U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT) said she’ll fight President Donald Trump’s executive order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.
Hayes is a former U.S. teacher of the year.
People have to learn how harmful Trump’s dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education would be, she said at a press briefing with state and local officials opposed to the move in Hartford on Monday.
“When you talk about it as the speech therapist in the school across the street from your house will no longer be there, then it’s a problem,” Hayes said.
“When you start to talk about it as the after-school program that runs in your neighborhood, or the bus that picks up your kid right in front of your door, will no longer be able to do that. Then people understand the direct impact,” she added.
She said she would reach out to Republican colleagues.
“I care about those kids in deep-red Louisiana as well. I care about the education of those kids in the Dakotas and on tribal reservations because they, too, are Americans, and they deserve it. So, for me, this isn’t about blue states and red states. This is about humanity and common sense,” Hayes said.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said only Congress has the authority to eliminate the agency, and Senate Democrats would block any Republican attempt to do that.
“The United States Senate needs 60 votes, Republicans have only 53. I promise you that Democrats will stand against this effort to destroy American public education,” Blumenthal said.
Connecticut officials say the U.S. Department of Education provides local school districts with more than $500 million each year.
There are more than 500,000 public school students in the state. And about one in eight depend on federal Pell grants for college.
