Indivisibles,

Today, Donald Trump signed an executive order that aims to eliminate the
Department of Education. Emphasis on "aims to." Trump cannot unilaterally
abolish a federal department created by Congress. 

Let’s be clear about what this executive order will do: it instructs
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to facilitate the department's
closure while playing legal tricks to avoid a court making them stop. This
approach indicates that the executive order is a preliminary step toward
dismantling the department, setting the stage for further actions rather
than causing an immediate shutdown.

Trump's goal here is to weaken the department (and thus public education),
starve it of resources, and scatter its programs to other agencies so that
Congressional Republicans can claim the Department of Education is
"functionally obsolete" and fire the kill shot with legislation abolishing
the DOE. We saw this process begin two weeks ago, when the administration
[ [link removed] ]laid off half of the department’s staff. 

So -- even though this began with executive actions, it has to end with
Congress. And that means we need to maximize pressure on Congress -- in
particular on Congressional Republicans -- so they understand there will
be an unimaginable political cost for this assault on students and
teachers.

Past Republican efforts to abolish the department have failed, but this
remains a long-term GOP goal, particularly under Project 2025. Lawsuits
are already being filed against this order. While they make their way
through the courts, we have to organize to save public education in
America. Skip to the end for a list of ‘to-dos’ or read on for more info. 

What would eliminating the Department of Education mean for students, teachers,
and families? 

Without the Department of Education, millions of students and families
will face immediate consequences. Public schools will struggle to maintain
quality instruction as federal funding disappears, leaving states to
decide how -- or if -- they will replace those dollars. The most brutal
hit will be on students from lower-income families, those with
disabilities, and those attending already underfunded schools. Among the
immediate consequences: 

* A massive decrease in federal funding will balloon class sizes, lead
to the loss of 180,000 teaching jobs, and increase racial disparities
in education. 
* Title IX enforcement will be gutted, rolling back protections against
sexual harassment and assault in schools.
* Accommodations for students with disabilities will be left to state
politicians, threatening these programs entirely (95% of students with
disabilities attend public schools).
* Students and families who receive support to attend college could lose
Pell Grants or federal student loans, leading to more students
dropping out, fewer choices, and fewer options for families.
* Many of the programs Trump wants to eliminate include key civil rights
protections and funding for disadvantaged students, which will
disproportionately harm marginalized communities.

Ultimately, eliminating the DOE is intended to critically weaken the
American public education system, one of the cornerstones of our
democracy. Which brings us to…

Why are so many Republicans eager to eliminate the Department of Education? 

The conservative obsession with eliminating the DOE is as old as the
department itself and a [ [link removed] ]central pillar of Project 2025. Opposition to
the department is not monolithic -- there’s a deeply racist strain that
opposes the department’s civil rights protections and efforts to
desegregate education; there’s a (related) Christian Nationalist strain
that opposes secular education and longs to see funding directed to
religious institutions. The Trump administration is staffed with extreme
ideologues who’ve long professed these views and have spent decades
seeding the ground for this move. This executive order aligns with the
broader conservative strategy to dismantle federal oversight in favor of
state control, allowing red states to defund public education with fewer
guardrails.

But there’s another, glaringly obvious explanation that undergirds so many
of this administration’s policies to date: Billionaires see a way to make
more money. 

Trump, Musk and their billionaire cronies want to slash funding for public
schools so they can lower their own taxes and cash in by starting
for-profit schools. Who will write the curricula for those schools? Why,
other right-wing billionaires! Whether it’s slashing education funding or
pushing the GOP tax scam, these billionaires are exploiting the "states’
rights" argument to justify policies that weaken public schools, harm
families, and consolidate their own wealth and power -- all while ignoring
that many states depend on federal education funding to keep their schools
running.

What you can do 

 1. Send an email right now and demand your Members of Congress oppose any
legislation that helps Trump weaken or abolish the Department of
Education. Republicans need the most pressure right now, but it’s also
important for Democrats in Congress to know their constituents want
them to fight.

* If you have a Republican senator or representative, [ [link removed] ]send them
a message now and let them know that we will hold them
accountable for supporting Trump's assault on our public schools.
* If you have a Democratic senator or representative, [ [link removed] ]click here
to send your message and demand that they fight back.

 2. First thing tomorrow morning, call your Members of Congress and make
sure they got your message. We need to light up the phone lines and
ensure they can't ignore the public outcry to protect our schools.

* If you have a Republican senator, [ [link removed] ]click here to be connected
automatically to their office and ask them who they're standing
with: Trump or students.
* Do you have a Republican representative? [ [link removed] ]Call them and demand
they pick a side.
* Got a Democratic senator? They need to hear from you as well --
[ [link removed] ]call them and urge them to take immediate action against
Trump's education cuts.
* How about a Democratic representative? [ [link removed] ]Make your call and ask
them to use every tool at their disposal to fight back.

 3. Make a lot of noise this week during recess. Every Member of Congress
is home right now in their states and districts, and they need to hear
how pissed their constituents are at Trump and Musk’s lawless attacks
on programs -- like public education -- that we all depend on. [ [link removed] ]Find
an event coming up in your area and force them to publicly choose who
they stand with: Trump and Musk, or the students, teachers, and
families they're supposed to represent. 

No matter what we do, Trump’s executive order is going to hurt students,
teachers, and our democracy. There’s no getting around that. But if we
fight back -- with lawsuits and with focused organizing -- we can mitigate
the harm as much as possible, beat back Trump’s assault on public
education, and ensure the DOE outlasts this administration.  

In solidarity,
Indivisible Team

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