Teachers to march against Trump’s education agenda
Teachers are planning to gather on the Mall in D.C. on Saturday to march in support of public schools — and against the Trump administration’s efforts to slash federal education funding and expand private-school vouchers.
Organizers of the “March for Public Education” say they expect several thousand demonstrators at the D.C. event, which is set to begin at the Washington Monument at 10 a.m. And they expect thousands more to show up for sister marches in 15 cities around the country, including Detroit, Austin, Miami and Lincoln, Neb.
They say they want to send a message that public education is essential to a strong democracy, and that the Trump administration’s proposal to cut federal funds by nearly 14 percent — while reinvesting in private-school vouchers and other forms of choice — is unacceptable.
“We’re educators that care about our profession, and we’ve just felt that public education is under threat,” said Steve Ciprani, a high school social studies teacher in West Chester, Pa., who is co-chairing the march.
Ciprani said he and other teachers were inspired to organize the demonstration after attending the Women’s March on Jan. 21, the day after President Trump’s inauguration. Two days later, he started a Facebook group dedicated to an education march, he said — and within a week, it had attracted 5,000 members.
The Women’s March took place just days after Betsy DeVos struggled through a rocky Senate confirmation hearing that turned her into an Internet meme and a household name. She was a Teachers to march against Trump’s education agenda - The Washington Post:
Demonstrators gather outside a D.C. middle school in February 2017 to protest the visit of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. (Amanda Voisard/For the Washington Post)
