BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (WBNG) — Dozens of educators, current and former, gathered outside Binghamton High School to protest the possible dismantling of the Department of Education.
The protest comes after President Trump said he was newly confirmed Chief of Education Linda McMahon to eliminate the department.
“After 40 years of education, I feel it’s important that we cannot let this department fail or disappear,” said former educator Orazio Salati.
If the D.O.E. were eliminated, local educators said it would threaten public education in Binghamton.
“Public schools are the backbone of our country, especially for the Binghamton area,” said current educator Joelle Meyn. “We have so many underprivileged kids that any type of cuts to our education would be detrimental to all levels.”
The D.O.E. offers many resources, but its primary responsibility is finances. The department distributes billions of dollars in federal funding for grants and financial aid and provides money to K-12 schools through federal programs. The Trump Administration wants this to be controlled by states. Trump said the department has overstepped and has too much federal overreach.
Broome GOP Chairman Benji Federman echoed the sentiment. He provided the following statement to 12 News:
“While Gov. Kathy Hochul spends over $36,000 per pupil, nearly half of students in New York are not proficient in reading and math. That’s a crisis in education and more federal government control is not the way to fix it. Teachers, parents and students deserve more local control and more choice while politicians get out of the way.”
Local instructors said they are staying loud and clear so that state representatives and lawmakers in Washington feel their pressure.
“I hope they see that the people are really behind public education and that we’re going to go out to the streets and fight for it,” said former educator Pat Krizan. “We will be fighting for it in days and months to come.”
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