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Educators in the United States are standing up to an avalanche of measures by the new administration of President Donald Trump, who has put privatization, dismantling the Department of Education, attacking immigrant students and families, abolishing civil rights, and restricting academic freedom at the core of his education agenda.

Trump has unleashed a series of directives that jeopardize the right to education in the United States, including an executive order to illegally funnel federal dollars to private schools and strip public school students of vital resources, gutting federal funding for students with disabilities, allowing immigration raids in school areas, targeting educators for how they teach history, cutting research, and curbing funding for school lunches for vulnerable students.

Immigration raids traumatizing school communities

According to the National Education Association (NEA), "since Inauguration Day, the White House has issued reckless, destructive, and even illegal directives to destabilize public schools and target some of our most vulnerable students." This was echoed by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) as expressed by their president Randi Weingarten who explained that "in the United States, we face an authoritarian threat unlike anything we have seen in our lifetimes. President Donald Trump is swiftly implementing destructive, dehumanizing, and undemocratic dictates."

Among the first steps taken by the new administration was to revoke a long-held policy against federal immigration raids in sensitive areas such as schools, hospitals, and churches. Typically, these raids are carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and often include using heavily armed personnel and military grade equipment.

“As educators, we are united in supporting every student—no matter the language they speak or their place of birth – and ensuring they have access to safe, welcoming public schools. We remain committed to using the power and strength of the largest labor union in the country to ensure every public school is a safe space for every student, and to uphold the constitutionally protected right of all students to access a public education,” said Becky Pringle, NEA President and Education International Vice-President.

Schools should be safe and welcoming places

These actions were also denounced by the AFT as permitting law enforcement to conduct raids on school grounds or in hospitals and clinics traumatizes children and communities.

“Schools and hospitals are supposed to be safe and welcoming places. A policy that allows law enforcement to destroy that environment will cause irreparable harm, indelibly scarring not only immigrant families, but all families," wrote Weingarten in a letter to President Trump. “These actions are traumatizing to all children, especially the young ones, and will leave them with fear and worry about whether they’re next to be taken away. They won’t want to go to school, and why would they when it doesn’t feel safe? This is cruelty."

Since the new policy went into effect, school staff have reported a decline in student attendance as parents are afraid to send their kids to school. Even extracurricular activities have suffered as there have been warnings that federal police could also board school buses to make arrests. The United Teachers of Dade in Florida recently denounced the treatment of a science teacher who was detained by immigration authorities and then deported despite having a legal work permit.

Activists have also reported ICE raids in Native American territories, including the detention of several members of the Navajo Nation, an Indigenous group which has inhabited the land since approximately 1400 AD.

Privatizing for the mega rich

In addition to the drastic immigration measures, Trump is also taking action to privatize public education and promote school vouchers. In a recent executive order, he directed several federal agencies to prioritize private and faith-based schools and redirect funds to promote voucher-based programs. This prompted a strong reaction from the NEA and the AFT.

"Instead of stealing taxpayer money to fund private schools, we should focus on public schools—where 90% of children, and 95% of children with disabilities, in America, attend—not take desperately needed funds away from them. If we are serious about doing what is best for students, let’s reduce class sizes to give our students more one-on-one attention and increase salaries to address the teacher and staff shortages. The bottom line is vouchers have been a catastrophic failure everywhere they have been tried," stated Pringle in response.

Weingarten added that “we already know that vouchers go mostly to wealthy families whose kids are already in private school. This order hijacks federal money used to level the playing field for poor and disadvantaged kids and hands it directly to unaccountable private operators—a tax cut for the rich."

The union leaders pointed out that voters overwhelmingly rejected billionaire-backed voucher scams in the November elections—even in states Trump won—as several privatization initiatives were defeated at the ballot box.

Dictating what should be taught in schools

In another executive order, Trump took direct aim at academic freedom and teacher autonomy, by pushing to deny funds to schools based on how they teach about issues such as systemic racism, slavery, and history. He also used the executive order to penalize schools who provide services to transgender students. The order was widely denounced by educators and human rights organizations describing the measure as an attempt by the President to dictate what "local schools can teach and which type of students belong in our classrooms."

“Instead of lifting students, Trump and his allies are shamelessly trying to restrict the freedom of educators to teach and students to learn, while also punishing educators for ensuring schools are a safe space where all students—regardless of gender identity or race—have a sense of belonging,” denounced Pringle.

Attacks on science and research

Another attack on academic freedom came with a presidential order to freeze billions of dollars in research, much of which goes to funding science programs and higher education institutions. One of the agencies affected, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), funds more than 300,000 researchers at more than 2,500 universities and other research institutions.

Due to the outcry, part of this measure has been modified, but the threat still remains.

“These funding freezes are not only attacks on the academic workers in these labs. They also result in very real harm to the public—to all of us. This is an unprecedented attack on public health, and on the integrity and independence of academic research", said Weingarten during a recent conference on academic freedom organized by the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) and Education International.

"Sadly, in our current illiberal environment, academic freedom is also needed to teach honest history, to uphold established scientific truths, and to fight the exclusion of and discrimination against marginalized communities," she added.

Abolishing the Department of Education

Trump has also made it a top priority to abolish the Department of Education, and the vital services the institution provides. Though he hasn't issued an executive order in this regard yet, he has indicated publicly that this is his intention.

The Department of Education was created by the U.S. Congress, and it would take more than an executive order to dismantle it. Both the AFT and the NEA are already preparing to contest his plan, stressing the negative impact on education. Lower-income students, students who need funding to pursue their higher education, and students with disabilities would be the most affected by the elimination of this federal agency.

In a recent display of authoritarianism, several democratic members of Congress were barred from entering the Department of Education to request a meeting, and armed guards were called to impede their access to the public building housing the agency.

Education and resistance

Despite the seemingly endless attacks, both unions have vowed to confront the avalanche of authoritarian, discriminative, and chaotic measures and defend students, teachers, and the values of public education.

“Educators won’t be silent as anti-public education politicians try to steal opportunities from our students, our families, and our communities across America,” Pringle said. “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.”

“We will continue this fight, alongside allies like our partners in Education International, because it is at the very core of who we are as a union and to the preservation of democracy”, added Weingarten.