Shift in Senate to affect education

While Boston College students were away on break, the United States underwent a major political shift. The Democratic Party officially took the majority of both houses of Congress for the first time since 1994 on Jan. 15, 2007. By virtue of their victories on Election Day, Democrats control 51 seats in the Senate and 229 seats in the House of Representatives.

What this new Democratic majority will do once in office - and what impact, if any, it will have on higher education - is up for debate. The Democrats claim that they have a broad-based plan to improve education in America. According to the official 2006 Democratic platform, "Democrats know that the key to expanding opportunity is to provide every child with a strong foundation of education."

They addressed higher education in their "First 100 Hours" of the 110th Congress by passing the "College Opportunity Act of 2007," which, says Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.), "will reverse the trend of skyrocketing college costs, by raising the maximum Pell Grant award. It will also assist families by lowering interest rates for student loans, and expanding tax breaks for college costs." They also claim to have a plan for increasing subsidies to public universities.

Republicans, however, are not entirely convinced that Democrats will truly benefit higher education. "Historically, Democrats have been quick to attach policy strings to education funding that ties the hands of the university and encroaches on individual liberty. I hope the Democrats resist their lliberal urges of the past and allow universities and secondary schools to locally control their curricula and unleash the power of their individual creativities," says Bradley Easterbrooks, vice-president of the BC Republicans and A&S '07. "Some ideas to reduce taxes for families with college students should be welcomed, but Republicans have already passed tax cuts for the middle class that the Democrats, thus far, have refused to make permanent."

Patrick Healey, the president of the BC Democrats, has a different take on the issue. "The Democratic takeover of Congress will have a positive impact on higher education. For example, Republicans last February cut federal student aid by $12 billion. Democrats have a plan. Nicknamed "Reverse the Raid on Student Aid," HR 5150 would slash the fixed interest rate on subsidized student loans from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent and save the average student borrower a total of $5,600," said Healey.

Democrats also argue that their plan to raise the federal minimum wage to $7.50 per hour will help working families better afford college, but once again, Easterbrook is skeptical. "Any attempt by Democrats to try to plan the economy against market forces will only hurt the job market, reduce employment for younger workers, and have no positive effect on the quality of in higher education," said Easterbrooks.

"Additionally, when it comes to high schools, Democrats tend to favor the teachers' union over the interest of the student and in so doing endanger the quality of secondary education by reducing standards and removing money from the actual classroom. This will hurt universities in the long run," said Easterbrooks.