Advocates for Connecticut students gathered Tuesday to oppose actions by the Trump administration they say will harm LGBTQ+ students, immigrant students and school budgets.
“We are committed to protecting our schools and our students,” said Leslie Blatteau, president of the New Haven Federation of Teachers and chair of the steering committee of advocacy group Connecticut For All, which organized Tuesday’s press conference alongside the American Federation of Teachers of Connecticut.
“We will not tolerate these unprecedented attacks on public schools, which are the foundation of our democracy,” Blatteau said. “And we will not tolerate these attacks on our students, who will sustain our democracy in the future.”
Speakers at the event at the Meriden Public Library highlighted several actions by or stated goals of the White House as cause for concern. One of them is Donald Trump’s campaign promise to shutter the U.S. Department of Education.
“We know that without the resources that come from the Department of Education, students in communities throughout Connecticut would have a devastating experience in their schools,” Blatteau said. “We need resources from the federal government to be able to continue to provide the services that we are.”
Protecting vulnerable students
Blatteau said she was “outraged at President Trump's executive order that permits federal agents, including [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], to enter schools, hospitals and places of worship. This creates unnecessary stress, chaos and confusion in schools, and not only for immigrant children, but for all of our students.”
Tabitha Sookdeo, executive director of the group Connecticut Students For A Dream, said undocumented students and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, or “Dreamers,” need to feel secure at school. When she was an undocumented teenager herself, she said, school was a safe space for her.
“Today, we need to ensure that every student feels that sense of safety, that they feel supported, and that they're able to succeed in their learning environment,” Sookdeo said. “The classroom should be a place of learning and growth, not a place of fear and uncertainty. Ensuring protections and resources for these students allows them to focus on their education, just like any other kid, and contribute to their communities.”
Tony Ferraiolo of Healthcare Advocates International and Equality Connecticut said recent anti-trans orders from the White House “strip trans and nonbinary youth of their basic right to be seen and accepted for who they are.”
“We cannot expect a student to give 100% to their studies if they cannot be 100% of who they are,” Ferraiolo said. “We are setting them up for failure. When we take away a child's ability to be seen, what we're telling them is that they don't belong. We're forcing them into silence. We're forcing them into shame.”
Constanza Segovia, Connecticut For All organizing director and co-founder of Hartford Deportation Defense, called on lawmakers to stand with the advocates in pushing back against the Trump White House.
“All of us stand before you with a refusal to normalize the violent policies of the current U.S. president,” Segovia said. “We stand before you with a clear demand to our leaders in D.C. and to our leaders in Hartford: Join us in this refusal.”
“The very fabric of our democracy and the future of our children depends on our ability to stand together and our leaders’ ability to be clear-eyed and protect our communities as a whole, including protecting our public schools from vultures,” Segovia said.
Addressing funding concerns at state level
Segovia said work needs to be done on the state level, as well.
“The fiscal policies that we have at the state level are not investing in our communities,” Segovia said. “Fund our schools, fund our services, and listen to the working people of the state who are truly sick and tired of being sick and tired. Our leaders must demand that the money coming into the state be used to invest in our communities and stop making extra payments on old debt when our kids today need support.”
Blatteau, the New Haven Federation of Teachers president, said areas outside of education need funding, too, in order to improve student outcomes in Connecticut.
“Our students’ living conditions are their learning conditions,” Blatteau said. “Without more resources for housing, without more resources for health care, our students will still struggle.”
“We must adjust the fiscal guardrails,” Blatteau said. “Call the governor, let him know. His budget will be announced tomorrow. Let him know that we absolutely must shift the guardrails so that the needs of our community can be met.”
