With total college loan debts pushing nearly a trillion dollars in the U.S., a group of Chicago students are pushing for student loan reforms.
Students
told stories of promising futures soon replaced by a grim employment
outlook through their prepared speeches at the Chicago Temple United
Methodist Church Saturday afternoon.
Amanda Weaver, a Loyola University
master’s student, told the crowd of about 200 parents, students and
concerned community members that her student loans added up to a
combined total pf $134,000.
“My parents, teachers, guidance
counselors all told me ‘Go to school, take the loans, invest in my
future,’” Weaver said speaking from the church pulpit. “I was told I
would get nowhere in the job market without this expensive degree. Well,
the truth is, after I graduated there were no jobs in sight.”
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Residents of Chicago’s North Side neighborhoods of Ravenswood and
Uptown got their final opportunity Wednesday night to voice concerns over the
impending merger of two elementary schools.
A new House bill would make job creation an important element in contract bids for the federal government. 
Members and leaders of three unions representing workers in the Chicago Public
Schools (CPS) system criticized the city’s recent round of school actions in a joint
report issued Tuesday, saying school closings hurt children,
struggling neighborhoods, and working families.