Member Benefits
How to Join
En Espanol
The Trump administration wants to make painful cuts to education and healthcare in order to slash taxes for billionaires. The administration’s plan to “block grant” federal education programs and gut the U.S. Department of Education would rob 26 million students living in poverty of critical services and 7.5 million students with disabilities of special education support. It would eliminate career and technical education for 12 million students, threatening their future job opportunities. Slashing Medicaid and student loans could strip healthcare coverage from 10.3 million people and end access to student loans, making college unaffordable for another 10 million working-class families.
By highlighting the harmful consequences of these attacks on public schools and students, we aim to build public pressure on policymakers and amplify the voices of those directly impacted.
We must:
- Pressure decision-makers: Urge elected officials at both the federal and state levels to oppose cuts to federal funding and block grants, both of which will hurt kids.
- Raise awareness: Educate the public about the devastating consequences of dismantling the Department of Education, gutting federal education funding and providing no-strings-attached block grants.
- Mobilize support: Engage a broad coalition of stakeholders—including educators, students, parents and community members—to participate in actions nationwide.
- Drive media coverage: Generate media attention through storytelling, coordinated events, rallies, etc.
- Lift up our stories: Highlight how these cuts disproportionately harm vulnerable students, including those from underserved communities and students with disabilities.
- Take action in our communities: Wage this fight in the communities where students will lose services they rely on, not just in Washington, D.C.
Tell Congress: No Cuts To Education
Stories
Educators are concerned about funding for disabled and low-income students.
Project 2025 would hurt my students
Rodney Fresh, a history teacher in Detroit, has seen firsthand what a high-quality education can do for his students, but he's worried.
America's 2024 teachers of the year worry education is under attack.
In the first 30 days of the Trump presidency the administration has issued a crackdown on undocumented immigrants and conducted a slew of firings in the Department of Education, the FAA and more.
Educators and parents call on WA lawmakers to up school funding
Hundreds rallied at the state Capitol, as bills add more than $2 billion in school spending await action in a Senate committee. The fate of universal school meal legislation is uncertain.
Protect—don’t wreck—our children’s futures
As a civics teacher, Randi Weingarten wants to use this teachable moment to describe what the Education Department does (and doesn’t do)—and what’s at risk if Trump and Musk succeed.
AFT Voices
There is indication that the current administration may dismantle the U.S. Department of Education (USED). It is still unclear what any such plan, if implemented, would entail. Although K-12 education policy is largely controlled by states, USED performs numerous very important roles in the education sphere. Arguably, the most important of these is the administration of federal funding for public schools, which constitutes roughly 10 percent of all K-12 revenue.
Some people believe that eliminating the federal Department of Education, which administers funding for the special education programs mandated by law, means kids without disabilities will get a better education, Kentucky paraeducator Dan Isenstein writes in AFT Voices. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.
In AFT Voices, special education paraprofessional William Schwandt explains why he’s deeply alarmed about federal money for public education, science and health programs being withheld by the Trump administration. He’s also deeply concerned about the funding cuts Congress pushed through last week—including reductions in Social Security Administration staffing, veterans’ care, rural internet access and family housing. These cuts will have serious consequences. However, his primary focus remains on education, where we are seeing a concerted effort to strip away federal support and accountability.
Speech pathologist Marilyn Jonas remembers when many of her students lacked health insurance. Back then, kids came to school sick because they had nowhere else to go for medical care, she recalls in her AFT Voices post. Students struggled with undiagnosed hearing impairments and vision problems simply because their families couldn’t afford tests or glasses. Thanks to Medicaid expansion, we’ve been able to change that reality for many of our students. But now, that progress is at risk.
English teacher Corinne Lyons is worried: Cuts to education funding are threatening her students. In this AFT Voices blog post, Lyons takes a look at how much the children in her home state of Michigan stand to lose, citing crucial services like mental health support, reading coaches, parent liaisons, career counseling and more.
As a school social worker in Chicago Public Schools, Stephanie Steele works with students facing immense challenges, providing social-emotional support, crisis intervention and mental health services. In her AFT Voices post, Steele says that what many people don’t realize is that her ability to do this work is directly tied to Medicaid funding. Without it, the safety net that keeps many of our most vulnerable students afloat could collapse.
Gemayel Keyes works in a school that heavily relies on Title I funding. In his AFT Voices post, Keyes writes that many people don’t realize that special education students are also Title I students, and the resources they receive are directly tied to federal support. The threat to the Department of Education isn’t just about special education—it affects every child in public schools.
Chicago Public Schools social worker Sheena Shukla believes the connections between education policy, funding, and student services are undeniable. In her AFT Voices post, Shukla says cutting Medicaid and Title I funding will have far-reaching consequences. Jobs will be lost, mental health services will be gutted, and children will be left without critical support.