By Brenda Ortega
MEA Voice Editor

MEA members were joined by parents, students and other community allies in conducting Walk-Ins to Protect Public Schools across the state on Wednesday as part of a nationwide collective action organized by NEA and AFT to spotlight a powerful—and empowering—sense of unity.

The morning events held outside school buildings before the day’s opening bell demonstrated the deep connection, commitment and concern that communities have for their neighborhood public schools in the face of threats to federal education funding and supports.

Speaking in the early morning outside of his school, Gabe Jauw—a senior at CA Frost Environmental Science Middle High School in Grand Rapids—said schools require investment as a foundation of society.

“In a time where everything is speculative, where people are unsure of their futures, their finances, everything, there is no safer investment than our youth and our students,” he said.

On Thursday President Donald Trump signed an executive order aiming to shut down the U.S. Department of Education, despite polling that consistently shows two-thirds of Americans oppose the idea. Experts agree such a move would require Congressional approval to be lawful.

If implemented, Trump’s plan would devastate local schools in every community, said Bob Callender, president of the Warren Education Association (WEA), speaking to a reporter at a WEA-organized walk-in outside of Cromie Elementary School.

His district in Warren would stand to lose $15 million, resulting in staff reductions between 150 to 200 educators, Callender said. “If we don’t receive those revenues, we can’t provide the services our community deserves,” he told CBS News Detroit.

“I think too often at the state and federal level, when we’re passing legislation, we don’t really know the true impact of that legislation because we’re not asking the teachers and educators in the trenches how that will impact them.”

Cromie Elementary Principal Jack Stanton joined the walk-in and echoed Callender’s sentiments. “Educational opportunity is not government waste,” Stanton said. “It’s something that is very central to what makes America great, and it’s what drives these people here every single day.”

Funding from the department keeps teachers, aides, counselors and other staff employed in lower-income schools serving rural and urban students throughout the country. Federal funding supports the school employees and programs that deliver education and services for disabled students.

From providing school meals that feed hungry children so they’re ready to learn to helping lower the cost of college and vocational training, the Education Department provides numerous supports so young people and the nation can enjoy a more prosperous future.

The education department exists—just as public schools do—to ensure access to opportunity for all: “all students, all backgrounds, all abilities, all zip codes,” said Dan Slagter, a Grand Rapids art teacher and treasurer of the Grand Rapids Education Association (GREA).

GREA Vice President Jane Niemann spoke of the life opportunities she received thanks to the Department of Education during a walk-in at Union High School in Grand Rapids where she teaches. A Pell grant and federal loans helped her attend college and become an educator.

“My parents never went to college,” Niemann told a reporter with M-Live newspapers. “Education, for me, leveled the playing field. It allowed me to go to school.”

Each generation of her family has risen up an economic level from the previous one, she said. “Education is necessary for us to have equity in our society and allows our students to change their circumstances.”

In Port Huron, an evening march and protest was held instead of morning walk-ins to allow more people to attend, and more than 100 showed up at McMorran Place, said Cathy Murray, a high school teacher and president of the Port Huron Education Association.

Others called to say they wanted to come but had illness or appointments or school events conflicting, Murray said. “We had an amazing turnout on short notice, and I was so proud to see it. People want to do more—they understand what’s at stake.”

Beyond bigger class sizes and losses of many local school staff and programs, shutting down the Department of Education would destabilize the education system to a breaking point in many struggling communities, Murray said.

“Public schools are the absolute beating heart of our communities. I don’t even want to think about a world without them.”

State Rep. Mai Xiong (D-Warren) attended the walk-in at Warren’s Cromie Elementary with her three young children to send a clear message, she said: Our children’s future depends on us standing up and fighting for them.

At a time when schools need more resources, not less, Republicans in control of the Michigan House recently signaled a desire to dramatically shrink state education funding, she noted.

“At a time when schools are already facing record cuts, we must do everything in our power to ensure fair salaries for teachers, free breakfast and lunch for every child, transportation, full funding for at-risk students, and access to continuing education in career and technical education and post-secondary opportunities,” Xiong said in a social media post after the walk-in.

Last week, Trump’s newly confirmed Education Secretary—pro wrestling promoter Linda McMahon—fired nearly half of the department’s workforce in an act she acknowledged was the first step in dismantling the department, even though Congress had not authorized it.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel joined 20 other Democratic state attorneys in filing a lawsuit challenging the firings as an unconstitutional attempt to circumvent the authority of Congress.

“Yesterday’s illegal action by the Trump Administration dismantles the Department of Education and leaves the nation rudderless to provide the necessary funding, support, and enforcement that all 1.4 million Michigan students rely upon,” Nessel said in a statement. “It’s dangerous, reckless, and unacceptable.”

In response to Trump’s signing Thursday’s executive order, MEA President Chandra Madafferi was part of a press release from Michigan education leaders questioning the move, saying: “Having begun my career as a special education teacher, I know firsthand the diverse needs of learners — and the importance of the funding that flows from the U.S. Department of Education. Eliminating federal funding, which makes up 15% of our special education budget, would be devastating for the over 200,000 Michigan students receiving special education services. From funding for low-income rural and urban schools to support for students seeking a higher education, the U.S. Department of Education is essential to student success in our state.”

Stay tuned at MEA.org/Protect-Our-Schools for more actions that you can join to help fight back against threats to public education.