Murray: “It does not take a former teacher to tell you how obliterating the Department of Education hurts students. I think even a preschooler could tell you this is a terrible, terrible idea.”
Murray: “Trump and Musk don’t know what it’s like to count on their local public school having the resources to get their kids a great education. They don’t know why Pell Grants are so important. And they don’t care to learn why. They want to break the Department, break our government, and enrich themselves.”
ICYMI: Ahead of Confirmation Vote, Senator Murray Blasts Linda McMahon’s Nomination: “We Cannot Have a Secretary of Education Who Doesn’t Believe in Having a Secretary of Education”
ICYMI: Murray sends letter this morning demanding answers about Education Department’s reckless personnel plans
Washington DC - Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, joined Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Democratic colleagues at a press conference to blast President Donald Trump’s expected Executive Order calling for the abolition of the Department of Education—and his plans to begin gutting the Department with mass firings.
Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below:
“Let’s be clear: We may not know when, but we absolutely do know Trump is preparing to ask the Department of Education to slam every door they can in the face of our students.
“And let’s not pretend for one single second we think he is serious about doing so while following the law—because the very premise of his plan—shuttering the Department of Education—fundamentally goes against the bipartisan laws we’ve passed establishing and funding it.
“And it goes against a very basic principle in this country that we put our kids first, that we do everything we can to set them up for success, and that our future depends on whether our kids get the support they need to grow and thrive.
“It does not take a former teacher to tell you how obliterating the Department of Education hurts students. I think even a preschooler could tell you this is a terrible, terrible idea.
“Trump and Elon Musk want to do to the Department of Education what they did to USAID.
“They don’t care what they can legally do—they will act first and not care about the consequences.
“Trump’s move to dismantle the Department of Education, fire the people who keep it running, and terminate funding will mean fewer teachers at public schools.
“It will mean students stuck with outdated technology.
“It will mean less access to special education for students with disabilities—and states and schools will have to pick up the costs.
“It will mean no enforcement of basic education standards and no data helping us know what is working, and what is not.
“It will also mean more barriers keeping students out of higher education, fewer career training opportunities, and fewer watchdogs protecting our students from predatory for-profit colleges, from predatory student lenders, and from discrimination, harassment, and sexual assault on campus.
“That is all just the reality, and get ready for the disinformation now. Because you can bet when they realize how painful and unpopular this is: they are going to try and pretend everything is roses. They will say ‘oh this won’t go away’ and ‘oh we’ll just move this somewhere else.’ As if we haven’t already seen how they operate—with as much chaos, and pain, and damage as they can inflict.
“We know that playbook. We are seeing it everywhere.
“And as we saw from Trump last time, just because a program won’t disappear—that doesn’t mean it will still work! In Trump’s first term, he didn’t “abolish” Public Student Loan Forgiveness, it is also written in federal law, but he broke it as badly as he possibly could—to the point where 99 percent of applications were rejected—so how is that functionally any different?
“And that’s what Trump, Musk, and McMahon are planning to do to the entire Department: break it up into pieces and then break the pieces.
“Trump and Musk don’t know what it’s like to count on their local public school having the resources to get their kids a great education. They don’t know why Pell Grants are so important. And they don’t care to learn why. They want to break the Department, break our government, and enrich themselves.
“However, we are not going to let the Department and the programs it supports for our kids go down without a fight.
“I first got into politics many years ago to save an education program. I was told I couldn’t make a difference because I was just a mom in tennis shoes. But here is the thing: there are a lot of moms and dads in tennis shoes out there, and they do not play when it comes to their kids’ futures.
“I saved that program back then by getting moms and dads to join with me, speak up, and say ‘wait, our kids come first.’
“And we are going to fight for our students, teachers, and schools the same way by getting moms and dads—and, yes, students too—to speak up, by making clear: this is not some program you play politics with. This is about our kids. And we will not let anyone—not if they are the President, not if they are the richest man in the world—put our kids’ futures on the chopping block.”
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Senator Murray has been calling out the Trump administration’s devastating plans to worsen public education in America. She’s pressed the Trump administration on its plans to shutter the Department, blasted its dismantling of its research arm, and forcefully opuesto Linda McMahon’s nomination and plans to execute Trump’s disastrous agenda. This morning, she sent a carta to the Department demanding answers about its reckless personnel plans that will hurt students, parents, and schools.
Senator Murray has championed students and families at every stage of her career—fighting to help ensure every child in America can get a high-quality public education. Among other things, Senator Murray negotiated the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), landmark legislation that she got signed into law, replacing the broken No Child Left Behind Act. As a longtime appropriator, she has successfully fought to boost funding to support students and invest in our nation’s K-12 schools, and she has secured significant increases to the Pell Grant so that it goes further for students pursuing a higher education. Senator Murray also successfully negotiated the FAFSA Simplification Act, bipartisan legislation to reform the financial aid application process, simplify the FAFSA form for students and parents, and significantly expand eligibility for federal aid.
In March 2020, Senator Murray introducido los Apoyo a los estudiantes en respuesta a la Ley de coronavirus para apoyar a los estudiantes a medida que se propagaba el COVID-19, y procedió a trabajar al otro lado del pasillo para entregar recursos a las escuelas para apoyar a los estudiantes en el Ley CARES en marzo de 2020 y en diciembre de 2020 a través de la Asignaciones Suplementarias de Respuesta y Alivio del Coronavirus actuar (CRRSAA). En marzo de 2021, el Senador Murray ayudó seguro critical resources for K-12 schools in the American Rescue Plan, which was passed without any Republican votes. She also worked to require a portion of the resources are specifically used to address learning loss—and has empujado to ensure the resources are being used effectively to help students get back on track. In the years since, Senator Murray has fought to renew federal investments in our schools, ensure resources are used effectively and consistent with federal laws, and successfully defeated House Republicans’ efforts to gut federal educational funding as Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee in the 118th Congreso.
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