VA Claims Oregon Community Colleges Over-Charged for Flight Training
"The Oregon colleges have spent hundreds of thousands fighting the VA's collection efforts." Oregonian reporter, Sami Edge
A 7/13/2022 Oregonian article, Oregon Community Colleges Battling Feds Over Allegations Flight Schools Were Overpaid Veterans Benefits, reported on a dispute between the Veterans Administration (VA) and four community colleges in response to claims that the agency was overcharged for flight training costs.
The quotes below provide some of the key points addressed in the article.
The department asked Portland Community College [PCC] for roughly $6 million in repayment, lawsuits say, Central Oregon Community College for $3.2 million, Klamath for $1.3 million and Lane for $275,000.
Lane gave the VA its money back...But Klamath and Portland Community Colleges sued the department, asking federal judges to bar the VA from attempts to collect the debt until the schools are allowed to participate in an arbitration process. Central Oregon Community College settled a similar lawsuit with the VA and is winding its way through that arbitration process now.
The colleges' plight was part of a larger national conflict over whether schools used veterans benefits judiciously to help former military members gain the credentials needed to get well-paying civilian jobs – or whether overpriced training programs unfairly enriched the private flight companies that schools often contracted with for services.
The article cited a 3/15/2015 Los Angeles Times report, U.S. Taxpayers Stuck with the Tab as Helicopter Flight Schools Exploit GI Bill Loophole on the rapid expansion of helicopter schools after finding "a loophole in the law that allows them to train military veterans completely at government expense, with no cap on what they can charge...They now collect tens of millions a year in taxpayer dollars. For two years of training to become a pilot, the government often pays more than $250,000, over twice the amount non-veterans pay at many schools...At one flight company – Utah-based Upper Limit Aviation – records show 12 veterans whose training had cost the government more than $500,000 each. Upper Limit's fees make it the costliest education of any type funded by the GI Bill. The company will collect roughly $36 million this year from the government, based on its current enrollment and estimates it submitted to the state of Utah."
PCC - Hillsboro Aero Academy Partnership
PCC partners with Hillsboro Aero Academy (HAA), a company owned by two east coast investment firms - Graycliff Partners and Renovus Capital. The classroom portion of the training is subsidized with property tax dollars. HAA benefits from grants awarded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airport Improvement Program (AIP) which essentially foists the cost of runways, taxiways and other infrastructure used by student pilots onto the public. American taxpayers also foot the bill for air traffic control tower staffing as well as the control towers. In addition, HAA received PPP grants during the pandemic totaling $4.2 Million.
PCC's decision to establish an Aviation Sciences department was done without community input. The program has a history of training American vets as well as numerous students recruited from outside the country. For the provision of flight instruction, HAA operates out of two Port of Portland owned airports - Hillsboro and Troutdale - both of which are sources of relentless noise and toxic pollution. HAA also provides pilot instruction at the Redmond Airport in Central Oregon.
Nationwide, Hillsboro Airport ranks 8th among 20,000 airports in lead emissions and is the number one facility source of this pernicious neurotoxin in Oregon. Troutdale is among the top one hundred lead polluting airports in the country and is the largest facility source of airborne lead pollution in Multnomah County. There is no safe level of lead in a person's blood. Even small doses can permanently damage the developing brains of children and unborn fetuses. Aviation noise is also a health hazard which can negatively effect learning and cognitive development in children. Adults subjected to aviation noise can have higher blood pressure and mortality rates as well as an increased risk of heart problems, strokes, depression and anxiety. Other toxic carcinogens released by these fossil fuel burning aircraft are also harmful to human, animal and plant life.
In recognition of the toxic and disruptive nature of flight training and general aviation aircraft operations, regardless of how the conflict between PCC and the VA is resolved, out of respect for the community, vets seeking pilot instruction should train at established military bases not over the homes and neighborhoods of local urban and rural residents.
The much larger issue, not addressed in this article, is why are Oregon community colleges using tax-payer dollars to partner with flight academies owned by out of state investment firms to further the interests of foreign governments, airport owners and other for-profit aviation businesses who are collectively degrading the environment while compromising the health and livability of local residents?
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