Former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley’s answers to questions from the American Federation of Teachers survey were detailed by the Washington Post this past weekend.
O’Malley was asked about No Child Left Behind, higher education, as well as for-profit schools.
While his answers to the questions are sure to please Democratic supporters, they aren’t likely to arise strong feelings from supporters of other candidates.
Not that these types of surveys are meant elicit to strong reactions either way, but they are still good to know.
Regarding student loan debt, O’Malley did say that if he’s elected he wants “to make college debt-free for all students.”
“My administration would fight to win student borrowers the right to refinance their loans, and would make income- based repayment the default for all borrowers.”
Talking about the importance of higher education, O’Malley vowed to “restore investments in higher education.”
But maybe the meat of O’Malley’s survey comes during his answers on the for-profit college sector. When talking about transparency of for-profit institutions, O’Malley made a little noise.
“The federal government should not only play a strong role in cracking down on such fraudulent behavior, it should proactively seek out these bad players and cancel the federal debt incurred by students who were sold a bad deal.”
He might have backed himself into a corner by stating that the federal government should cancel the student loan debt of borrowers who were “sold a bad deal.”
But even if he did, O’Malley’s likely to endear himself to students and first-time voters who are still in college.
It is enough to build a base of voters, and potential volunteers, that may help to carry O’Malley to the White House.
