NEA President: America’s students would pay the price for Trump’s latest gift to billionaires

National Education Association President Becky Pringle released the following statement reacting to Donald Trump’s expected Executive Order pushing to end the Department of Education – his latest extreme action that hurts our students and public schools: 

“Most of us believe every student deserves opportunity, resources, and support to reach their full potential no matter where they live, the color of their skin, or how much their family earns.  

“Congress created the Department of Education, and only Congress has the power to end it. And the vast majority of Congress – including 60 House Republicans - rejected gutting public education last session, knowing it would only hurt students and is deeply unpopular with parents and educators. 

“Students across the country benefit from programs run by the Department of Education, especially lower-income students in rural, suburban, and urban communities, students who qualify for federal grants or loans to receive career training or attend 2- and 4-year colleges, and students with disabilities. 

“If it became a reality, Trump’s power grab would steal resources for our most vulnerable students, explode class sizes, cut job training programs, make higher education more expensive and out of reach for middle class families, take away special education services for students with disabilities, and gut student civil rights protections. Americans did not vote for, and do not support, ending the federal government’s commitment to ensuring equal educational opportunities for every child. 

“This comes just days after an Executive Order designed to drain resources from our public schools through vouchers. The intent is clear: starve our public schools of the resources our students need and funnel these resources to discriminatory and unaccountable private schools or tax cuts for billionaires who funded his campaign.   

“90% of American students and 95% of students with disabilities learn in our public schools. Eliminating the Department of Education is equivalent to giving up on our future. Strong public schools are essential to strong communities. Our students need more opportunities, more resources, and greater protections, not less. 

“Educators won’t be silent as anti-public education politicians try to steal opportunities from our students, our families, and our communities across America. Together with parents and allies, we will continue to organize, advocate, and mobilize so that all students have well-resourced schools that allow every student to grow into their full brilliance."  

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing more than 3 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, students preparing to become teachers, healthcare workers, and public employees. Learn more at www.nea.org