WASHINGTON (AP) — Dismissing a veto threat from President Barack Obama, lawmakers in the House passed legislation that links student loan rates to the ups and downs of the financial markets in a vote largely along party lines.

The Republican-backed bill would allow students to dodge a scheduled rate hike for students with new subsidized Stafford loans next month, but rates could rise in coming years. Democrats largely opposed the measure — which they branded the “Making College More Expensive Act” — while the Republican chairman of the Education Committee labeled the legislation a starting point for negotiations with the Senate and White House.

“The American people sent us here to tackle tough issues, not kick the can down the road. The time to act is now. Students, families and taxpayers cannot afford further delay,” House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline said after the vote.

Interest rates on new subsidized Stafford loans are set to double, from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent, on July 1. Lawmakers from both parties say they want to avoid the increase but were divided on how.

Some Democrats are seeking a two-year extension of the current rates until Congress takes up a higher education bill later. Republicans have rejected that proposal — expected to cost taxpayers $9 billion — as costly and irresponsible.

The House measure passed by a vote of 221-198. Eight Republicans and four Democrats broke from their party.

“It kind of goes without saying that you’re going to be paying on your student loans for quite a while,” said Ron Burruss, who will be a junior at Kentucky’s University of Louisville in the autumn.

By some counts, student loan debt has topped $1 trillion and surpasses credit card debt in size. Only mortgage debt is larger.

Under the GOP proposal, student loans would be reset every year, pegged to 10-year Treasury notes with added percentage points. For instance, students who receive subsidized or unsubsidized Stafford student loans would pay the Treasury rate, plus 2.5 percentage points starting for loans issued after July 1.

Current subsidized Stafford loans are offered at a fixed 3.4 percent rate and unsubsidized Stafford loans are offered at 6.8 percent. The interest rate on loans to parents and graduate students is 7.9 percent.

Using Congressional Budget Office projections, the GOP plan would translate to a 5 percent interest rate on all Stafford loans in 2014, but the rate would climb to 7.7 percent for loans in 2023.

“We’re ripping off kids,” said Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt.

Stafford loan rates would be capped at 8.5 percent, while loans for parents and graduate students would have a 10.5 percent ceiling under the GOP plan.

In his budget proposal, Obama included flexible rate student loan rates pegged to 10-year Treasury bills. The president did not limit interest rates but included a smaller added interest rate. His plan also expanded income-based repayment options and loan forgiveness.

Even so, many students said they were frustrated by the current rates.

“It’s ridiculous that students are being charged 6.8 percent interest, when you can get a mortgage on a house for 3.5 percent,” said Zach Nostdal, a 28-year-old graduate student at Seattle’s University of Washington.

The House proposal faces a steep climb in the Senate despite some similarities to the White House’s offer.

“The Senate is not going to pick this up,” said Rep. Caroline McCarthy, D-N.Y.

The Senate planned to take up its own measure after it returns from Memorial Day holiday. Even then, it’s not clear lawmakers will be able to reconcile differences between the House and Senate versions before the July 1 deadline.

“We are focused on making college more affordable while they seem focused on making it more expensive,” said Sen. Tom Harkin, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. “The bill they passed today fails the first test of any policy: do no harm. It’s worse for students than if the rate doubles.”

Students who max out their subsidized Stafford loans over four years would pay $8,331 in interest payments under the Republican bill, and $3,450 if rates were kept at 3.4 percent, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Services. If rates were allowed to double in July, that amount would be $7,284 over the typical 10-year window to repay the maximum $19,000.

VOXXI.COM
Read more: http://www.voxxi.com/house-variable-rate-student-loans/#ixzz2UD3Xl0Gs

A group of Latino education experts from across the country urged policymakers in Washington, D.C., this week to take steps to improve education for Hispanic students.

The Latino Elected and Appointed Officials National Taskforce on Education was formed several years ago. They wanted to make sure the needs of Latino students and English Language learners were recognized as talks about the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act got underway. That act authorizes federally funded education programs that are administered by the states.

That program morphed into No Child Left Behind under former President George W. Bush and subsequent attempts to amend it and reauthorize it as the ESEA have failed, meaning policies put in place by NCLB still hold. Advocates for the more than 13 million Hispanic students enrolled in public schools around the country think several things need to change to better serve this group.

There are three they most definitely want addressed:

Issue 1: The department's response to the failed reauthorization attempt -- issuing waivers for some states to get around remaining NCLB requirements -- allows states to avoid reporting data on how different subgroups of students, such as Hispanics, are doing. That lack of data makes it difficult to tell which programs are helping Latinos and which are hurting them.

Issue 2: The new Common Core standards, which link teacher evaluations to student performance, are also a concern. Advocates worry that the more difficult students -- English language learners, for example -- will be stuck with the least qualified teachers as good teachers jockey for positions with high-performing students. The taskforce wants teachers to receive more training on Common Core and thinks that the best teachers should go to the most needy students.

Issue 3: Sequestration has also hit Latino students especially hard.

Head Start and programs for English language learners, which overwhelmingly benefit Latino kids, have seen cuts. And Head Start in particular gives Latino kids a chance to enter kindergarten on par with their non-Hispanic peers when it comes to vocabulary and other skills, areas where they have traditionally fallen behind without early intervention.

The taskforce wants more funding, not less, for such programs.

Will Anything Actually Change?

These goals are a long shot. Money is tight and collaboration across party lines seems to be a distant dream.

Ana Sol Gutierrez, one of the directors of the task force, said she saw "an absolute lack of collaboration between different party groups, especially in the House," during the meetings.

Education could also see more cuts in the future, so a more modest goal for the taskforce is simply preserving the existing funding from further cuts.

There are plans from both Republicans and Democrats to introduce bills to reauthorize the ESEA, but they're not likely to garner enough support across party lines to pass.

Sol Gutierrez is not giving up hope. Her broader goal is awareness at the national and state levels of the needs of Latinos, the fastest growing student population in the country. The group plans to push for awareness at the state level, where their voices might gain more traction.

It's an uphill battle, but "if we don't do it," she said, "no one else is going to speak up for Latino students."

ABCNEWS.GO.COM

http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/News/current-education-policy-hurting-latino-students/story?id=19235380#.UZ9GAOvQ0p4

Abercrombie & Fitch has apologized, again.

In recent weeks, the retailer has seen its brand's popularity plummet after Business Insider resurfaced quotes that CEO Mike Jeffries made in a 2006 Salon article. At the time, Jeffries said the store was aimed at the skinny, hip kids, not the unattractive losers.

“In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids,” he says. “Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely. Those companies that are in trouble are trying to target everybody: young, old, fat, skinny. But then you become totally vanilla. You don’t alienate anybody, but you don’t excite anybody, either.”

Since the remarks were re-released, A&F has been hit with a firestorm of negative reaction from celebrities to bloggers. Although Jeffries later issued a semi-apology on his Facebook page, the outcry against the company continued.

On Wednesday, a group of teen activists traveled to Columbus, Ohio, to protest at the A&F headquarters and discuss the CEO's comments, People Magazine reported.

The activists were invited into the building for a meeting with A&F executives, and for two hours, they urged the company to reconsider its position on size limitations, reduce the blatant sexualization of its ads, expand its choice of models and support teen education programs focusing on anti-bullying and diversity.

One of the people at the meeting was Benjamin O'Keefe, an 18-year-old eating disorder survivor from Orlando who created a Change.org petition that pleaded with the company to stop telling teens they aren't beautiful and to expand their sizing (currently, A&F clothes are not offered above size 10 or Large). At the time of this writing, more than 70,000 people have signed the petition.

After the meeting, A&F released the following statement: “We look forward to continuing this dialogue and taking concrete steps to demonstrate our commitment to anti-bullying in addition to our ongoing support of diversity and inclusion. We want to reiterate that we sincerely regret and apologize for any offense caused by comments we have made in the past which are contrary to these values."

In response, O'Keefe said he was cautiously optimistic that the company would consider changing its ways.

"Our voices matter. When people come together to fight for something they believe in, change does come! We are proof of that," O'Keefe said. "I am excited to continue open dialogue with Abercrombie & Fitch and work towards creating a nation and world of young people who are proud to be themselves and embrace all the things that make them beautiful!”

HUFFINGTONPOST.COM

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/23/abercrombie-and-fitch-apology_n_3323668.html?utm_hp_ref=business

Not content with pushing out hit songs, a successful acting career, running a film and TV production company, and launching lines in clothes and perfume, Jennifer Lopez, a woman evidently with more hours in the day than most of us, has announced she’s all set to open 15 cellphone stores in a deal struck between her Viva Movil brand and telecom giant Verizon. The venture is also backed by wireless firm Brightstar and Moorehead Communications, one of Verizon’s largest premium retailers.

The first of the stores will open its doors in New York on June 15, with more to open in Los Angeles and Miami.

So why exactly is JLo hoping to break into the mobile market? Ah, here’s why. According to the singer/actor/entrepreneur/etc, Latinos have a combined purchasing power of $1.2 trillion annually. Presumably she’ll be hoping most of that goes on mobile phones (and JLo-branded accessories) bought at her stores.

“Latinos need a place to go and they need to be catered to because it is such a growing demographic and market and people want to capture that, and they deserve to be catered to,” Lopez said Wednesday at a special event in Las Vegas announcing her new venture.

She added, “As an entrepreneur, empowering the Latino community is at the core of what I choose to have my businesses stand for and exemplify.”

Staff at the stores will be bilingual and trained to provide customers with a “culturally relevant shopping experience.”

Viva Movil’s deal with Verizon means it’ll be an authorized reseller, with identical prices and plans offered to customers. Available handsets will include the iPhone 5 and the Galaxy S4, as well as the latest devices from BlackBerry.

A bilingual website and Facebook app will also form part of the launch, with Lopez appearing on both to offer advice on the best handsets available. Shoppers will also be able to make phone purchases using the website.

The website is already live, and includes a statement from JLo suggesting “you deserve a better shopping experience, from premium stores that are family friendly, to being addressed in the language of your choice.”

So how about it? Do you think Lopez is onto something here with Viva Movil? Or is it a business venture doomed to fail?

DIGITALTRENDS.COM
Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/jennifer-lopez-targets-latino-market-with-her-own-viva-movil-cellphone-stores/#ixzz2U7bacQZ8

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R-PA) brushed away a question about Latinos working in his administration during a roundtable discussion at The Union League in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Friday, telling the moderator, “If you can find us one let me know”:

MODERATOR: Do you have staff members that are Latino?

CORBETT: No, we do not have any staff members in there. If you can find us one, please let me know.

MODERATOR: I am sure that there are Latinos that…

CORBETT: Do any of you want to come to Harrisburg? See?!

“I represent every one of you, I’ve been elected by the people of Pennsylvania to make it better than I found it,” Corbett said at the event. “We need to be able to develop a stronger relationship with all communities…we’re in the process now of getting much more connected with everybody, that we did not have before.”

In 2012, Corbett proclaimed Sept. 15 – Oct. 15 “Hispanic Heritage month,” noting “I commend the many social and economic contributions of Latino-Hispanics in our state and celebrate the rich and diverse culture of Pennsylvania’s fasting growing minority group,” Corbett said and noted that Pennsylvania’s 800,000 Latino residents represent approximately 6.8 percent of the overall population. A 2008 survey found that the Harrisburg-Carlisle metropolitan region “is home to more than 18,000 people of Hispanic or Latino origin,” one third of whom live in the city of Harrisburg. The city is also home to the Latino Hispanic American Community Center.

Corbett has established a commission of Latino affairs, which his website describes as “the Commonwealth’s advocate agency for its Latino community.” “The GACLA makes recommendations to the Governor on policies, procedures and legislation that would affect the Latino community in Pennsylvania and serves as the Governor’s liaison to Latinos in order to ensure that state government is accessible and accountable to the Latino community,” it says.

THINKPROGRESS.ORG

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/05/22/2048091/governor-cant-find-a-single-latino-in-pennsylvania-to-work-for-him/