Hundreds of college and high school students representing the student governments of some of the largest schools in the Washington region, DC, will join the Ministry of Education Friday to oppose the elimination by the agency administration.
The “Hands Off Our Schools” rally should produce more than 500 students, according to a spokesperson, who added that the rally worked to increase the size of its license to accommodate the north of 1,000 participants.
The demonstration is organized by student governments representing more than 130,000 students in several colleges in the region, including the University of Georgetown, the American University and the Howard University, as well as along the Interstate 95 corridor to the University of the Temple, according to the organizers.
The headquarters of the American Department of Education, which was ordered closed for the day for what officials described as security reasons in the midst of large -scale layoffs, is seen on March 12, 2025 in Washington.
Mark Schiefelbein / AP
The coalition is an “historic alliance” against “aggressions on education”, including the programs of freedom of expression and financial aid of students, according to a statement from the organizers.
It has a list of four requests from Congress managers: preserving and strengthening the department; Make sure all students are protected; oppose anti -diversity, equity and inclusion actions that restrict autonomy in class; And reject the targeting of individual students and academics for having expressed their political opinions.
“Recent executive orders undermine the foundation of our nation and limit opportunities for children from all walks of life to learn and achieve their full potential,” the organizers wrote in a press release. “By making the educational spaces more restrictive and unwelcome, these policies should leave lasting and harmful impacts on our generation and those who follow.”
President Donald Trump shows his signature on an executive decree to close the Ministry of Education, during an event in the East House House in Washington on March 20, 2025.
Roberto Schmidt / AFP via Getty Images
President Donald Trump signed a Decree leading to the Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to abolish the Department and make it control of education in the States. The ministry has already abandoned almost half of its workforce to start reducing the agency.
Critics say that students will be particularly affected if the president follows with the resumption of responsibilities of the Federal Student Aid Office, such as the 1,6 Billion of Dollars student loans, and ending federal workers who administer funds for higher education.
The rally should take place from 4 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. and have around a dozen speakers. The organizers also expect Washington, DC, representatives of the Lycée de l’Et Education and the former progressive representative Jamaal Bowman, former director, among the list of speakers. The organizers said they had contacted additional legislators and work to confirm the final list of speakers.
An opinion shows a sign during a gathering of defense of our schools to protest against the executive decree of President Donald Trump to close the USDEPARTMENT of education outside his building in Washington, on March 21, 2025.
Kent Nishimura / Reuters
The event follows approximately a month of events on Friday in the department, including an “emergency rally”, studies “and” tap -down “for federal workers dismissed.
More recently, Capitol Hill legislators have condemned changes to the department. Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., This week launched a campaign “Save Our Schools” against the administration’s attempt to dismantle the department. His campaign will include surveys, surveillance, community commitment and prosecution, according to the senator.
“The federal government has invested in our public schools,” said Warren in an exclusive interview with ABC News. “Remove this from our children so that a handful of billionaires can be even richer is simply ugly, and I will fight it with everything I have.”
Meanwhile, McMahon shocked a dozen Democrats in the House on Wednesday when she crushed her press conference in front of the department after meeting a closed -door meeting at the agency.
