DRUG CONVICTIONS DENY FINANCIAL AID

Rep. Todd Platts, R-York County, missed an opportunity recently to lift a
harsh financial aid ban during the U.S. House's reauthorization of the
Higher Education Act (HEA). The House Committee on Education and the
Workforce debated repealing a financial aid ban for students' with drug
convictions, a little-known federal law passed in 1998.

The HEA drug provision took effect in 2000 and has denied more than 160,000
students of the financial aid they need to attend school because of a past
mistake. Denying access to an education will only cost taxpayers more in
the long run by increasing recidivism rates.

There are numerous organizations in Pennsylvania, including the Public
Interest Law Center in Philadelphia, Drug and Alcohol Service Providers
Organization of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania ACLU, and the Youth
Interlock Society, that have joined the more than 240 organizations
nationwide that support the full repeal of the HEA drug provision.

It is time that Congress stopped using education to further punish
ex-offenders who are seeking a better life. Pennsylvanians should be
ashamed that Rep. Platts continues to hold education funding hostage to
drug war politics.

Kyle Wibby

Coalition For Higher Education Act Reform

Washington