Take Action: Protect the U.S. Department of Education!
The federal Department of Education is under attack. Recently President Trump issued an Executive Order instructing new U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education.” While the department can only be dismantled through congressional action, the administration has already laid off approximately half of the Department of Education Staff – severely limiting its ability to function.
The Department of Education provides vital services to our students, including important funding for our K-12 public schools. Federal funding through programs like Title 1 and IDEA made up approximately 10% of Virginia public school budgets last year, which adds up to the equivalent of roughly 8,950 teaching positions. Elimination of this funding would especially impact schools with a high share of low-income students and students with disabilities. While the administration has promised to protect Title 1 and IDEA funds, there is no guarantee that they actually will. Gutting the Education Department would also mean getting rid of the systems in place to make sure that the funding is delivered to schools that need it most. It’s unclear how funding would be distributed without the staff and systems previously in place to do so.
In addition to providing funding for public schools, the Education Department also plays a key role in tracking data, doing research, and making sure our schools are serving students with disabilities. Their work helps make sure that all of our students are being given the same access to opportunities. If we lose the national insights provided by the Education Department, our schools won’t have the tools and information that they need to give our students the education that they need to thrive.
Take action by contacting your legislators and urging them to protect the U.S. Department of Education:
Contact your legislator to make sure they support public school funding!
1) Where to Start
One of the most powerful advocacy strategies is to share your own experiences and to express your support for public education with your elected officials. Find out who your lawmakers are and their contact information here.
2) Next Step
Email and ask for a brief meeting to express your priorities for school funding and ask them where they stand. In your message, you can also include a statement of your support for school resource equity in Virginia.
3) What to Bring Up
The need to adequately staff and fund our schools is an ongoing issue in the state. Click here to learn more about school funding topics. Don’t be afraid to print and bring the fact sheets with you to the meeting!
Fund Our Schools is a statewide coalition of parents, students, teachers, and organizations who believe that every child in every zip code across the Commonwealth of Virginia should have access to a high-quality public education. The campaign officially launched in December 2019, and our advocates quickly began mobilizing and organizing across the state at budget hearings and throughout the General Assembly legislative session.
We are calling on lawmakers to fully and fairly fund public schools across the Commonwealth. The Virginia General Assembly has failed to fulfill its constitutional duty to adequately fund its public schools. Our campaign utilizes and values all of the advocacy tools that our organizational members and individual supporters bring to the coalition work. Our priorities are grounded in racial equity and and center the voices of students, parents, teachers, and those most impacted by underfunded schools.
