Nantucket Educators Protest Trump's Proposed Elimination Of Federal Department Of Education

Island educators stood outside the public schools Thursday morning to protest the Trump administration's proposal to shut down the federal Department of Education. It was part of a statewide protest organized by the Massachusetts Teachers' Association.

"As a teacher in the classroom, we can't really get into this. We want to deliver our curriculum," longtime Nantucket educator Anne Phaneuf told the Current Thursday morning on the sidewalk along Surfside Road in front of Nantucket High School. "But I think a lot of our kids wonder what we feel. And I think it's really important that they know, aside from being their teacher, we're human beings and we love them. It's important they drive by and see this is a big deal. We really care about the whole of them and we want them in our rooms and we don't want them to feel they live in a country that doesn't care about them."

The protest occurred before school began Thursday morning, and teachers were back in the classrooms for the start of the school day.

President Trump’s executive order referenced by the teachers reads in part: “The Secretary of Education shall, to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities while ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”

Page Martineau, the president of the Nantucket Teachers' Association, stated she believed the proposed cuts at the federal level would have a negative impact on her students.

"Today is International Workers Day, May 1st, and so across the Commonwealth, the MTA is bringing teachers out just to show that we're willing to fight for our students and fight for our public schools," Martineau said. "Cuts to the Department of Education on a federal level really affect our kids, and especially our most vulnerable kids. So you know, we're here to say that all kids deserve a good public education.
And hopefully we'll be heard."

As the teachers stood outside the school holding signs, several drivers waved and honked in support of their message, while their students filed into the building.

"We just want our community to know that we support all of our students, and all are welcome here in our schools," Martineau added. "Teachers will fight for them."