MONTGOMERY, AL – Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) President and CEO Margaret Huang released a statement this week strongly condemning the Trump administration’s actions to “dismantle the U.S. Department of Education by firing half the workforce.”
SPLC notes, according to Huang, the Trump administration’s actions are “an attack on every child in our public school” (and) “it would take generations to repair the damage of this action and to help our schools recover from the harm.”
The CEO adds the Department of Education is there to “ensure civil rights protections for all students including children of color and students with disabilities,” providing “much needed funding” to rural and low income students that “struggle the most.”
These actions would also have a significant impact on students by depriving “millions of students the opportunity for a higher education,” according to Huang, who argues that “education is the great equalizer in this country.”
SPLC added Huang states the statistics also indicate that more than 49 million students rely on public education, and she believes the impact of these actions will “cause schools across the country to shutter their doors, especially in the poorest regions of the Deep South.”
According to the CEO, this “reckless” move is “an unconscionable attack” on “struggling” communities, notes SPLC, noting Huang claims they “refuse to stand by” while the Trump administration is destroying “a key foundation of our democracy,” and “education is a fundamental right, not a privilege.”
