Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

Another Broken Promise: Biden Scraps Free Community College Proposal

Jill Biden confirmed today that two years of tuition-free community college won’t be part of any Build Back Better legislation. This shows, yet again, that Democrats don’t care about the working class.

Left Voice

February 7, 2022
Facebook Twitter Share
Jill Biden behind a podium with the presidential seal.
Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Another day, another broken promise from the Biden administration. 

First Lady Dr. Jill Biden announced today that plans for two years of tuition-free community college have been scrapped from Democrats’ Build Back Better legislation. President Biden had made the promise during his campaign, and it was seen as the first lady’s signature initiative. Dr. Biden, a professor of English at Northern Virginia Community College, blamed difficult congressional compromises for the tanked legislation. But the truth is that nothing the Democrats have promised that might actually help the working class is ever safe from being compromised away or scuttled when convenient for them.

Abandoning tuition-free community college is just the latest in a series of betrayals from Biden and the Democrats. The administration has failed to pass even the most modest of reforms, whether extending the child tax credit or passing voting rights legislation. As we have written previously, this is not because the Democrats are inept or are hapless victims of insurmountable congressional obstacles — in fact, they’re quite skilled at passing exhorbitant military budgets, garnering support for Israeli apartheid, and shoring up support for the capitalist system. 

Although Dr. Biden spoke on the provision today, it had originally been scrapped during Build Back Better negotiations in October. Build Back Better is the centerpiece of Biden’s legislative agenda and contained the bulk of his climate and social spending promises, like paid family leave. The bill was eventually whittled down from $3.5 trillion to $1.7 trillion before conservative Democratic senator Joe Manchin dealt it a death blow in December. 

Even if passed, the proposal was already deeply compromised. As proposed, the plan would have waived tuition for two years at all community colleges for states that opt in, and would be in place for five years. However, one of the big problems with this structure is that many states simply choose to not opt-in to federal policies that would benefit the working class — think of how many states refused to opt-in on expanded Medicaid. Even states that might want to opt-in might not be able to because the federal government would only fully cover the program’s cost for the first year — assigning roughly $45.5 billion in funding — with states gradually covering the cost of the subsequent four years.  

The free community college promise has been one put forward by many moderate Democrats in response to the growing call for free higher education. Community colleges typically offer two-year programs that award associate’s degrees, in contrast to four-year colleges and universities. They are often the only choice for students from poorer families who want to attend institutions of higher education but cannot afford four-year programs. Even then, community colleges can be incredibly expensive, especially when cost of living, housing, and books are factored in. In this sense, the betrayal of tuition-free community college is a betrayal of the most precarious sectors of the working class and a betrayal of an already limited promise. Even if passed, free community college is only a drop in the bucket when compared to the actual needs of the working class in terms of higher education; which include free colleges and universities, free housing and food on college campuses, and full student debt forgiveness.

The Democrats abandon legislation like free community college because they only care about the working class and oppressed to the extent that they can win their votes. To win real victories, such as free community college and free higher education, we need to build a movement in the streets and in our workplaces. Above all, we must abandon the idea that working within the capitalist Democrats Party — or relying on the bosses that oppress us, and whose interests the capitalist parties serve —can achieve these important gains. 

Facebook Twitter Share

Left Voice

Militant journalism, revolutionary politics.

United States

Joe Biden Is Deporting Russians Who Escaped Putin’s Draft — Let Them All In!

The United States is deporting Russians who sought asylum following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This is a heinous attack against war resisters and shows that the proxy war in Ukraine is about capitalist rivalry first and foremost.

Sam Carliner

March 26, 2023

20 Years Since the U.S. Invasion of Iraq: A Reflection from a Socialist in the Heart of Imperialism

A Left Voice member and anti-war activist reflects on the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq and how he learned to hate U.S. imperialism.

Sam Carliner

March 20, 2023

Train Derailment in Metro Detroit Illustrates That Capitalist Control of the Railroads Is Fundamentally Unsafe

With the capitalists in control of the railroads, they will destroy the environment and poison and kill workers. The catastrophe in East Palestine will not be the last if we don’t nationalize our railroads and put the safety of people and the environment over profit.

Emma Boyhtari

February 28, 2023
East Palestine, Ohio in the distance at night, smoke and fire springing up due to the train derailment.

The Ohio Train Disaster Is on Biden’s Hands

Just months after President Biden and Congress blocked railway workers from striking over dangerous working conditions, the exact type of disaster that workers predicted has come to pass. The fate of East Palestine must be a wake-up call for the labor and climate movements to fight for the nationalization of the railroads under workers’ control.

B.C. Daurelle

February 15, 2023

MOST RECENT

A group of protesters, in the front of whom are a line of protesters wearing red vests. In the front right corner, a white sign reds "vive la retraite," with a skeleton wearing a red hat in the middle of the sign on a black background with a text bubble on its left that reads, "oiv a bosse, c'est pas pour en crever!"

“French March”: The Right to Revolutionary Optimism

Evoking memories of '68, the students enter the fight against Macron. In our chaotic world, the future can only be built in the streets.

Eduardo Castillo

March 26, 2023

On Monday, Germany Will Experience a “Mega-Strike”

On March 27, German railway workers and public sector employees will shut down the whole country. All trains are being canceled. Airports, freeways, hospitals, and daycare centers will all be affected.

Nathaniel Flakin

March 25, 2023

France: On the Frontlines of the War Against Austerity

The French masses have raised the banner of class struggle in what is becoming the first major battle against austerity after the pandemic. Working people across the world should pay attention.

James Dennis Hoff

March 25, 2023

Despite Threats of Arrest, Refinery Workers in France Refuse to Break Strike

As energy strikes continue, France is faced with a kerosene shortage that’s creating an urgent situation at the country’s airports. With capitalist profits on the line, the government has attempted to force Normandy refinery workers back to work through an anti-strike legal weapon called requisitions. In their first victory, refinery workers forced the police to withdraw in an incredible demonstration of solidarity.

Nathan Erderof

March 24, 2023