Stacy Davis Gates: Every Child Deserves Protection as Trump Administration Rolls Back School Civil Rights Enforcement

CHICAGO—A statement from Illinois Federation of Teachers and Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates on the recent moves by the Trump Administration to roll back protections for Black, Brown, and LGBTQIA students: 

“Every child deserves to attend a school community that is safe, welcoming and thriving, where the adults in charge will protect, empower and nurture them. Today, the Trump administration walked away from that responsibility. Last week, the Justice Department announced it had ended more than 50 school desegregation cases. Today, it formally removed federal Title IX protections from LGBTQIA students and their families. These are different actions, but coupled together they send the same message to our educational communities who have had to fight for equal treatment: the federal government is stepping back from protecting them and stepping up its attacks on their rights. 

“Black families know what happens when we are told that discrimination is a thing of the past simply because a case is old. LGBTQIA students know the harm of being told that their safety and dignity are up for debate. A school cannot promise opportunity to every child while weakening the tools that hold it accountable to that promise.

“As a mother, an educator, and a labor leader, I refuse to accept the retreat and reversal. Our students deserve schools where they are safe, where they belong, and where their rights are defended. When the federal government is weaponized against our students, our unions’ contracts will be used as a shield to protect them. We will keep standing with them, their families and the educators who show up for them every day.”

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