Commentary: WASHINGTON—NEA President Lily Eskelsen García today released the following statement regarding President Donald Trump’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
“It’s déjà vu all over again in America. Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos are at it again. They are playing politics with the lives of millions of students and working families with their latest reckless and misguided budget proposal, which is nearly identical to what Congress rejected last year.
“Once again, Trump and DeVos want to slash billions from public education and force families to pay more for college. They want to redirect scarce public dollars from public schools to private schools with their voucher scheme despite a mountain of research that shows that vouchers do not work, they undermine accountability to parents and taxpayers, and they have failed to provide opportunity to all of our students.
“Congress again should stop Trump’s proposal to eliminate critical education programs for students. In real life, cuts to keep class sizes manageable, improve teacher training and development, after-school programs, and student loan forgiveness, means that students and educators are robbed of the tools they need to do their jobs and get ahead.
“In addition to rejecting Trump’s request to implement his discriminatory, harmful, and anti-immigrant agenda, Congress should reject his proposal to again repeal the Affordable Care Act, and make deep cuts to Medicaid and Medicare, threatening sources of critical care for millions of Americans. And Trump’s infrastructure plan lacks the kind of actual federal investment needed and is silent on school modernization. Another missed opportunity.
“It is commonly stated that the definition of insanity is repeating the same mistakes over and over again expecting different results. Given their latest budget, Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos simply have not learned that valuable lesson. Congress must do what is right, ignore the Trump budget, and invest in our students, schools, and working families.”