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Op-Ed: Paying for Public Service: An Important First Step
By William H. Neukom, President, American Bar Association
If it weren’t for public service lawyers—including prosecutors, public defenders and those who provide legal aid to the poor, disabled and victims of domestic violence—the rule of law that defines our society would break down. It is in our nation’s interest to invest in those who serve the public interest.
Unfortunately, many public-service law offices are in crisis, because salaries for new lawyers are too low to pay off staggering education loans. Vital service jobs are going unfilled, or are subject to high turnover.
Last week, Congress took an important first step in helping those, including lawyers, who choose a career in public service, by giving them new tools to cope with crushing educational debts. It passed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, which President Bush signed Sept. 27.
The Act, which ensures that borrowers can repay their education loans, also provides special relief to many categories of public service, such as the military, public safety, public education and many forms of social work.
The bill would retire most or all of a borrower’s federal student loan debt following 10 years of qualifying public service and timely repayment on their loans.
For those with high educational loans, the cost of public service can be brutal, and open-ended. Studies show that most law school graduates have a combined debt from undergraduate and graduate studies in excess of $80,000, or loan payments of more than $1,100 a month.
Prosecutors, public defenders and legal aid attorneys—who help the poor with civil cases involving housing, health employment and other critical issues—have starting salaries in the $35,000-$45,000 range, making repayment difficult or impossible.
Many law school graduates simply turn away from public-service work, looking instead to higher-paying private sector jobs. Our nation’s government, education, charity, and many other sectors of society, directly suffer from this talent drain.
Those who do not fulfill 10 years of service or repayment while in qualifying jobs do not receive any benefit. It is a program reserved for those who commit a significant portion of their career to such laudable service. This is a fair offer, and a sound investment in a healthy justice system.
But the mere possibility of a deferred benefit is itself insufficient to attract new talented law graduates into the most sensitive of these positions, namely prosecutors and public defenders and those who provide legal assistance to families, the disabled, and others.
Congress should close this gap and approve programs, such as those contained in the unanimously approved Higher Education Amendments Act of 2007, that would provide a limited period of direct loan payment to new lawyers who work at least three years in these positions.
Many elected prosecutors and heads of public defenders’ offices say these recruiting tools are critically needed to help make these positions competitive in the marketplace for new graduates.
New graduates can choose where to work, but our nation cannot similarly choose whether to provide these services.
It is therefore incumbent on our nation to ensure that these obligations are consistently fulfilled, and with the best and the brightest talent possible. Programs that promote these ends are an important investment in justice for all.
Sept. 27, 2007
Statement: New Student Loan Forgiveness Provisions Draw Praise from ABA President
