AFT's "Protect Our Kids" Day Fights Trump-Musk Education Cuts

Educators Rally Nationwide to Oppose Proposed Education Cuts

WASHINGTON—On Tuesday, March 4, a significant mobilization took place as educators, students, parents, and community supporters organized over 2,000 events and social media actions nationwide. This initiative was part of the American Federation of Teachers’ (AFT) 1.8 million-member “Protect Our Kids” Day of Action, aimed at challenging President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's proposed education budget cuts. Participants urged lawmakers to safeguard educational funding and resist measures that would prioritize tax cuts for billionaires at the expense of millions of students.

According to AFT President Randi Weingarten, the proposed cuts to the Department of Education would severely impact opportunities for low-income children, students with disabilities, and first-generation college attendees. Communities might face the need to increase property taxes to maintain essential support services for these vulnerable groups, as Weingarten explained during a virtual news conference.

"This is robbing Peter to pay Elon," Weingarten stated. "It's just really reckless and cruel that we would do this to our schoolchildren. Kids really need this funding, and we’ve fought for years to make sure they get it."

Highlighting the widespread discontent, Weingarten attended rallies in Albany and New Haven, Conn., emphasizing, "The message is really clear and simple: It’s not okay to rob students of the education they need and deserve in order to give big tax cuts to the wealthy. What you’re seeing on the ground across America are people—parents and teachers, together—saying our kids need these services. We cannot cut them."

In Cincinnati, a protest was staged outside the residence of Vice President JD Vance, who has publicly reflected on his impoverished upbringing in Ohio through his memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy." Ohio Federation of Teachers President Melissa Cropper remarked, "But yet he is willing to stand by now and turn his back on his working-class roots in order to line the pockets of the wealthy. That is not acceptable to us here in Ohio."

National Education Association President Becky Pringle added, "Americans love their public schools, and they want to make sure they have more resources, not less."

Jessica Tang, AFT Massachusetts President, voiced the necessity of federal support, stating, "We need the support of the federal government to be able to provide all of the services that our students deserve."

The proposed budget reductions from the Trump administration threaten to dismantle vital federally funded education programs, which 26 million impoverished students rely on for essential literacy and math skills through Title I. Special education services for 7.5 million children with disabilities are also at risk. Rachelle Crow-Hercher, co-director of the Michigan Education Justice Coalition, shared her family's reliance on public school services, saying, “The worry is without funding or the department, special education services will cease to exist for families like mine. No billionaires’ tax break is worth sacrificing the education of our children.”

Additionally, the administration's plan could hinder pathways to middle-class jobs by cutting career and technical education for 12 million students, while diminishing Pell grants and student loans may render college unaffordable for 10 million working-class families. The proposal to redirect federal funds through private school vouchers further exacerbates concerns by potentially diverting resources from public schools.

Sonia Vasquez-Luna, executive board member of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, expressed her apprehension: "I can envision school counselors and social workers—essential lifelines for students navigating both language and cultural barriers—being let go, leaving Latino families without the guidance they relied on. This isn't just a distant policy decision, it is a direct attack on the future of our communities."