Hosted by the National Education Association Webinar Schools on Wednesday encouraged teachers to oppose President-elect Donald Trump on immigration reform, saying their goal is to make students who are in the country illegally “feel less afraid.”
“Right now, there are laws on the books that prohibit immigration agents from venturing into schools, so many people want the Trump administration to undo that,” said Jennifer Berkshire, author of The Education Wars.
Trump said his focus will be on targeted deportations of violent criminals who entered the country illegally, including Arrest the terrorists and gangs first.
Stephen Miller prepares House Republicans for Trump's immigration reforms in closed meeting
Rebecca S. Pringle, president of the National Education Association, speaks on the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, August 22, 2024. (Reuters/Mike Segar)
“There's a real role for teachers, including aspiring teachers, to play in having conversations with those groups and seeing… what can we do, within the school, to try to make those kids feel less afraid,” Berkshire said. .
She also invited Ryan Walters, Oklahoma's superintendent of public instruction, who… he said in September He wants to put the Bible in every school in his state.
“The reality is that, whether it's banning books or extremist school board candidates or a Ryan Walters-type person who, you know, insists that teachers teach from the Bible or lose their degrees, uh, more and more,” Berkshire said. : “This really feels like a circus.”
The National Education Association is an organization with more than 3 million members. Their president, Rebecca S. Pringle, you did it Previously called The Trump administration is “tyrannical, deceitful, and corrupt.”
Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters in an interview with CNN host Pamela Brown discussing the use of the Bible in schools. (CNN screenshot)
Chelsea Acosta, chair of the NEA's Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Committee and a board director of the ACLU, said she is “concerned” for her community.
“When I started…with the ACLU, it was like Trump came in the first term, so it was a little bit bittersweet…here we are in the second term,” Acosta said. “I didn’t think we would be here, but here we are, and I think a lot of us care about our communities and our students.”
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The webinar was opened by Caitlin Ehlers, a member of the NEA's Aspiring Educators Program and a board director of the Washington Student Education Association, who provided a ground acknowledgment.
“We begin by acknowledging that we meet on the traditional lands of many indigenous peoples, the lands on which participants in this call live and work. And I am speaking to all of you from the traditional lands of the Duwamish people, governed by the Treaty of Point Elliott,” Ehlers said.
“We honor the First People of this land and all their Elders, past, present and emerging, and are called to learn and share what we have learned about tribal history, culture, and the contributions that have been suppressed to telling America’s story.”
On January 20, 2025, Donald J. Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. (Trump and Vance transition team)
