Go all in with us to PROTECT PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Educators and parents know that America's students need more opportunities to succeed, and we need to strengthen our public schools where 90% of students learn.
Public education is the cornerstone of our democracy. All students—with and without disabilities, in every state and neighborhood—have the right to an education that imparts academic and life skills, instills a lifelong love of learning, and encourages them to dream without limits.
Unfortunately, anti-public education politicians and their billionaire friends are trying to dramatically slash funding that helps reduce class sizes, feed hungry students, provide special education services, and lower the cost of college and vocational schools while they dismantle the very agency that protects students—the U.S. Department of Education.
That’s why we’re coming together to protect and strengthen public schools for our students, families, and ourselves. Use our resources to learn more and take action.
What We're Fighting For
Funding for Students and Schools
Educators, parents, and communities are uniting for better school funding for our students. Join us to ensure all students, of every race and every place, have the funding they need to learn without limits and unlock their dreams.
Honest and Inclusive Education
By joining together, educators, parents, students, and communities can stand strong to build a brighter future with schools that are fully funded and places of liberty and justice for all—no exceptions.
Federal Education Programs
Students across the country benefit from programs run by the Department of Education. Learn more about what the department does why dismantling it will put students and families at risk.
Immigration Justice
We must uphold the Constitutional right of all children in the United States to receive a K-12 education, regardless of their immigration status. Find out how your school can become a safe zone for immigrant students and communities and take action for fair and just immigration policies.
Union Rights
The National Education Association is the largest labor union in the country. When we unite and speak truth to power, we can have an enormous impact on issues affecting educators such as wages, improved working conditions, and fully funded schools.
Fully Funded Schools, Not False Choice
Vouchers take scarce funding from students in public schools and give those resources to unaccountable private schools, a scheme that has been shown time and again to do nothing to boost student achievement.
What Can Educators Do?
From calling your member of Congress to hosting a community event, there are many ways you can show your support for public schools, students, and the Department of Education. Check out our latest opportunities for individual and collective action and don’t forget to reach out to family and friends. Studies show that educators remain a trusted voice in our communities, so use yours to lead others in protecting our students.
I'm Not an Educator. How Can I Help?
It has never been more important for people who do not work in our schools to have educators’ backs. NEA needs your voice and your passion. In addition to the actions and events listed below, you can support public education by becoming a Community Ally member of NEA. Make a $25 contribution and you will join an unbreakable movement to create safe schools, advocate for educator pay, and fight for equal opportunities for all students to thrive and succeed.
Engage Your Networks
Protect Public Schools Communications Toolkit
Use our messaging guidance and communications tools to spread the word about the movement to protect our students, public schools, and each other, as well as the actions we can take to stand up for students, educators, and our communities.
Host a Community Event
Bring the impact home with this step-by-step guide to hosting community events and actions locally.
Local Change Starts with You
Public School Strong provides tools and trainings to help communities advocate for equitable and fully funded schools at school board meetings and beyond. Learn how their network can help your local efforts.
How Much Funding Does Your Public School Get from the Federal Government?
Students in every school district, in every community, in every state, rely on federal funding for public schools. See how much funding public schools in your congressional district get from the federal government and how the programs help students.
Upcoming Events
New events coming soon!
Are the President’s Actions Around Public Schools Legal?
Since Inauguration Day, the Trump administration has attacked public education and inclusive policies, often in direct conflict with existing law. Here is a deeper look at the legality of the Trump administration’s actions.
Check out our latest news, guidances, and resources
Education Department Guts Special Education Staff Amid Government Shutdown
A lawsuit temporarily halted the cuts, but the danger to critical services remains.
Cafeteria Workers Say Feed Students, Not Billionaires
The “Big Beautiful Bill” will leave about 18 million children without access to school lunches.
The Trauma Immigration Raids Leave in Classrooms
‘Are they coming to take us away?’ asked one kindergartener, as immigration raids spread fear in classrooms.
In the Assault on Education Research, Students are the Victims
The Trump administration has decimated the Institute of Education Sciences, the Department of Education's research division. Students will feel most of the impact.
The Price We Pay for Vouchers
Voucher programs harm public schools and entire communities. Why are some elected leaders forcing them on us?
Audio
A Lawyer Explains: "DEI" and Anti-Equity Policies in Schools
In this podcast, Alice O’Brien, general counsel for the National Education Association, walks through educators' rights, risks, and opportunities to push back against anti-equality policies and fear tactics.
NEA Takes Action for Public Schools, Students, and Educators
Here's an overview of how we've been fighting for our students, educators, and schools.
September 10, 2025
NEA Joins Lawsuit to Restore Sensitive Locations Guidance
On September 10, NEA and AFT joined a lawsuit seeking to reinstate longstanding Department of Homeland Security (DHS) guidance that restricted immigration arrests at certain “sensitive locations,” including schools, hospitals, courthouses, and churches. The lawsuit argues that DHS’s revocation of the guidance violates the First Amendment, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act.
September 1-5, 2025
NEA President Goes on Back to School Tour
NEA President Becky Pringle visited schools and communities that are feeling the impact of an unprecedented assault on public education, including draconian budget cuts to programs that help students learn and punitive immigration enforcement activities. On her tour, which included stops in Iowa, Arizona, and California, Pringle highlighted the critical work educators and their unions are doing to meet their students‘ needs in the midst of these attacks. She also visited community resource centers and food pantries during each leg of the tour, presenting them with checks totaling between $10,000 and $15,000. Read more
May 2025
NEA Defends Inclusive Education—and Wins
In response to lawsuits filed by NEA and other organizations, three different courts blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict academic freedom and educational opportunity by silencing educators’ efforts to reach all students no matter their zip code, race or gender. The courts’ decisions block the U.S. Department of Education’s unprecedented threat to withhold federal funds from states and school districts that refuse to bow to the unlawful bans related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and as a result, the Department of Education also took down the "End DEI" portal on its website. Learn more.
May 22, 2025
Supreme Court Ensures Public Funds Go to Public Schools
The U.S. Supreme Court hands down a 4-4 ruling in Oklahoma Charter School Board v. Drummond and St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond, affirming the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decision that authorizing religious charter schools violates the Oklahoma state constitution, the state charter school statute, and the U.S. Constitution. “We are gratified that the Supreme Court did not take the radical step of upending public education by requiring states to have religious charter schools,” NEA President Becky Pringle said in response to the decision. Learn more
May 5, 2025
Federal Education Association Files Lawsuit Challenging Executive Order Banning Federal Workers’ Right to Collective Bargaining
The Federal Education Association, representing thousands of educators who work in schools on military bases operated by the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), filed a lawsuit to challenge Donald Trump’s executive order stripping federal workers of their statutory and contractual collective bargaining rights. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claims the executive order is a violation of the First and Fifth Amendment rights of educators and their union under the U.S. Constitution, as well as an abuse of authority by both President Trump and his Defense Secretary, Peter Hegseth. Read more.
May 1, 2025
Celebrating the Power of Solidarity on May Day
NEA leaders and members participate in a national day of action on International Workers Day to stand together for fair wages, respect, an end to the assault on immigrants, and more. More than 1,300 events, involving thousands of NEA members, were held in all 50 states—plus Washington, D.C. "Why do we march on May Day? We march because billionaires are defunding our public schools and breaking promises to our students," explained NEA President Becky Pringle. "We march on May Day because working people—teachers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, counselors—they all deserve more than just survival." Check out our image gallery
April 10 & April 24, 2025
Federal Court Grants Preliminary Injunction Against Department of Education’s Unlawful Directive
On April 10, in a major development in the lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Education’s February 14, 2025, Dear Colleague Letter and its April 3, 2025, Certification Requirement, the parties reached an agreement that blocked the department from taking any enforcement action under either directive until late April. On April 24, a federal judge granted a request for a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the “Dear Colleague” letter against the plaintiffs, their members, and any entity that employs, contracts with, or works with one or more of Plaintiffs or Plaintiffs’ members. The court’s ruling blocked ED’s unprecedented and unlawful attempt to restrict discussions and programs on diversity, equity, and inclusion in educational institutions, and its threat to withhold federal funding for engaging in such efforts. Read more
April 5, 2025
NEA President Speaks at Hands Off Day of Action
NEA President Becky Pringle joins NEA members participating in the Hands Off Day of Action to protest recent government actions and overreach. Pringle told the crowd of nearly 100,000 in Washington, D.C.: "These billionaires want to keep us divided so they can continue their power grab of our democracy. But in hundreds of towns across the country, we rallied to say: not on our watch."
March 24, 2025
NEA Files Suit to Defend Public Schools from Trump’s Reckless Cuts
NEA and a coalition of education, civil rights, and school employee groups that includes NAACP and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees filed a lawsuit in federal district court arguing that the staff cuts to the Department of Education left the agency unable to carry out many of its mandatory functions and put student civil rights in jeopardy. Read more
March 19, 2025
Educators, Parents “Walk-In” to Protect Public Schools
Thousands of educators and their unions hold hundreds of walk-in events across the country to send a message to elected officials: Enough is enough. Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s assault on public education will not stand. “Our kids spend so much time [in schools] every day. It’s a safe place, it’s a place where they get a high-quality education, it’s a place where they get food. Schools mean everything and we need to support them,” says walk-in participant and paraeducator Gary Cardillo. Read more
March 12, 2025
NEA Releases Open Letter on Behalf of Mahmoud Khalil
NEA publishes an open letter on the abduction of
Mahmoud Khalil from his home in Columbia University student housing. The Trump administration targeted Mr. Khalil because of his student activism and speech at Columbia University and is attempting to revoke Mr. Khalil’s legal status as a permanent legal resident of the U.S. without due process. The letter asserts that this action is in violation of First Amendment rights and is an assault on the core freedoms and values NEA holds as educators, students, parents, and community members.
March 5, 2025
NEA and ACLU Sue U.S. Department of Education Over Unlawful Attack on Educational Equity
In response to an anti-DEI “Dear Colleague” letter from the Trump Administration’s Department of Education that threatened to revoke federal funding for schools inclusive programs and curricula, NEA and the ACLU file a lawsuit to challenge the letter, arguing it imposes unfounded and vague legal restrictions and limits academic freedom. “The Trump administration is threatening to punish students, parents and educators in public schools for … fostering inclusive classrooms where diversity is valued [and] history is taught honestly,” says NEA President Becky Pringle. Read more
February 12, 2025
Rally to Protect Students and Public Schools
Parents, educators, community leaders and elected officials from across the country rally outside the U.S. Capitol – in rain and snow – to take a stand for students and public schools. The rally took place ahead of U.S. Secretary of Education nominee Linda McMahon’s confirmation hearing and amidst threats of a looming executive order to dismantle the Department of Education. “We want solid leaders who believe in the promise of public education, who listen to those of us who know the names of our kids who enter our school buildings every morning. We need leaders who will show up in the snow, march in the street with us, and understand that we must invest in our students, not dismantle a system,” says media specialist Turquoise Lejeune Parker. Read more
January 31, 2025
NEA Issues Guidance on Immigration Issues
In response to President Trump rescinding policy that prohibits ICE from conducting immigration enforcement in public schools, NEA shares guidance to help schools adopt policies to limit ICE enforcement on school grounds, protect student privacy, and reaffirm that education is accessible to all students, regardless of immigration status. Read more
NEA Takes the Fight to Congress
NEA speaks up for the rights of students. Browse our recent letters and testimony to Congressional leadership, and add your voice.
OUR VOICE = POWER Speak Up for Public Schools
When we unite and speak truth to power, we can have an enormous impact. Stay up to date on the latest actions you can take to protect and improve public schools for all students.
