Gender Gap in Pay Exacerbates Student Debt; NYC Schools Expand Birth Control Availability

NYC Schools Expand Birth Control Availability. Condoms have been provided at New York high school for a long time but now young women can also request Depo-Provera birth control shots, or Plan-B. The increased availability of birth control targets the estimated 7,000 girls in New York City that become pregnant by the age of 17 each year, of which nearly two-thirds have abortions. Some parents have raised issues about the expansion of the birth control program because the doling out of birth control does not require parental consent. [Voice Of America]

UMass Resident Assistants Unionize And Demand Minimum Wage. In 2002, after a long fraught battle with the University’s administration, the UMass RAs became the first in the country to unionize. Yet, even after that initial success, UMass has still refused to give the RAs the most fundamental of rights: minimum wage. Right now, RAs are paid $4.50 per hour which is far below the state minimum wage of $8.00. The administration justified the low pay-rate, with the room waivers RAs secure as part of the job.  However, the rooms given to the RAs are in the residence halls and therefore make it a place of work. The RA union and the University are meeting with a state mediator on Wednesday to settle the dispute. [Daily Collegian]

Women’s Pay Gap Exacerbates Student Debt. The American Association of University Women put out a new report which found millennial women with degrees make 82 cents to every dollar that their male counterparts earn. In an era of tremendous student debt, the report brings to light how it is more difficult for women to pay off their student loans compared to men. The study also has political implications and should give more weight to the Paycheck Fairness Act which was blocked by Senate Republicans earlier this year. [Huffington Post]

University of Virginia’s Accreditation At Risk. The decision by the University of Virginia’s governing board which called for President Teresa Sullivan to resign in June created a wake of controversy. Sullivan was reinstated after weeks of protest but the turmoil hasn’t subsided. The Southern Association for Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCC), which accredits more than 800 colleges, including Virginia’s, has raised questions about the University governing board’s explanation for ousting Sullivan. The university faces the possibility of sanctions, including losing accreditation, and has until Nov. 12 to submit more information to the accrediting agency. [Washington Post]

Aaron Brennan is a Communications Intern with Campus Progress

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Story Tags

• student debt
• education
• gender
• contraceptives
• women's issues