a2 eZ re K the washington post.friday, february 21 , 2020
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l The Easy Chicken Roll-ups
recipe in the Feb. 19 Food section
omitted the first sentence of the
directions. The first step is to
position the rack in the middle of
the oven and preheat to 375
degrees. The corrected recipe is
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post’s reader advocate, who can be
reached at 202-334-7582 or
[email protected].BY DANIELLE DOUGLAS-
GABRIELA year ago, compelled by a
court ruling, the Education De-
partment with little fanfare ex-
panded eligibility for a program
that erases the student debt of
borrowers who take jobs in p ublic
service.
But then, in recent months, the
old rules that seemed to narrow
who was eligible reappeared on
the department’s website. That
could p lunge the agency back into
hot water.
This latest episode in the ongo-
ing saga of Public Service Loan
Forgiveness is a testament to thecomplexity of the federal program
and adds a new dimension to criti-
cism of the department’s over-
sight of it. Te ns of thousands of
borrowers have applied for for-
giveness, but few have been ap-
proved. Advocacy groups say the
denials signal confusion about the
terms and reflect poor manage-
ment of the program.
Many have complained about a
lack of transparency o n the part of
the Education D epartment, which
the federal agency has tried to
address by publishing data on the
program and creating an online
portal to guide borrowers. But
those steps could be undermined
by the agency’s recent actions.A year ago, a federal judge r uled
in favor of three borrowers who
accused the department of inex-
plicably changing an employment
requirement in the forgiveness
program. Among the numerous
criteria is a requirement that ap-
plicants work for a government
organization, tax-exempt group
known as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
entity or other type of nonprofit
organization such as a public-
interest law service.
The borrowers in the 2016 case
had been told by FedLoan Servic-
ing, the company overseeing the
program, that their work as pub-
lic-interest lawyers at nonprofit
organizations qualified for loanforgiveness. Years later, however,
the Education Department said
their employers, including the
American Bar Association, were
no longer eligible because public
service w as not their primary pur-
pose.
U.S. District Judge Timothy J.
Kelly in the District of Columbia
said the department had “failed t o
display awareness of its changed
position, provide a reasoned anal-
ysis for that decision and take into
account the serious reliance inter-
ests affected.”
After the February 2019 ruling,
the Education Department u pdat-
ed its website and removed refer-
ences to its “primary purpose”
condition for nonprofit organiza-
tions. The agency effectively ex-
panded the pool of employers that
could be considered under the
loan-forgiveness program, with-
out publicizing the decision.
This week, t he department told
the American Bar Association
that it is a qualified employer
under the forgiveness program.
After the association announced
the settlement Wednesday, attor-
neys for the borrowers say they
were interested to see whether t he
department had made note of the
changes in the program.
That’s when they noticed that
the department’s website once
again said that only nonprofits
with 501(c)(3) tax exemption or
whose primary purpose is to pro-
vide public service qualify for the
forgiveness program. The reap-
pearance of that language flies in
the face of the judge’s ruling, said
Chong S. Park, a lawyer at R opes &
Gray who represented the bor-
rowers.
“It appears the department is
taking actions that are in violation
of and in contravention of Judge
Kelly’s order,” said Park, who has
not yet raised the issue with the
court.
The Education Department
said it is working to remove any
mention of the “primary purpose”
condition from its website and
other materials. The agency said
that the language reappeared af-
ter a recent overhaul of its website
but that the department has not
used the condition in its evalua-
tions since the 2019 ruling. The
department has taken steps to
reverse prior determinations that
relied on the old employment
standard.
Public Service Loan Forgive-
ness is rife with complexities that
can make applying a dizzying ex-
perience. To qualify, borrowers
must make 120 on-time monthly
payments on their loans for
10 years to have the remaining
balance canceled. They m ust have
loans made directly by the federal
government. And they must be
enrolled in specific repayment
plans, primarily those that cap
monthly loan payments to a per-
centage o f their income.
Any misstep along the path to
forgiveness could mean adding
years to the journey.
Nearly 127,000 federal student
loan borrowers have applied to
have their loans canceled under
the public-service program, but
only 1,565 had received debt for-
giveness as of December, the de-
partment said this week. Most
people were rejected for not meet-
ing one of the many requirements,
which means they can reapply
once they meet the conditions.
[email protected]Fresh confusion hits l oan-forgiveness program
BY VALERIE STRAUSSCaroline Kennedy, former U.S.
ambassador to Japan and daughter
of President John F. Kennedy, has
resigned unexpectedly as honorary
chair of the advisory board of an
institute at Harvard University’s
Kennedy School. The school con-
firmed the resignation Wednesday.
The John F. Kennedy School of
Government issued a statement
commending Kennedy for her ser-
vice on the Senior Advisory Com-
mittee of the Institute of Politics,
saying, “Caroline’s role at the Insti-
tute of Politics will always be prized
and remembered.”
Kenneth M. Duberstein, chair-
man of the 18-member senior advi-
sory panel, also resigned. Duber-
stein, a D.C. lobbyist and former
chief of staff to President Ronald
Reagan, has been close with Ken-
nedy.
The Kennedy School released a
statement quoting its dean, Doug-
las Elmendorf, a former director of
the Congressional Budget Office
who began his tenure as dean in
January 2016.
“Caroline Kennedy is a distin-
guished public leader with an ex-
emplary record of service to hercountry. I a m extremely grateful for
the extraordinary dedication and
commitment she has shown to
Harvard Kennedy School over
many years. Caroline’s role at the
Institute of Politics will always be
prized and remembered,” Elmen-
dorf’s statement said.
“Her commitment to the IOP’s
crucial mission of inspiring stu-
dents to pursue politics and public
service has made a tremendous
positive difference to the hundreds
of Harvard College students who
participate in the IOP each year
and to the members of the IOP
staff,” t he dean wrote.
The statement said Duberstein
“served the Institute of Politics
with exceptional dedication for
many years. We greatly appreciate
his absolute commitment to en-
couraging students to enter public
life and for his tireless efforts to
strengthen the IOP to support and
inspire those students.”
The statement did not address
the reasons for the departures of
Kennedy and Duberstein.
Several people with direct
knowledge of the events, who
spoke on the condition o f anonymi-
ty because they were not autho-
rized to speak publicly, said there
had been tension between Kenne-
dy and Elmendorf. T he people said
Kennedy and her allies o n the com-
mittee felt that Elmendorf was not
collaborative and micromanaged
the institute’s a ffairs. Kennedy s ent
a letter to the school recently an-
nouncing her resignation.Two other people at Harvard
with direct knowledge of what hap-
pened said the conflict was sparked
by some members of the Senior
Advisory Committee seeking to be
directly involved in the manage-
ment of the Institute of Politics.
The committee had long been
more active in the institute’s o pera-
tion than advisers at the Kennedy
School’s other institutes. That
caused tension over how much
management power the commis-
sion should have, said the people
with knowledge, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity because of
the sensitivity of the issue and be-
cause it involves personnel.
Kennedy, whose family largely
funds the Institute of Politics
th rough an endowment estab-
lished in 1966, could not be reached
for comment. Rep. Joe Kennedy
(D-Mass.), the grandnephew of
John F. K ennedy and Caroline Ken-
nedy’s cousin, is a member of the
advisory committee. He could notbe reached for comment but re-
mains on the p anel.
Duberstein said in a statement
he joined the Institute of Politics at
the request of the late senator Ed-
ward M. Kennedy, brother of the
slain president.
“A fter careful consideration and
heartfelt conversations with Caro-
line, I have decided to step down
immediately as Chairman of the
SAC of our b eloved I nstitute of Poli-
tics,” Duberstein said.
“Ted Kennedy asked me to serve
on the SAC approximately 25 years
ago because he knew of my com-
mitment to inspire young men and
women to make public service a
major priority.... That is the fun-
damental mission of the IOP which
the Kennedy family envisioned.
“Working side by side with Sena-
tor Kennedy, John Junior and with
Caroline has been a rare privilege
and high honor.... I hope the next
chairman continues to guard jeal-
ously the sacred role the IOP plays
for undergrads at Harvard.”
“We must keep the dream alive
for our students who aspire t o poli-
tics and public service.”
The Kennedy family has been
involved in the Institute of Politics
since it was established some
50 years a go a s a living memorial to
John F. Kennedy, who attended
Harvard and whose family is a Mas-
sachusetts institution. It i s unusual
because, while it resides within a
graduate school, it focuses on edu-
cating undergraduates.
[email protected]Caroline Kennedy resigns from advisory board
stephan savoia/associated press
Caroline Kennedy, seen in 201 7,
was honorary chair of a panel
for the Institute of Politics.First daughter’s family
has long been involved at
Harvard’s JFK schoolFrederick GAITHERSBURG Hagerstown
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