a call to your Representatives to Oppose the Pell Grant and TRIO cuts
2/15/2011
LULAC wants to alert you about H.R. 1, the Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act of 2011, which would result in massive cuts to programs that serve Latino youth and young adults. This bill, if passed, will cause massive cuts in many education programs proven to be effective in educating minority youth while sending billions of dollars to predatory for-profit colleges that consistently leave students of color, and low-income students, buried in debt and with worthless degrees.
There are many harmful parts of the bill, a couple are outlined below:
1) This bill cuts the maximum Pell Grant for students this fall by at least $845 and eliminates an additional $56 billion in mandatory Pell funding over the next 10 years;
2) This bill cuts funding of the Federal TRIO programs by $24.9 million , this funding cut would kick 87,000 vulnerable middle and high school students out of the TRIO programs; and
3)A controversial amendment to H.R. 1 would block any gainful employment rule and force the Department of Education to turn a blind eye to waste, fraud, and abuse while students and taxpayers are left holding the bill.
These harmful proposals are being debated in the House today and tomorrow. Please take a moment to call or email your Representative TODAY!
To Call: Dial the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for your Representative (visit www.congress.org to find your member's name). It's fine to leave a message if you get voicemail. Here's what to say:
I'm calling to ask Representative [name] to:
1) Oppose the Pell Grant cuts in H.R. 1 and maintain the current $5,550 Pell Grant;
2) Oppose cuts to the TRIO programs; and
3) Oppose the Foxx-Hastings amendment (#214) to H.R. 1 and support a strong "gainful employment" rule to protect students and taxpayers from waste, fraud and abuse.
Please contact Iris Chavez, ichavez@lulac.org or 202-833-6130 x13, with any questions.
Please fill in your address so we can find your elected officials. We need to ask for your complete address because ZIP codes often cross electoral districts.