Dear MoveOn member,
Donald Trump's Department of Education late this afternoon slashed its staff by about 50%, effectively shuttering the agency and gutting its ability to support public schools.1
The order has triggered mass layoffs, with over 1,300 workers losing their jobs with the flick of a pen, on top of hundreds of others who voluntarily left or were already fired.2
From day one, Trump has made clear his commitment to eliminate the Department of Education. Gutting this agency will devastate American public education—stripping away critical funding to support students with disabilities, students in low-income communities, and students who use federal loans to attend college.
This is a five-alarm fire. And we must fight back—immediately. The futures of millions of students, educators, and families are hanging in the balance.
Rush a $9 donation right now to help support our emergency campaign to stop Trump's attack on public schools and education in America. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately.
Trump and Elon Musk's attempt to shut down the Education Department is part of their plan to destroy American public education.
Trump has already threatened to strip away federal funding from schools that engage in diversity, equity, and inclusion. He's also thrown his support behind private vouchers, which use taxpayer dollars to pay for private school tuition and are funneled disproportionately to wealthy families.3
Crucially, these private schools are not regulated and have zero academic standards to which they are held accountable—and some wealthy families have even used taxpayer dollars to pay for flat earth curriculums.4
You read that correctly: Trump is pushing for a plan that will allow conspiracy theorists to use taxpayer money to teach children that the Earth is flat.
Perhaps worse, students who attend private schools with publicly funded vouchers are forced to sign away their federal education rights. This means that private schools, using taxpayer dollars, can deny accommodations to students with disabilities and can discriminate against students on the basis of their gender identity and sexual orientation.5
That will become the future of American education—unless we all come together to defeat Trump and Musk's extreme agenda.
That's why MoveOn is launching an emergency campaign to expose and stop the Republican agenda to erode the right of every child to receive free and public education and demand that Congress block the gutting or elimination of the Department of Education. We stopped Trump's attacks on education during his first term. And we can do it again—but only with your support.
Rush an emergency $9 donation today to help power MoveOn's campaign to help save American public education. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately.
Thanks for all you do.
–Kelsey, Allison, Oscar, Justin, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Education Department to Fire 1,300 Workers, Gutting Its Staff," The New York Times, March 11, 2025
https://act.moveon.org/go/203258?t=4&akid=428421%2E40999114%2ETckR7L
2. Ibid.
3. "Trump is pushing 'school choice,' but some Republicans aren't on board," NBC News, February 20, 2025
https://act.moveon.org/go/203177?t=6&akid=428421%2E40999114%2ETckR7L
4. "Flat earthers and universal school vouchers, a match made in Cuckooland (Arizona)," AZ Central, September 13, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/203178?t=8&akid=428421%2E40999114%2ETckR7L
5. "One year in, Arizona's universal school vouchers are a cautionary tale for the rest of the nation," AZ Mirror, December 11, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/203179?t=10&akid=428421%2E40999114%2ETckR7L
Want to support MoveOn's work? Donald Trump and his MAGA allies expect us to give up. But we will not give them what they want. We will never stop working to defend our fundamental freedoms and protect our democracy. MoveOn has been leading the movement against right-wing extremism for 26 years, and we promise you that we will still be here every step of the way forward.
Will you donate to power MoveOn's work to protect our freedoms and democracy under Trump's administration?
Click here to chip in $9, or whatever you can afford.
Contributions to MoveOn Civic Action are not tax-deductible for income tax purposes. MoveOn.org Civic Action - PO Box 96141, Washington, D.C. 20090-6141. ActBlue Civics Inc. is the merchant of record for all transactions made to MoveOn Civic Action using the ActBlue platform. ActBlue Civics Inc. receives and processes these donations before disbursing them to MoveOn Civic Action within 30 days of receipt. This email was sent to John xxxxxx on March 12, 2025. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. MoveOn's privacy policy was recently updated. To read our new privacy policy, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.