美国教师联合会周五起诉特朗普政府，指控其非法阻挠数万名符合条件的借款人获得学生贷款减免。
The American Federation of Teachers sued the Trump administration Friday, alleging it unlawfully blocked student loan forgiveness for tens of thousands of borrowers who qualify.
原告在向哥伦比亚特区联邦地区法院提起的韦恩加滕诉麦克马洪案中主张，美国教育部部长琳达·麦克马洪管理备受欢迎的公共服务贷款减免计划不当，错误计算借款人的还款时间线，且未给予服务年限相应的抵扣。
The plaintiffs argue in their lawsuit, Weingarten v. McMahon, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, that U.S. Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon has mismanaged the popular Public Service Loan Forgiveness program by incorrectly counting borrower's payment timelines and not awarding people credit for time served.
公共服务贷款减免计划由时任总统小布什于2007年签署成为法律，允许特定非营利组织和政府雇员在偿还120期款项（通常为期10年）后，免除其联邦学生贷款。拜登政府随后对该计划进行了调整，放宽了资格门槛，已有超过100万名借款人在该计划下获得贷款减免。
PSLF, which President George W. Bush signed into law in 2007, allows certain not-for-profit and government employees to have their federal student loans canceled after 120 payments, generally paid over 10 years. The Biden administration later adapted the program, making it easier to qualify for it and clearing the way for more than 1 million borrowers to have already had their loans forgiven under the program.
美国教师联合会主席、首席原告兰迪·韦恩加滕在一份声明中说：“麦克马洪部长公然无视她帮助教师、护士和第一响应者的责任。”其他原告包括美国教师联合会会员和公共服务工作者。美国教师联合会是一个代表约180万名会员的教师工会。“这起诉讼要求麦克马洪停止拖延，履行她的职责，”韦恩加滕说。
"Secretary McMahon has flagrantly ignored her responsibility to help teachers, nurses and first responders," said AFT President Randi Weingarten, the lead plaintiff, in a statement. The other plaintiffs include AFT members and public service workers. The AFT is a teacher's union representing some 1.8 million members. "This lawsuit demands that McMahon stop stalling and do her job," Weingarten said.
诉状指控特朗普政府官员拒绝根据拜登政府时期的公共服务贷款减免“回购”计划给予借款人减免。该机会允许累计达到120个月合格受雇记录的借款人，向教育部提交申请，为因暂缓还款或延期还款而错过的月份补缴款项。
The lawsuit accuses Trump officials of denying borrowers relief under the Biden administration-era PSLF Buyback program. That opportunity allows borrowers who've hit 120 months of qualifying employment to submit a request to the Education Department to retroactively pay for any months they missed because of a forbearance or deferment.
根据一份法庭文件，在特朗普政府时期，“回购”申请大量积压，截至春季仍有8.8万名借款人在等待裁决。
Buyback applications have piled up under the Trump administration, with 88,000 borrowers still waiting for a decision as of the spring, according to a court filing.
提起诉讼的借款人还表示，美国教育部今年早些时候毫无预警地不公平地降低了他们的合格还款次数，延长了借款人的学生贷款减免时间线。
The borrowers bringing the lawsuit also say the U.S. Department of Education unfairly lowered their qualifying payment counts out of the blue earlier this year, prolonging borrowers' student loan forgiveness timeline.
“教育部在没有任何解释的情况下剥夺了我赚得的贷款减免额度，”来自纽约的语言病理学家、共同原告伊丽莎白·舍普夫林在一份声明中说。“拖延的每一个月都是我本不该支付的又一笔还款。”教育部发言人为公共服务贷款减免（PSLF）计划的变更进行了辩护，称该机构正在纠正拜登政府造成的“编码错误”。
"The Department of Education has ripped away the loan forgiveness credit I earned without any explanation," said Elizabeth Schoepflin, a speech-language pathologist and co-plaintiff from New York, in a statement. "Every month this drags on is another payment I shouldn't have to make." An Education Department spokesperson defended the PSLF program changes, saying the agency is correcting "coding errors" made by the Biden administration.
“这些错误导致部分借款人的还款次数不准确，”发言人在给CNBC的电子邮件中写道。“教育部依然致力于确保每一笔合格还款都正确记入借款人的账户。”
"These errors resulted in inaccurate payment counts for some borrowers," the spokesperson wrote to CNBC in an email. "The Department remains committed to ensuring that every qualifying payment is properly credited to a borrower's account."