Let’s be clear: The Department of Education is key to ensuring equitable education and a future for students no matter the income of their families or where they live. Yet efforts to dismantle this vital department — through executive action and legislation — would abandon our nation’s children. 

Since Congress created the Department of Education in 1979, it has played a crucial role in creating programs for minority, disabled, and low-income students; regulating national education standards and special education programs; and overseeing student loan disbursements for nearly 50 million students in elementary and secondary education. 

Without this oversight, we could see:

• Drastic cuts to funding and support for schools, teachers, and students; 
• An increase in unchecked discrimination against students based on sex, race, national origin, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and disability;
• Hundreds of thousands of teachers losing their jobs; the rollback of specialized services and programs for students with disabilities; 
• The elimination of federal student aid and reasonable loan repayment options for college and graduate students; 
• The disappearance of federal data that tracks and addresses gaps in education access and schools’ compliance with civil rights laws; 
• And so much more. 

Education is a core Jewish value and our tradition teaches that every child deserves the opportunity to learn and succeed. We cannot stand by while this fundamental right is stripped away. 

Contact your lawmakers today and urge them to support the Department of Education. Our students deserve every opportunity to succeed.