Editorial: Kentucky’s Kevin Dailey and 16 State Teachers of the Year Speak Out United on Current Dangers Facing Public Education

Greg Kester, 2024 Missouri Teacher of the Year
Laura Jeanne Penrod, 2024 Nevada Teacher of the Year
Jessica May, 2024 Colorado Teacher of the Year
Louise Smith, NBCT, 2024 Mississippi Teacher of the Year
Dr. Mandy Vance, 2024 Oregon Teacher of the Year
Sheila Peterson, 2024 North Dakota Teacher of the Year
Catherine Walker, NBCT, 2024 Alaska Teacher of the Year
De’Shawn C. Washington, 2024 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year

We are a diverse group of teachers who represent classrooms across the nation, in red, blue, and swing states, from rural farmlands to busy urban centers and everywhere in between. Despite the miles that lie between us, we are united by the belief that public education is the foundation of opportunity, equity, and democracy.

At the present moment, our nation’s children, and their futures, are under attack due to the current administration’s hostile proposals toward public education: proposals that include the elimination of the U.S. Department of Education, expanding privatization, voucher, and “school choice” programs, threats to students’ civil rights protections, and the defunding of public schools. These attempts to withhold previously promised federal funding result in an immediate and present danger for many of our communities about food security, guaranteed transportation, mental health support systems, college and career readiness, and the promise of a well-rounded public education.

The proposed actions targeting the US Department of Education and public education as a whole, must be understood within a broader context: demonizing and threatening immigrants, the destruction of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs and policies, eliminating funding for national and international aid agencies that advance human rights, and the concentration of unprecedented power into the hands of an unelected or knowledgeable few come together to threaten the very foundations of our democratic society. Likewise, these attacks on public education strike at the very heart of the institution that makes the American dream attainable.

What’s at Stake?

Elimination of the U.S. Department of Education

On January 31, Congressman Thomas Massie (R) of Kentucky, at the guidance of President Trump, reintroduced a one sentence bill to “terminate” the US Department of Education. The US Department of Education was officially created in October 1979 when Congress passed the Department of Education Organization Act. As a part of President Johnson’s War on Poverty, the Department of Education’s purpose was to improve education conditions for all students across the nation. Today, the Department of Education works to promote a high-quality education and ensure equal access to education for all.

The primary mission of the Department of Education is to ensure all students have access to a quality education, but much of the work of the US Department of Education goes unnoticed by those not directly involved in education. Federal education grants, such as Title I, IDEA, Pell Grants, Perkins funding, and 21st Century Community Learning Centers, play a crucial role in ensuring equitable access to quality education across all states. These programs address systemic disparities and provide essential funding to low-income schools, special education services, teacher training, and career-technical education. Without these federal investments, state budgets would be strained, forcing cuts to critical programs that support disadvantaged students.

The elimination of these federal programs would deepen educational inequities, leaving struggling schools with fewer resources, limiting college access for low-income students, and reducing workforce development opportunities. States with smaller tax bases would be hit hardest, which would exacerbate the already distinct divide between wealthy and underfunded school districts.

A proposal to close the Department of Education (H.R.899) is a disastrous step that would pave the way for this administration to dismantle the public education system from which countless Americans have benefitted. Our nation’s children would be left with a federal government that has no system to ensure fairness for all students, ending protections for our most vulnerable among us; one that would look over those without wealth and privilege, placing priority on those with private interests; or simply denying access to those who need it most, allowing states to independently determine who receives a good education and who gets left behind.

This nationwide attack on our children is unacceptable.

Privatization, Vouchers, and “School Choice”

Combined with the assault on the Department of Education, states across the country are forcing voucher programs through their legislatures that perpetuate and expand the inequities in our nation’s schools that already exist – particularly for students in rural areas. Support for vouchers sends a message to our students and communities, and that message is clear: some students’ success is more important than others. Vouchers are a way to ensure rural and impoverished students do not have access to the same opportunities that people from more affluent families already enjoy.

The proposed amount of money vouchers offered will not cover the tens of thousands of dollars it costs to send a child to an academically rigorous, prestigious, parochial or secular institution, as seen in states like Iowa and Arizona. Families in rural school districts, low income urban areas, and students who receive special education services and those with exceptional needs, do not receive equal benefits. Special education services, transportation to and from school, and free and reduced lunch programs are all services that are sacrificed so that public taxpayers can provide what amounts to a tax refund for already wealthy families.

Public education funding is already inequitable across states and zip codes and vouchers will only make the problem worse by diverting resources away from schools that rely on state and federal funding to operate. Directing public funds toward private education will further widen the gap between the haves and have-nots, reinforcing cycles of poverty and limiting opportunities for students in communities that are already at a disadvantage. Instead of pretending vouchers are a solution, we must ensure that all students, regardless of where they live, have access to a well-funded public school held accountable to a common set of high standards. That is how we provide every child with a quality education that prepares them for the future.

This statewide attack on our children is unacceptable.

A Threat to Civil Rights

The Department of Education’s current initiative to defund and destroy public schools, as outlined in Project 2025, raises significant concerns regarding equitable access to quality education for all students. The proposal to eliminate Title I funding threatens to cut more than 180,000 teaching positions and adversely affect about three million students across the nation. Additionally, the plan to abolish Head Start programs would strip early learning services for nearly 800,000 preschoolers as they will not have access to resources to build early reading skills, critical thinking skills, and develop social skills with their peers. These measures proposed by Project 2025 and the Trump Administration undermine the foundational principle of equal and equitable educational opportunity for all students, which will ultimately extend learning and opportunity gaps for marginalized communities.

Additionally, attempts to radicalize our school systems are being set in place by our country’s top leaders. Recent executive orders, such as “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” (Executive Order No. 14190, 2025), have introduced challenges that, as advocates for a free and appropriate public education, we find deeply concerning. The policy proposals threaten the integrity of public education by promoting ideologically narrow points of view and would create conditions that prevent discussions about pivotal historical and social issues from happening, thus undermining teachers’ professional autonomy. Such narrow views have profound impacts for students. Students who do not see themselves reflected in school curriculum report greater instances of mental health struggles such as anxiety, report increased instances of self-harm, and generally experience worse academic outcomes.

These executive orders characterize discussions about race, gender, and systemic inequity as “indoctrination,” proposing to cut federal funding for programs that explore these crucial topics, including the teaching of AP African American History. By emphasizing a “patriotic education,” we risk distorting and white-washing essential elements of American history that address racial injustice, gender equity, and civil rights. Moreover, the reestablishment of the 1776 Commission and a push for “patriotic education” threatens to override the professional expertise of practicing educators who know what’s best for their students.

These ideological attacks on our children are unacceptable.

What Can We Do?

Invest In And Advocate For Our Public Schools And Teachers

We must join together to ensure continued access to Title I Funding, IDEA, and teacher preparation incentives because they are essential to maintaining a strong and equitable education system. Title I provides critical funding directly to schools that serve low-income and often at-risk communities, further ensuring all students have access to the same resources that wealthier districts might take for granted. IDEA protects vulnerable students with disabilities, guaranteeing them access to the services they need to thrive. Strong teacher preparation programs develop highly qualified educators who are ready to meet the needs of their students. Attempts to defund these programs or shift their resources toward privatization efforts will directly harm the 90% of American children who rely on public education to prepare them for an increasingly competitive future. It is essential that we continue working to close the teacher pay gap by showing support for bills such as the American Teacher Act and the RAISE Act. These acts have received bipartisan support and seek to raise the minimum salary and offer meaningful tax credits for teachers across the country.

Hold Privatization Efforts Accountable

Any school that receives public funds must indefinitely be held to the same standards of transparency, accountability, and accessibility as public schools, in addition to reporting academic performance, financial expenditures, and student demographics, ensuring that taxpayer dollars are used effectively and equitably. They must serve all students, including those with disabilities, English language learners, and those from low-income backgrounds. Without strong oversight, “school choice” advocates will continue to exclude students and operate outside the regulations that govern all of our nation’s public schools, all while continuing to receive public money.

Public education funds should be used for public schools.

Protect the Department of Education

Simply put, the U.S. Department of Education exists, and has existed for decades, to ensure that every child, no matter their ZIP code, has access to a quality education. Without it, states would be left to dictate education policy with no federal oversight, deepening inequities between wealthy and poor districts. Title I funding for low-income schools, IDEA protections for students with disabilities, and enforcement of civil rights laws would be left to the discretion of individual states, many of which traditionally underfund historically marginalized communities.

We cannot allow the federal safeguards that protect students, uphold civil rights, and ensure national education standards to be dismantled. Public education is not just a state issue. It is a national priority that impacts the economy, workforce, and future of our democracy. We must demand that our lawmakers protect the Department of Education and support its role in education to maintain opportunity for everyone, not to push a political agenda. Without it, we risk an education system where only the privileged have access to a fully funded, high-quality learning experience while millions of others are left behind. That is not a system that will produce a strong America.

In Closing And A Call To Action

At a time when the rest of the world is moving toward a future where healthcare, housing, and food are basic human rights to be protected by their democratically elected governments, the United States seems to be moving against the current. Regressive bills and policies that seek to monetize our students’ futures and privatize the very institution upon which our democracy rests are pushing us further and further away from the promises of a high-quality public education.

The fight for public education starts with all of us. Our country’s future is at risk, and we cannot afford to lose. The past decade has brought an erosion of the structures that strengthen our public schools. Democratically-elected, local decision making councils have been gutted in favor of less accountable control by a single executive in each district. The collective experience and expertise of professional educators are being deliberately overridden by laws intended to deny, distort, and misconstrue literature, science, and history. Our students are themselves being silenced and shamed into denying their own voice, identity, and agency, as lawmakers ignore student needs in favor of personal enrichment.

The pillage of America’s greatest institution must be stopped. The future of our children and our nation quite literally depends on it.

Back to Volume 61, Issue 1’s KEA News Homepage

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