On Saturday, NYSUT’s Board of Directors introduced two resolutions to protect our students, public schools and public higher education institutions from federal attacks and funding cuts.
The Protect Our Students, Protect Our Schools resolution addresses more than 100 executive orders in the past 12 weeks aimed at eliminating the U.S. Department of Education and threatening the recission of funding and removal of grants for failure to comply.
On K-12 issues, Albany Public School Teachers Association President Laura Franz, a member of the NYSUT Board, spoke in support of the resolution. “This resolution is not a symbolic gesture,” Franz said. “It’s a line in the sand; a declaration of purpose from the people who have always stood between power and the powerless. … We, the educators, are uniquely prepared for this fight.”
Additionally, the Protect Our Colleges and Universities from Federal Attacks resolution stresses the dire impacts of the current administration’s freeze on federal grant funding for lifesaving research, attacks on academic freedom, and slashing of student aid that will further suppress college access and enrollment.
“Whether it’s in research, whether it’s in teaching, the work we do is about bringing the truth to the forefront so our students, as they become citizens of the world, can carry on our work in a fully democratic and just society,” said United University Professions President Fred Kowal.
Delegates unanimously supported both measures.
More details on NYSUT's resolutions and initiatives to protect our public schools, colleges and universities will be coming soon.