How The Dept. of Education Can Be Saved from Trump Assaults

Cut staff at the U.S. Education Dept. in half, and send programs they were overseeing to multiple other departments -- what could that  possibly go wrong for students and schools?  To examine what is at stake, veteran education journalist Louis Freedberg sits down with Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward, and Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, both of whom are at the forefront of efforts to save the Dept. of Education from extinction by the Trump administration.  Democracy Forward is now in court on behalf of the AFT and numerous other labor organizations and school districts.  Both Perryman and Weingarten argue that, far from being ineffective, lawsuits against the Trump Administration, especially when it comes to education, have been far more effective than is generally believed. But, they say, it will also take a multi-pronged effort around the nation to put pressure on elected representatives to save programs and funding that they say disproportionately benefit children and schools in "red" states. If you care about federal funding for schools, the fate of special education, and having a federal government that supports schools instead of attacking them, you’ll find a clear roadmap of what’s happening, why it matters, and what can be done.  Sign up here so we can keep you posted on future podcasts on how education leaders are responding to the mounting threats against public schools In the United States.