| Dear Members,
The Trump Administration is attempting to redefine public education by extorting local school districts into adopting a reality that is rooted in ignorance and harmful to our students. The BTU, AFT-MA and educator unions, families, students and community groups across the country will participate in a national day of action on March 4th in response to the Trump Administration’s brazen attacks on public education which will harm our students and our schools.
Educators will unite and use our voices on March 4th to fight for our students:
- All educators and allies should wear Red for Ed
- Send a letter to your congressional representative demanding support for federal education funding.
- Share your personal story on social media to raise awareness and spread our message. If you’re looking for tips, the AFT is also looking for powerful stories on the real-life impact of these funds on students, educators and families— share your story here.
- Join the BTU, AFT Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Teachers Association and the Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance for a virtual town hall to learn exactly how federal attempts to gut the Department of Education would harm Massachusetts students—and build a path forward together. RSVP here to join
What’s happening?
When the Department of Education was established by Congress in 1979, the first purpose of the department was defined as: ‘to strengthen the Federal commitment to ensuring access to equal educational opportunity for every individual.” Within the past two weeks, it has become clear that the Trump Administration has different purposes in mind.
On February 14th, the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights distributed a “Dear Colleague” letter which offered a blatantly disingenuous interpretation of the 2023 Supreme Court ruling Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard as a justification to punish any public school district in the country that dares to acknowledge an individual’s race has an effect on their access to opportunity or equal treatment.
The department gave school districts 14 days to remove any policy that may violate its vague dictate. If districts don’t comply, the Department–which was created to ensure equal educational opportunity– will withhold federal funding that supports students who have disabilities (IDEA), live in poverty (Title I) , or both. To get an idea of what is at stake for Massachusetts, the Education Law Center compiled these projections of potential funding losses for IDEA funding and Title I funding.
In case their intent wasn’t clear, the Trump administration announced yesterday that it has launched an “End DEI” website which allows any individual to anonymously file a complaint against a school district “to report illegal discriminatory practices at institutions of learning.” The US Department of Education is setting policies based on an incorrect interpretation of law to empower anonymous individuals to force dedicated educators to adopt a discriminatory ideology and neglect the needs of students or else face potential termination and prosecution.
As public educators, we have dedicated our lives to ensure that all students have access to resources which meet their needs regardless of their respective backgrounds. We cannot stand by while a small group of individuals attempt to use our government as a vehicle of suppression and division. On March 4th we will stand up, speak out, and take action together. We need you to wear Red for Ed, share your stories, and attend the Town Hall that evening.
In solidarity,
Erik Berg
BTU President |
