Today, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, Democratic Rep. Jahana Hayes, and Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart spoke on Donald Trump and JD Vance’s extreme and unpopular Project 2025 agenda to gut public education. They called out Trump and Vance’s dangerous plans to eliminate the Department of Education, defund public schools, and reverse the Biden-Harris Administration’s student loan debt relief programs while rigging the economy for the ultra-rich.

Read highlights from the press call below:

• “[Trump is] saying get rid of what the Department of Education does, and what is that? It’s helping our young kids — our youngest kids — get preschool through Head Start. It’s helping our kids in K-12, our kids who are neurodivergent, our kids who have disabilities, our kids who are poor, our kids who are in rural areas, our kids who need to have books and supplies and food and meals in order to actually have the engagement and the opportunities they need. He’s basically saying ‘get rid of all of that,’” said AFT President Randi Weingarten. “That’s why I say: what Project 2025 does is take that ladder of opportunity. The thing that we say in America we want to do for all kids: to level the playing field, what he’s saying is ‘just get rid of all of it.’ That’s why we’re so angry about what he’s trying to do to young kids in America. To teachers in America.”

• “This plan, this Trump-Vance Project 2025 plan, would eliminate two-thirds of the funding from Title I school districts. What I can tell you is that when you are a teacher, you don’t pick winners and losers. You meet children where they are. So this idea of eliminating the Department of Education, of taking away the funding for our students with disabilities — what happens to those kids? Children in this country are entitled to a free and appropriate public education, a high quality public education,” said Congresswoman Jahana Hayes. “Under the American Rescue Plan, we were able to inject $130 billion dollars into education, into public education, and in many areas that just backfilled years of disinvestment — just put schools back at zero because they had been underinvested for so long. Their facilities were so outdated. We have to build upon that momentum. We have to make education a priority in this country to make sure that the next generation of leaders are well prepared for what lies ahead.”
  
  
• “Here in Iowa is a prime example of what education systems across America will look like if Trump and Republicans get their way. Gov. Kim Reynolds and Trump’s MAGA allies enacted legislation here that is siphoning taxpayer money from public schools into private schools – leaving public school students, particularly in our rural areas, with fewer opportunities and instead giving them to a select few. This is a system that Trump actually praised just a few weeks ago as a model for what he wants to see in every state across the country,” said IDP Chair Rita Hart. “It’s simple: If we want to make education accessible, create jobs that will give our children a future, and build an economy that works for everyone, we cannot let Donald Trump and JD Vance near the Oval Office. Vice President Harris and Governor Walz have committed their careers to supporting working families. They share our values and will make sure that our children have the opportunity to get ahead – from fully funding public education to putting more money in parents’ wallets to fuel opportunities for the entire family.”