Educators nationwide are participating in a “Day of Action.” They’re protesting the Trump administration’s education agenda, including efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education and threats of mass deportation.
Educators from Hermes Elementary School in Aurora participated, rallying at the front of the building before school holding signs that read “Save Public Education. No Cuts. No excuses.”
The Trump administration recently threatened federal funding for schools with diversity programs.
Becky Roireau is the president of the East Aurora Council AFT Local 604 teachers' union.
The order was vague, but in a district as diverse as theirs, Roireau says orders like that make a lot of teachers anxious.
“To say," she said, "that you might get in trouble or lose your funding because you're just celebrating your students has got everybody on edge."
East Aurora relies on the federal government for around 15% of their funding, which Roireau says would be devastating to lose.
On top of rallying and chanting, the teachers spent part of the “Day of Action” writing to their legislators.
“It gives people something to focus on," said Roireau. "That there's something we can do, even if it's a little thing. You can share a story; you can write a letter.”
The “Protect Our Kids” campaign is led by the American Federation of Teachers, one of the nation’s largest teachers' unions.
