Warren Launches Investigation Into Harms of Trump Attacks on Department of Education for Students, Families, and Teachers
Sends letters requesting information on harms to members of 12 leading education, civil rights organizations
New, comprehensive initiative is latest from Senator’s Save Our Schools campaign
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) launched a new investigation into the harms of President Trump’s attacks on the Department of Education (ED) for students, families, and teachers. The initiative is the latest in her Save Our Schools campaign.
Senator Warren wrote letters seeking information on the impact of the Trump administration’s actions for the members of twelve leading organizations representing schools, parents, teachers, students, borrowers, and researchers: the American Council on Education (ACE), National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), National Parents Union (NPU), National Education Association (NEA), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC), Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA), National Center for Youth Law (NCYL), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP), and the Association for Institutional Research (AIR).
“Americans rely on [the Department of Education] to fund a range of critical services such as financial aid to pay for college, special education, afterschool programs, and more. The Department is also responsible for protecting students from civil rights violations, fraudulent for-profit colleges, and predatory student loan servicers,” wrote Senator Warren. “Accordingly, I request your assistance in understanding whether the Trump Administration’s efforts to dismantle the Department will jeopardize students’ access to affordable, accessible, and high-quality public education.”
President Trump and Education Secretary McMahon have already begun to dismantle the Department and its core functions by firing nearly half of ED’s employees. Even before the firings, ED was significantly understaffed, had fewer employees than any other cabinet department, and was struggling to work through long backlogs of civil rights investigations, college audits, and student debt relief claims from defrauded borrowers. Nonetheless, the Trump Administration has doubled down on their efforts to gut the Department, issuing an executive order to abolish the agency and announcing the transfer of key ED functions to other agencies.
“These actions risk major interruptions and delays in key services that students and families rely on,” wrote Senator Warren.
Senator Warren asked the organizations to share how the Trump Administration’s attacks on public education affect their members, including students, families, and teachers, by May 22, 2025.
The letters are the latest action from Senator Warren’s Save Our Schools campaign, a coordinated effort to fight back against Trump’s attempts to abolish the Department of Education. The campaign has already notched wins, including a new investigation from the Department of Education’s Acting Inspector General following a request from Senator Warren, and Secretary McMahon’s first public admission that she “wholeheartedly” agreed with Trump’s plans to abolish the Department of Education, which is now being used by Somerville Public Schools, Easthampton Public Schools, AFT Massachusetts, and AFT National in their lawsuit against Trump’s executive order to abolish ED.
More information on the Save Our Schools campaign can be found here.
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