To the Editor,
As a first-generation college student from a low-income household and product of public education, I know how important federal support is for students like me. The elimination of the Department of Education would be detrimental for students all across Wisconsin and the country.
In Wisconsin, over $1 billion of federal funding is used to help aid K-12 schools year-round. This funding enables the school to reduce the class sizes, support students with disabilities and provides great support to students from a low-income background. The elimination of the Department of Education will threaten over 63,000 Wisconsin students’ Pell Grants, federal student loans, and any other federal aid they receive to access higher education.
This is more than blue or red politics. It’s about students’ real lives. Our leaders of tomorrow. Without federal support, we students lose crucial resources, teachers lose their jobs, and families are less hopeful for the future.
For years, federal education programs have been established to help diversify our schools, make way for underrepresented students, and push to make a difference. Wisconsin leaders are right to be voicing their concerns as there is no true plan on how this will affect future programs, future federal aid, and the students who need assistance that will be left without it.
We should all be moving forward growing and expanding in educational access, not eliminating it. I urge lawmakers to help protect and defend the Department of Education as our leaders and dreamers will depend on it.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Alcantara
Jonathan Alcantara is a sophomore in the College of Business Administration and member of NETWORK Advocates for Catholic Social Justice. He can be contacted at [email protected].
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