Trump's budget is a disaster

You've probably heard about Donald Trump's disastrous new budget proposal, which would gut Social Security, Medicare, and our social safety net.

Those are heartless and unnecessary cuts, but we also can't ignore the parts of Trump's budget that contain his irresponsible choices on education spending.

Donald Trump's education budget decreases overall education spending by nearly 8 percent.

At a time when Trump and Republicans have given massive tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans and big corporations, and when they're proposing a massive military budget, they also want to significantly decrease our country's investment in education.

This is not fiscal responsibility; it's making students and teachers pay the price for the administration's poor choices. Our education spending should reinforce that our children will get the best opportunities of anyone, ever.

And Trump's education budget would end the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

Teaching is a challenging but very important profession. Educators are some of the most important people our children will ever meet. They enlighten minds and pave the way for our country's future. They work long hours, spend their own money on supplies, and often do not earn a living wage in their communities.

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program shows teachers that they are valued. The program was designed so prospective teachers could earn their degrees and know that their tireless service to our future generations would be rewarded and repaid. Donald Trump wants to shut the door on that promise.

It's cruel and shortsighted. How can our country attract the best and brightest into service careers, like teaching, if we're charging them exorbitant amounts to get a degree and then not paying them enough to support themselves and their families. The answer: we can't.*

These are just a few of the atrocities in the Trump budget. We could dig into the numbers for days and unearth line after line just like these—ways to shortchange our students and our teachers.

It's why I'm going to oppose this budget and keep up the fight for real change that will invest in our students. Stay tuned.

Suzanne