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Group of educators rally for public schoolf unding

Toolkit: Ideas to Organize Locally to Protect Students and Public Schools

Bring the Impact Home
Recess (when members of Congress are back in their district to hear from constituents) is a great time to raise visibility in your community about how proposed federal funding cuts will impact our public schools, students, and families.

What's in this Toolkit

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Ways to Make an Impact

Choose a type of event

Schedule an in-person district office meeting. If a formal appointment request is ignored, do a walk-in visit. Consider a weekly or even daily visit with 3 to 5 different people each time to keep up the pressure.
Host a roundtable discussion with members of Congress. Invite educators, parents, local elected officials, community leaders, and/or people with good connections to the member of Congress. Be intentional about coalitions engaged in the meetings (i.e. USDA cuts and school meals, veterans groups, rural communities)
Host a house party to raise awareness about critical threats to students, families, and public schools. Check out our guide for ideas and more information.
Host a rally or press conference with educators and community partners
Host or join a town hall. This can be done in conjunction with partners and with or without Congressional representative participation (thus resulting in very different experiences). Organize a group of educators to show up and speak. (This can be a particularly effective earned or social media opportunity.)
Write letters to editor or op-eds in local news outlets
Speak at a school board meeting and ask how they will fill in funding gaps if the federal government cuts funding for public school programs. Ask what they will do to prevent the cuts.
Host a local association listening session with NEA and state association executive committee members, state and local presidents, local leaders, elected officials, etc., to serve as an opportunity to educate members and parents on budget or member voice.

Set goals for your event. This can include:

Educate the public about the threats. Make them real by sharing personal stories about how they impact students’ lives and disproportionately harm our most vulnerable students.
Share data about federal government funding for your area’s public schools. Show how if Congress cuts this funding, the local government will have to fill in the gaps or the programs will be lost or greatly reduced. Share the impact that will have on students.
Amplify the voices of those impacted.
Engage partners and other stakeholders, including educators, students, parents, and community members.
Drive media coverage. Generate media attention locally by inviting reporters to cover your events and/or tell your story.
Build pressure on policymakers by highlighting the harmful consequences of these attacks on public schools.

Topics to Discuss at Your Event

a black girl in a pink sweater sits at a desk holding a pencil, surrounded by other students

Education Funding

Federal funding for public schools could be slashed and repurposed as block grants that can be used almost any way—including as voucher programs.
Learn more
supreme court vouchers

National Voucher Funding

The Educational Choice for Children Act would divert $100 billion in taxpayer money to private and religious schools. Its sponsors want it included in the 2025 reconciliation bill.
Learn more
A child, holding a teddy bear, during a doctor's visit.

Cuts to Medicaid and Children's Health Care

Slashing support by up to $880 billion, as Republican budget numbers demand, would have a big impact—on health, education, and our economy.
Learn more
NEA State Leaders with Rep. John Larson

Organizing an Event?

Let us know what you are planning for the Congressional recess so we can follow up with additional materials and coordination.

Messaging

By taking on the unpopular plan to gut public education, we empower audiences to transform their unease into action that protects and strengthens public schools. 

Do
Put faces and names on issues, including sharing the cost for students, educators, and communities when public education and related support are gutted.
Don't
Just share a laundry list of programs and institutions that are at risk.
Because
Many people don’t connect the dots between policies and the impact they have on our students, educators, and communities. Pell Grants, IDEA, and Title I are popular because they help people succeed. When we start with the people and how policies impact them, it is easier to connect our fight to the concrete impact in our own backyards.
Do
Be aspirational. Remind audiences of our values and what we know is possible for our children through public schools.
Don't
Succumb to hopelessness. It’s important to share the news, but we want to ensure we don’t overwhelm people rather than inspiring them to act.
Because
It is easy to feel powerless, but when we unite, we win. These threats have happened before, and we have successfully beaten them back. We are excited to protect public schools so we can realize our shared vision for the future of public education.
Do
Name and place the burden of responsibility on the leaders who must choose to either help or harm public schools when they vote on budgets and policies.
Don't
Forget to name the larger why: Our schools are being targeted to fund another tax cut for billionaires and their friends.
Because
Contextualizing the threats against public education places the burden of responsibility on those in power and delegitimizes billionaires who seek profit over policies that benefit our communities.

Remember to

Seize this moment to make clear that gutting the Department of Education means gutting public education for the children and students in our communities. 
Share how it will affect neighborhood schools and the day-to-day lives of people we know: larger class sizes, less support, and fewer opportunities for students - especially students with disabilities and students from lower-income families.

Sample messages

The most effective messages are personal, but use these points to to drive home the impact of education cuts on students and your public school.
1
2
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4
5
6
1
Core Message
  • Most Americans 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. 
  • Public schools and the Department of Education exist because students, with and without disabilities, in every state and neighborhood have the right to an education that imparts academic lessons, life skills, and a lifelong love of learning.  
  • Educators and parents know our students need more opportunities to succeed, and we need to strengthen our public schools where 90% of students—and 95% of students with disabilities—learn.  

 

  • All students benefit from programs run by the Department of Education, especially lower-income students and their families in rural, suburban, and urban communities, students and families who qualify for grants or loans to attend career training or 2- and 4-year colleges, and students with disabilities.  
  • Donald Trump is letting Elon Musk and his billionaire friends raid the Department of Education to fund their tax cuts. But our children and families will pay the cost.  

 

  • Billionaire Elon Musk wants to gut public education and let states turn federal support into private school vouchers. Without any strings attached to federal funds, public schools will lose money, even though they serve 90 percent of all students and 95 percent of all students with disabilities. Private schools will get public money and students with disabilities or from low-income families will be left out.  
  • If Musk stops the work the Department does to support students, public school class sizes will get larger, support for students with disabilities will shrink, and rural schools will close.  

  • Students with ADHD, autism, or other disabilities may lose programming, leaving their parents without support. Students and families can't afford to pay for billionaires' tax cuts. 

 

  • Text ACTION to 48744 to join educators, parents, grandparents, and allies. Together we will protect students and strengthen public schools. Anti-public education politicians have an agenda that will have devastating consequences for students, families, & educators, and we are putting an end to their effort to dismantle public schools. We can stop Musk from gutting public education to give tax cuts to billionaires. 

2
Responding to “Block Grants” or “Bring Funding Directly to States and Families”

  • We already make the big decisions here about our public schools, including curriculum and how funding is spent. Parents and educators are experts in what students need, but Musk is ignoring us and hurting public schools by letting some politicians transform federal support into anything they want, even vouchers.  

  • Elon Musk and Donald Trump are taking a wrecking ball to public schools and cutting funding so they can give tax cuts to their billionaire friends. Without any strings attached, whatever funding is sent to the states can easily be turned into private school vouchers. Students with disabilities, and students from rural areas or low-income families will pay the price. 

  • They are shifting money out of the Department of Education to take funding from students in neighborhood schools and funnel it to voucher programs that fund private schools. States will take funding from public schools that serve 90% of students, and 95% of students with disabilities, and spend it on vouchers instead. 

Protecting public schools and supporting students isn’t a partisan issue. Republicans like Margaret Spellings, President George W. Bush’s Secretary of Education, says these sudden changes to how we fund public schools will be costly, complicated, and lead to children falling through the cracks. Education Secretaries for Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush also oppose Trump and Musk’s efforts to gut public education. 

3
What we’re for: Strengthening public schools, more opportunities

  • We should focus on strengthening public schools so we can inspire every student to reach their full potential, not draining more resources from the classrooms and campuses where our kids learn and grow.   

  • 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.  
  • Public schools exist because students, with and without disabilities, in every state & neighborhood deserve an education that imparts academic lessons, life skills, and a lifelong love of learning.  
  • America's students need more opportunities to succeed, and we need to strengthen our public schools where 90% of students—and 95% of students with disabilities—learn. 
  • Educators are deeply committed to the success of every color, background, and ZIP code. Students and their needs are at the center of everything we do. Because all students deserve a high-quality education, safe and welcoming public schools, and the support they need to thrive. 
4
Show how schools and educators will pay
  • Public education cuts lead to larger class sizes and less support for students and educators. 
  • Public schools that serve lower-income students and their families in rural, suburban, and urban communities throughout the country would lose needed funding.  
  • Students and families who receive support to attend college could lose Pell Grants or federal student loans, leading to more students dropping out, fewer choices, and less options for families. 
  • Students with disabilities and their families would lose the support they need at school and at home. 
  • Students with disabilities and lower-income students and their families would lose access to Upward Bound, TRIO and other programs that encourage them to participate in higher education.  
5
Show how daily lives will change if they gut the Dept. of Education
  • Greater burdens and more daily stress with even less support and resources. 
  • Fewer trained colleagues and modified instruction materials to deal with student mental health and behavioral challenges, with less support for school-based mental health services. 
  • Cuts to afterschool and summer programs will undo the progress educators make with tutoring, reductions in chronic absenteeism, and providing skill-building programs. 
  • Our neighbors and communities will hurt as Trump and Musk’s cuts mean public school staff lose their jobs. 
6
Make it personal by staying student-centered & local

Nothing is more persuasive than showing people what gutting public education means in their or their children's lives, our communities and states. Focus on individuals (not institutions) and on people (not policies). Look up local funding data here.

  • As the proud product of public schools in [CITY], I know how much our neighborhood depends on... 
  • I attended [XXX Elementary], and every student there now should have the same opportunities I had... 
  • My child has a disability and qualifies for an Individualized Education Plan. I am terrified my kid won't be able to reach their full potential if we lose the support we worked so hard to receive. 
  • My [niece] is in high school. She deserves the same Pell Grants that helped me achieve my dreams to... 
  • 90% of students in American learn in a public school classroom, but I want you to think about just one student you know and the opportunities that they deserve but will lose if they gut public education. 
  • Growing up, school was where I could dream. Students today deserve to dream and to succeed. 
Heatmap of federal funding for public schools

How much funding do your public schools get from the federal government?

Use this data to support your argument against cutting education funding.

Social Media

Share These Links And Actions

Tag @neatoday and #protectstudents so NEA can amplify the content you post.
A crowd of people holding various signs about supporting public education.

Write Congress

Stop the Destruction of the Department of Education
nea.org/pushback
A crowd of people holding various signs about supporting public education.

Call Your House Rep

Text PROTECT to 48744 and tell your House representative to protect federal funding for public schools—and the impact it will have on students.
Text PROTECT to 48744
A crowd of people holding various signs about supporting public education.

Protect Public Schools

Our main hub for news, information, and action.
nea.org/protect

Content Ideas

Video Icon
Record a video sharing how schools in your area will be impacted if Congress cuts or eliminates federal funding. Be specific and talk about the impact of how certain programs Film the video in portrait mode (not landscape). Make sure it is no longer than 90 seconds. Share to Instagram Reels, Facebook Reels, TikTok, and/or YouTube Shorts, and other platforms. Tag @neatoday and #protectstudents so we can re-share your video.
Hashtag icon
Tag @neatoday and #protectstudents so NEA can amplify the content you post.

Social Graphics

How much funding does your area's public schools get from the federal government?
How much funding does your area's public schools get from the federal government?

map of federal funding for public schools by congressional district
map of federal funding for public schools by congressional district

Impact federal funding for public schools
Impact federal funding for public schools

Text ACTION to 48744
Text ACTION to 48744

Text ACTION to 48744
Text ACTION to 48744

Are you an affiliate?

Jump to updates, opportunities, and resources for NEA state and local affiliates.
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Launch Your Own Campaign

Use our issue-based communications toolkits 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.
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Great public schools for every student

The National Education Association (NEA), the nation's largest professional employee organization, is committed to advancing the cause of public education. NEA's 3 million members work at every level of education—from pre-school to university graduate programs. NEA has affiliate organizations in every state and in more than 14,000 communities across the United States.
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