Durbin Discusses COVID-19 Pandemic, For-Profit Colleges With Dr. Miguel Cardona, Biden Nominee For Secretary Of Education

DICK DURBAN UNITED STATES SENATOR ILLINOIS

January 12, 2021

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with Dr. Miguel Cardona, President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for Secretary of Education. During their Zoom call, Durbin and Cardona discussed how teacher shortages in Illinois and around the country have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and how Durbin’s RETAIN Act would incentivize teacher retention by providing a fully refundable tax credit for teachers, paraprofessionals, mental health providers, and school leaders in Title I schools and educators, program providers, and program directors in early childhood education settings.

Durbin also asked Cardona how he plans to aggressively and forcefully oversee for-profit colleges, which prey on low-income, first generation, students of color, and veterans. Durbin led the Congressional effort to overturn the DeVos Borrower Defense rule, which prevented student borrowers from having their federal student loan debt discharged by the Department.

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