Students, educators and advocates gathered at a library in Meriden Tuesday to call on state and local leaders to expand protections for immigrant students, as well as those in the LGBTQ+ community, and to fully fund Connecticut’s public schools.
The call to action came just two weeks into Donald J. Trump’s second presidential term, during which he has signed a slew of executive orders that have revoked previous limits on immigration enforcement at schools and other sensitive locations, banned gender-affirming care for transgender youth and pledged to pull back federal funding for “illegal and discriminatory treatment and indoctrination in K-12 schools, including based on gender ideology and discriminatory equity ideology.”
“We will not tolerate these unprecedented attacks on public schools, which are the foundation of our democracy, and we will not tolerate these attacks on our students, who are the leaders who will sustain our democracy in the future,” said Leslie Blatteau, the president of the New Haven Federation of Teachers.
Speaking at a press conference at Meriden Public Library, Blatteau was joined by a half dozen other community advocates who are part of Connecticut For All, a statewide coalition that says its goal is to “reduce and eliminate systemic racial, economic, and gender inequities in Connecticut.” The group called for Gov. Ned Lamont and state lawmakers to commit to protecting students’ safety, providing support and ensuring “they’re able to succeed in their learning environment.”
One proposal put forth Tuesday was to strengthen the state’s Trust Act, a 2013 law that limits state and local law enforcement cooperation with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“We call on state leaders and community members to work together in ensuring that all students, regardless of their background, receive the education they deserve — that ICE does not rip their families apart, and that they honor sensitive locations,” said Tabitha Sookdeo, the executive director for Connecticut Students For A Dream.
“Education is a right. Safety is the right. Dignity is a right,” Sookdeo went on. “The classroom should be a place of learning and growth, not a place of fear and uncertainty. Ensuring protections and resources for these students allows them to focus on their education, just like any other kid, and contribute to their communities.”
Last week, state education officials released guidance to K-12 public schools on how local district leaders should respond to “immigration activities,” including in cases where federal immigration officers request student information or come onto school property.
The two-page document addressed common questions the Education Department has received from school districts about changes in U.S. Homeland Security policy guidance, and it stressed that both state and federal law “protect a student’s right to attend public schools, regardless of their immigration status.”
Sookdeo said the memo was “good start,” but it fell “short of giving guidance to teachers if a school district does not put appropriate protocols into place.”
“What happens if a school allows an ICE officer to come in and take a student? What’s the protocol for that?” Sookdeo said.
Another growing concern is with students who identify as transgender or part of the LGBTQ+ community. One of Trump’s executive orders signed last Tuesday would, if enacted, withhold federal funding from institutions, including medical schools and hospitals, that provide gender-affirming care to youth under the age of 19. The directive also seeks to restrict coverage of those services from federally-run insurance programs, like Medicaid.
Connecticut Children’s CEO Jim Shmerling raised concerns about a cut to gender-affirming services in an interview with the Connecticut Mirror last week, saying that he expects a “significant rise in suicide ideation and potential attempts in suicide.”
Advocates at the news conference echoed Shemerling’s concerns.
“We cannot expect a student to give 100% to their studies if they cannot be 100% of who they are,” said Tony Ferraiolo, of Healthcare Advocates International & Equality Now. “We are setting them up for failure when we take away a child’s ability to be seen,” Ferraiolo said. “What we’re telling them is that they don’t belong.”
Last year, Connecticut reaffirmed Title IX protections after the Biden administration issued new rules expanding protections for transgender students and a handful of states sued to block the rules. The Connecticut Department of Education issued its own guidance, directing Connecticut schools to recognize and respect a student’s preferences. Refusing to use a student’s preferred pronouns or call the student by a particular name may “constitute gender-based discrimination” and be “deemed discriminatory under Title IX,” the guidance stated.
The state also defined gender dysphoria and said it could qualify students for specialized instruction. It allowed school boards to develop policies regarding what information may be shared with parents. And it permitted districts to provide single-sex bathrooms and access to facilities that correspond with a students’ gender identity, granting “equal opportunity” in participation of both curricular and extracurricular activities.
The Biden administration’s 2024 guidance was repealed Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights which stated it will only enforce Title IX provisions from 2020, which were written under Trump in his first presidency.
“No portion of the 2024 Title IX Rule is now in effect in any jurisdiction,” wrote Craig Trainor, the acting assistant secretary for Civil Rights for the federal Department of Education. Trainor also wrote that under one of Trump’s recent executive orders, which called for the acknowledgment of just two genders, that the education department “must enforce Title IX consistent with President Trump’s Order.”
Trump has also threatened that federal funding could be rescinded “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law,” from schools that provide direct or indirect support toward the social transition of a transgender student.”
A spokesperson for the Connecticut Department of Education said the agency planned to review its Guidance on Civil Rights Protections and Supports for Transgender or Gender-Diverse Students “to determine whether revisions are required in light of” the Trump administration’s reinstatement of 2020 regulations.
While the Trump administration has threatened funding cuts to K-12 schools, it has also reaffirmed its commitment to expanding school choice programs through federal funding. School choice — the ability to seek education outside of an assigned, traditional public school — has been a hotly debated topic. Proponents say it gives families autonomy to find the education model that works best for their kids, and opponents say it takes funding away from traditional public schools, segregates children and privatizes education.
“Every single child deserves to go to a public school that prepares them for life beyond the classroom, no matter where they live or the economic conditions they face,” Chad Cardillo, a Meriden City Council member, high school teacher and union vice president, said at Tuesday’s event. “Make no mistake that providing taxpayer dollars to private entities under the guise of choice provides one true choice — that of those private entities to exclude students who do not fit their mold.”
Unlike other areas of the country, Connecticut has not seen a serious push to expand school choice through voucher programs, which provide public funds to families to send their children to private or religious schools. But the approval of charter schools has driven debate.
Five charter schools received initial approval earlier this year by the state Board of Education and must now go before the state legislature for a final step in the process before they can open their doors and begin enrolling students. At that meeting, Elizabeth Sked, a union member part of the Connecticut Education Association objected to the opening of the schools, saying they “result in inequity, diminished diversity and concentrations of students with the greatest resource needs,” and that the state should instead focus on “sufficiently funding its existing public schools before expanding a parallel system of charter schools.”
Similar sentiments were also shared Tuesday, as Blatteau said “new charter schools and proposed voucher programs undermine the tenets of true public education.”