KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - As Kansas City Public Schools prepare for the upcoming school year (in less than a month), some teachers are growing increasingly concerned – not just about the classroom, but about their financial future.
Lauren Jenkins, a teacher and union member with AFT Local 691 , spoke about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program , which allows teachers the ability to pay off their student loans after teaching for 10 years.
Conveniently, Jenkins is entering her 10th year of teaching.
The way it works is like this: teachers make qualifying payments during a decade of service, and then the program allows teachers like her to have remaining student loan debt forgiven. But that promise now feels less certain.
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"Teachers need to be aware of the fact that this can affect them immensely," Jenkins said.
A recent executive order signed by former President Donald Trump could reshape who qualifies for the program. The order directs the Department of Education to exclude certain organizations from PSLF eligibility if they engage in what the administration deems a "substantial illegal purpose." The rulemaking process is still underway, but changes could take effect as soon as July 1, 2026.
Jenkins said that the impending changes are already making educators question their future.
As it stands now, there will be a cap on the loans specifically for graduate service loans," Jenkins said. "That can greatly impact what furthering your education will look like. In the past, teachers could look into furthering their education and kind of like be a forever student just for the love of learning, and now, who knows what that might look like.
Carter Taylor, also a KCPS teacher and union member with AFT Local 691, said the language in the executive order could be applied broadly and unfairly.
"There was language attached to it, essentially making it so that if you engage in illegal activity, or if your organization does anything substantially considered illegal, you are subject to losing your public service loan forgiveness status, meaning every person who works will no longer be eligible to get public service loan forgiveness," Taylor said.
She worries the definition of "illegal" activity could be politicized, putting diverse districts like KCPS at risk.
When we talk about something being illegal, we need to take into account the context we're currently living in," Taylor said. "There is an administration that has arbitrarily deemed things legal or not legal, defying precedent.
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Taylor said schools like hers, which serve diverse communities and often advocate for immigrant students and other marginalized groups, could be targeted.
"If I were to look around in my school building, I would see faces from all over, from every walk of life. They are currently being targeted by the same administration that we are fighting against in court at the national level with the (AFT) union," she said.
Taylor believes that even simple actions, such as giving a Black History Month presentation or supporting immigrant students, could put the district's PSLF status at risk under the proposed rule changes.
The stakes are high, particularly for a profession already grappling with low pay and high expectations.
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It can cost up to $130,000 just to go through your four years of bachelor's education," Taylor said. "Teachers are entering the field with a lot of debt to do something they are not going to be well paid for.
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program remains in effect for now, but union members like Jenkins and Taylor fear the future could bring irreversible changes, worsening an already serious staffing shortage for many school districts.
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