Teachers' union strategizes on how to fight Trump administration

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The National Education Association hosted a webinar on Wednesday encouraging 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 on to school grounds, and so various people in the Trump administration would like to roll that back,” Jennifer Berkshire, author of The Education Wars, said.

Trump has said that his focus would be targeted deportations for violent criminals who have entered the country illegally, including apprehending terrorists and cartels first.

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Rebecca S. Pringle speaks on Day 4 of the Democratic National Convention

Rebecca S. Pringle, president of the National Education Association, speaks on Day 4 of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, August 22, 2024. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)

“There is a real role for teachers, including aspiring educators, to play in having conversations with those groups and figuring out… what can we do, within the school space, to try to make those kids feel less afraid,” Berkshire said.

She also called out Ryan Walters, the Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction, who said in September that he wanted to put a Bible in every school in his state.

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“The reality is that, like, whether it’s book bans or extremist candidates for school, school board, or a Ryan Walters type person who’s, you know, insisting that teachers teach from the Bible or lose their certification, uh, more and more, this really does feel just like a circus,” Berkshire said.

The National Education Association is an organization of over 3 million members. Their president, Rebecca S. Pringle, has previously called the Trump administration “tyrannical, deceitful, and corrupt.”

Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters in an interview with CNN host Pamela Brown discussing using the Bible in schools. (CNN screenshot)

Chelsie Acosta, chair of the NEA Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Committee and a board director for the American Civil Liberties Union, said that she is “concerned” for her community.

“When I started… with the ACLU, it was as Trump came in the first term, so it’s a little bittersweet that… here we are at the second term,” Acosta said. “I did not think that we would… be here, but here we are, and I think a lot of us are concerned about our own 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 board director for Student Washington Education Association, who gave a land acknowledgment.

“We begin by acknowledging that we meet on the traditional lands of many Indigenous peoples, land upon which the participants of this call live and work. I’m speaking to you all from the traditional lands of the Duwamish people, governed by the Treaty of Point Elliot,” Ehlers said.

“We honor this land’s first people and all their elders, past, present, and emerging, and we are called on to learn and share what we learn about the tribal history, culture, and contributions that have been suppressed in telling the story of America.”