Today, by a vote of 253-171, the U.S. House of Representatives passed HR 3221, "The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act." This historic legislation shifts billions of dollars from subsidies to  banks and lenders into the hands of students and programs that are critical to the future of higher education.  In a statement, AFT President Randi Weingarten offered AFT's support for this important legislation:

We applaud the U.S. House of Representatives' approval of this legislation, which correctly redirects savings to make it easier for the neediest students and their families to afford college, and provides direct investment in community college programs and infrastructure.

But this is just the first step in the process and there is more work to be done.  AFT will continue to work on this bill as it moves through the Senate, supporting those provisions that are so important to students in colleges and universities, but also looking to improve the bill's treatment of academic staffing.  Earlier this week, Weingarten sent a letter to every member of the House calling attention to the issue of academic staffing.

The AFT believes that academic staffing is a critical component of student success, yet it is too often overlooked in discussions about how to improve our institutions of higher education. The lack of attention paid to the loss of full-time tenured faculty positions, and the overwhelming growth of poorly paid part-time faculty, has been taking a toll on higher education for many years. Today, almost three out of four undergraduate instructors are contingent rather than permanent full-time faculty members-contingent faculty members teach a majority of the nation's undergraduate courses. Unless we take steps to reverse course, this trend will greatly impair the ability of our colleges and universities to reach the national goals Congress has set for them. In fact, a growing body of research shows the correlation between the declining investment in faculty and the increasing problems with student persistence, transfer and completion. [snip]

Specifically, we believe it is essential that programs designed to improve persistence and completion, especially those targeted at community colleges, should include provisions that encourage institutions to strengthen their instructional workforce by creating additional full-time faculty positions or providing more stability and equitable compensation for part-time faculty. Such investments in the frontline educators-those most responsible for helping students succeed-are fundamental to increasing persistence and completion rates, and improving the quality of education at our nation's two- and four-year colleges and universities.

This bill is historic for its investments in students and colleges.  We will continue to work to make sure that it invests in faculty as well.