Communities are pushing back against the dismantling of the Dept. of Education
Yesterday’s executive order by President Trump, ordering Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education,” has been met with outrage by parents, youth, educators, advocates, and funders across the country.
All these voices form a chorus, united in a shared message: the U.S. Department of Education must be strengthened and improved, not shut down.
This is not just an attack on a federal department. This is a gut punch to those we care about most: our children. Public school students, children with disabilities, and those in low-income areas are the Trump administration’s targets.
Advocates are urging you and your colleagues, friends, and family to call your members of Congress to demand this unjust — and unconstitutional — executive order be reversed and the myriad of department programs, functions, and hard working employees be protected.
Schott Foundation’s role as an intermediary means we support grassroots advocacy groups for the long haul, and our HEAL Together initiative funds frontline groups defending our public schools from racist and anti-democratic attacks. It’s an ecosystem of committed advocates that our nation needs now more than ever.
Schott’s Grantee Partners are Raising their Voices and Taking Action
Alliance for Quality Education:
“Public schools across the country have been subjected to a relentless bombardment designed to roll back the progress made by parents, students, and educators in establishing anti-racist, inclusive, truth-based education… We refuse to remain silent while they attack our children and attempt to divide and destabilize our schools and communities.”
Center for Racial Equity in Education:
“By dismantling the Department, Trump is gutting its ability to support public schools, stripping resources from students, and leaving states to fend for themselves… In North Carolina, the damage will be even worse because state lawmakers are refusing to fully fund our public schools while pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into private school vouchers.”
Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance:
“The truth is that Trump doesn’t have the power to do this on his own. We’re demanding that Congress stand up and protect our public schools and students by rejecting Trump’s plan and preventing any cuts to public education in the federal budget.”
“Closing the department will not improve school performance. …With each new decision by this White House administration, it becomes more and more clear that we must lean into our communities. Our collective efforts are what will hold us up in these challenging times.”
Funders are Taking a Stand for What’s Right
Nellie Mae Education Foundation:
“The dismantling of the Department of Education doesn’t change that we still deserve all the things that Congress called out as necessary in its creation to best serve the children of America. Familiarize yourselves with the original mission and focus. Its original cause for existence is just as important, if not more so, in today’s global economy.”
“To target programs promoting diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, and to strip the Department of Education of its full functions is an attempt to undermine and delegitimize the public promise of education in a vibrant, multicultural and multiracial democracy. There is no more important time than now for education philanthropy to renew, boost and even accelerate its activities and engagements in service to a bright vision where all learners blossom and prosper in their classrooms and communities, in education spaces and systems that facilitate deep and broad opportunities for achievement, mobility, fulfillment and human flourishing.”
“When our government takes a hard pivot in a direction that the vast majority of us disagree with, red flags fly and alarm bells ring. This is where we’re at as our new presidential administration moves to dismantle the United States Department of Education… [The department] gives every child across our country a fair shot. From small towns to big cities, it ensures the right to education for all. This especially comes into play for kids whose families have a low income and for youth with special needs who require additional support.”
Educators are Sounding the Alarm and Mobilizing
National Education Association:
“If successful, Trump’s continued actions will hurt all students by sending class sizes soaring, cutting job training programs, making higher education more expensive and out of reach for middle class families, taking away special education services for students with disabilities, and gutting student civil rights protections.”
American Federation of Teachers:
“Closing the Department of Education will not only create chaos but will put in jeopardy critical funding for students with disabilities and Title I support systems. Our more rural district uses these funds to ensure we can provide Title I teachers and support programs, including tutors, to our struggling readers.” — Heather Stambaugh, a social studies teacher in Ohio
