The Trump administration has made its anger and disdain for education and educators clear over the past several weeks.

It has done everything legally (and questionably legally) possible to close down the U.S. Department of Education. It has decimated the field of education research. It is trying to achieve domination over colleges and universities. With startlingly few exceptions, leaders of higher education are acquiescing.

And, now, it is coming for us in K-12 education.

Public schools and state departments of education in California, Colorado, Oregon, Illinois and Georgia are under investigation for either transgender student policies or accusations of antisemitism, and it’s likely that more will be underway by the time you read this. The U.S. Department of Education has even opened what I would call a “snitch” line where the public can complain about districts and schools who are implementing DEI policies.

As just about every K-12 teacher or administrator knows, going along with a bully only encourages them to want to bully you more.

K-12 leaders can gain inspiration from the modeling of Maine school officials, who have publicly refused to go along with the Trump administration’s trans athlete ban.

Here are some steps district leaders can take right now (whether they are presently under investigation or not)—if they haven’t already taken them:

• Identify legal representation—attorneys who are not afraid of the Trump administration, like so many high-priced law firms appear to be. Analyze where you are most likely to be targeted by the Trump administration, and what your most viable defense strategies might be.
• Immediately involve teachers, classified staff union leaders, students, and their parents in discussions to develop a joint strategy about what your districts is willing to fight and risk (and, what, if anything, you are willing to give up).
• Engage with state officials and local political representatives to identify what kind of support they might be willing to provide your district in a potential conflict.
• Conduct a communitywide outreach campaign to share potential strategies and listen to other ideas from residents and local organizations. Use this time to develop allies.

Spring is always a challenging time for educators—State testing is happening, everyone is tired after seven or eight months of school, planning is taking place for the next school year.

But “lying low” and “keeping your head down” is not working for universities, and it’s not going to work for K-12 education, either.

There will never be a better time to prepare to fight for our students, their families, and for the soul of our schools than now. And preparing for the fight now will help define for the entire school community what that “soul” is. Without engaging in this kind of inclusive process, it’s not possible to make wise decisions around what are core issues where compromise is not an option.

Two questions were popularized by John Lewis, the late civil rights leader and U.S. representative: “If not us, then who? If not now, then when?”

They are questions that every district leader should be asking themselves today.

Today’s post is the latest in a month-long series sharing ideas on how educators and others in the field might respond to Trump administration actions.

I wrote the first, second, and third posts in this series.

Morgan Polikoff wrote about education research and researchers.

Christie Nold and Sarah Cooper also shared advice about social studies.

Mary Beth Hertz discussed teaching media literacy.

Christina Torres Cawdery offered recommendations to English teachers.

Zaretta Hammond provided ideas to practitioners of culturally responsive teaching.

Students shared their own perspectives.

PJ Caposey and Glasher Robinson discussed administrator challenges.

Leah Michaels and Anastasia M. Martinez talked about teaching English learners in today’s political climate.

Erinn Leone offered more ideas for social studies teachers.

Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at lferlazzo@epe.org. When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it’s selected or if you’d prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind.

You can also contact me on Twitter at @Larryferlazzo.

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