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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 22, 2012)
Opinion $11 Million Settlement for Students “Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now” B ERNIE F OSTER Founder/Publisher B OBBIE D ORE F OSTER Executive Editor T ED B ANKS Advertising Manager J ERRY F OSTER Account Executive L ISA L OVING News Editor H ELEN S ILVIS Multimedia Editor D AVID K IDD Graphic Designer M ONICA J. F OSTER Seattle Office Coordinator J ULIE K EEFE S USAN F RIED Photographers The Skanner Newspaper, established in October 1975, is a weekly publica- tion, published each Wednesday by IMM Publications Inc., 415 N. Killingsworth St., P.O. Box 5455, Portland, OR 97228. Telephone (503) 285-5555. E-mail: info@theskanner.com World Wide Web site: http://www.theskanner.com Fax: (503) 285-2900 The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Associ- ation and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re - spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. © 2012 The Skanner. ALL RIGHTS RE SERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION PROHIBITED. To see The Skanner News on your smart phone go to theskannermobile.com or scan this QR code with your app. • • • • • • • • Local news Opinions Jobs, Bids Sports Entertainment Music reviews Bulletin board RSS feeds A s millions of college stu- dents return to campus, a recent settlement by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corpo- ration (FDIC) may become a financial blessing to students and their parents. An estimated 60,000 students are expected to share $11 million in restitution from two financial firms – Higher One Holdings, Inc. and Bancorp Bank. According to FDIC, beginning in July 2008, the firms charged multiple nonsufficient fund (NSF) fees from a single merchant trans- action. By allowing student accounts to remain overdrawn for long periods of time, the firms were able to collect more NSF fees while also charging more fees for subsequent deposits to student accounts. Most importantly, these prac- tices exposed an often hidden role that financial institutions have on college campuses. As student monies were eaten up by these fees, the remaining available funds diminished the availability of monies intended for tuition and other student expenses. FDIC held that Bancorp Bank, based in Wilmington, Del. was responsible to ensure that Higher One operated the OneAccount program in compliance with all applicable laws. Unfair or decep- tive acts or practices are violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act. According to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), Higher One has card agreements with 520 campuses that enroll 4.3 R ESPONSIBLE L ENDING Charlene Crowell million students. Commenting on the settlement announcement, Rich Williams, higher education advocate for U.S. PIRG said, “We commend the FDIC for holding Higher One accountable. Student aid should not be a piggy bank for banks to dip into especially when icant fees that are charged against their student aid, including per- swipe fees of 50 cents, inactivity fees of $10 or more after six months and overdraft fees of up to $38. Financial institutions use aggressive marketing to maximize these fees, the report found. The FDIC settlement will also require the two firms to pay a combined $282,000 in civil penal- ties. In addition, should Higher One fail to fully repay the $11 mil- lion in restitution, Bancorp Bank will be financially responsible for restitution payment. Higher One expects to pay credits on current and charged-off accounts. Closed ‘Student aid should not be a piggy bank for banks to dip into especially when their practices are unfair or deceptive’ — Rich Williams, U.S. PIRG their practices are unfair or decep- tive.” In May, U.S. PIRG released “The Campus Debit Card Trap,” a report that found banks and finan- cial firms now control or influence federal financial aid disbursement to more than 9 million students by linking checking accounts and prepaid debit cards to student IDs and providing financial aid dis- bursement services. According to the report, students can pay signif- accounts are expected to be paid by check. Additionally, the settlement orders multiple changes to prac- tices by the two financial firms. Higher One has agreed to: —Not charge NSF fees to accounts that have been in a con- tinuous negative balance for more than 60 days; —Not charge more than three NSF fees on any single day to a single account; —Not charge more than one NSF fee with respect to a single automated clearing house transac- tion that is returned unpaid within any 21-day period; —Refrain from misleading or deceptive representations or omis- sions in its marketing materials and/or disclosures; and —Institute a sound compliance management system. Similarly, Bancorp Bank is now required to: —Correct all violations; —Significantly increase its management of third-party risk; —Increase board oversight of all compliance matters; and —Improve its compliance man- agement system. In the aftermath of the Great Depression, Congress created the FDIC in 1933 to restore public confidence in the nation’s banking system. The FDIC insures deposits at 7,309 banks and savings associ- ations across the country. Today, a series of recent enforce- ment actions in financial services are giving hope to consumers: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s recent $140 million action against Capital One, the Department of Justice’s $175 mil- lion action against Wells Fargo and the newest FDIC $11 million settlement signal that regulators are heeding the concerns of con- sumers. Charlene Crowell is a communi- cations manager with the Center for Responsible Lending. I Wanted a Good Education for My Kids A s a parent, what lengths would you take to ensure that your child had an opportunity to achieve the Ameri- can Dream? If you love your child as much as I love my two daughters, the limits to your sacrifice are endless. Marian Wright Edelman once said, “Education is a precondition to survival in America today.” I believe this to be true. Despite my family’s socio-economic status, I knew that a quality education would blaze a trail to a better life for my daughters and allow them to reach their God-given potential. I am an ex-felon. However, I did not burglarize or assault anyone. I did not rape or steal. I was con- victed for falsifying records about my residency so that my daughters could attend a safer, higher-per- forming suburban school. Sadly, wanting the best for my children earned me nine days in prison, 80 hours of community service, and two years of proba- tion. Each night I spent in my jail cell, I prayed for my daughters and spent countless hours thinking about other parents and guardians like me. Parents that were helpless – recognizing that their child deserved a better education than what was being provided, but no rational options to attain it. I thought about families like mine, who did not have room in their tight budgets to pay for private education, nor afford the high property values of suburban dis- tricts. What are they to do? Page 4 The Portland Skanner August 22, 2012 NNPA G UEST C OLUMNIST Kelley Williams-Bolar My nightmare was further evi- dence that education is the civil rights issue of our generation. And, like most rights, our coun- try’s most vulnerable communities are left behind. In an effort to help families avoid the fate that befell to me, I increasing pressure on districts and others in charge of failing schools. By granting this power to parents, low-performing schools can now be held accountable to the needs of the students, families, and communities they serve. Think about it. It is natural for parents to put the interests of their children above interests of the school system. Moreover, the more power parents can exercise over their children’s Sadly, wanting the best for my children earned me nine days in prison, 80 hours of community service, and two years of probation founded the Ohio Parents Union, an organization tasked with empowering parents throughout the state and providing families with resources to effectively advo- cate for the rights of their children. No longer should parents with children trapped in failing schools be left without rational options. One of the solutions my organi- zation strongly supports to aid this issue is a parent trigger. Parent trigger allows a majority of parents to mobilize together and sign a petition to turn around a persistently low-achieving public school. In addition, it provides families with leverage where they otherwise do not have it by education, the more likely our cities will be to construct educa- tion systems that put our students first. Despite aggressive efforts to intimidate parents, four states – including my home state of Ohio – have passed comprehensive parent trigger legislation. Many others are have considered, or currently in the process of considering this revolutionary idea. The concept of parent trigger has even inspired an upcoming film, “Won’t Back Down,” starring Viola Davis. The film – scheduled for release September 28 – por- trays a single mother that organizes parents to take control of their children’s failing school over strong union opposition. I strongly encourage parents, teachers and school administrators to watch the movie. Though the film was scripted in Hollywood with make-believe characters, real parents across this country are faced with this harsh reality every day. For those par- ents, please keep your head up and continue fighting the good fight. There is no reason we should have to gamble with the academic out- comes of our children. I was handcuffed, portrayed as a villain, and called a criminal by our justice system for doing what I could to guarantee my children had access to a quality education, and a chance to have a better life than I had. Like many of you, I am not rich. However, the greatest legacy or inheritance we could ever leave our children is a fair shot to achieve the impossible. I encourage parents across the country to learn your rights, and visit the websites of StudentsFirst (www.studentsfirst.org), and the Black Alliance for Educational Options (www.baeo.org) to edu- cate yourselves on this issue. In addition, I urge parents to press elected officials to pursue parent trigger legislation in your communities. Politicians, I urge you to listen to our voices. Our kids should not be trapped in failing schools with no way out. This needs to change now. Our future is way too important to wait.
