‘Public education is worth fighting for’: School walk-in highlights need for funding

First grade teacher Katie Franzel told a crowd of dozens of school supporters in front of Westover Hills Elementary School on Wednesday morning just how important the U.S. Department of Education is for students.

“It ensures that students with disabilities get the funding they need and the services they're entitled to,” she said. “That schools are safe and welcoming for all children regardless of their race, background, or ability and that no child goes hungry.”

But with the current gutting of the federal agency, she worries that security may be in jeopardy for students attending Richmond Public Schools and other schools across the country.

Others joined in that sentiment as part of a series of "walk-ins" Wednesday organized by the National Education Association.

“Public education is worth fighting for,” Franzel told attendees. 

The Richmond Education Association, the union representing RPS teachers and some employees, staged three events in Richmond. Fox Elementary and River City Middle School also held walk-ins.

The group was able to conduct the walk-in at the schools because RPS recognized REA as a union back in 2021, after Virginia passed legislation to allow collective bargaining for public employees.

The walk-ins follow an announcement from the department saying that it is eliminating nearly half of the it’s workforce. President Donald Trump has suggested completely abolishing the agency, which could mean funding cuts to public schools. 

Franzel expressed that she was horrified when she learned of the elimination. She said the abolishment means that RPS could lose nearly $18 million in Title I funding, a federal program that provides financial assistance to schools with higher numbers of low-income students. Funding for disabled students is also in danger. 

“The Department of Education was created to build accountability around supporting particularly students with disabilities and students of all backgrounds,” she told The Richmonder. “So without the federal Department of Education, those students are the most at risk.”

Stacy Shore, a parent of a first grader attending the school, told attendees that her child has been able to develop and foster meaningful friendships with students from different backgrounds, a benefit that she says comes from Title I funding.

“These kinds of relationships [are] what create thriving neighborhoods and communities,” she said. “I fear that if funding is cut, these classroom environments that foster this kind of community will be threatened.”

Del. Betsy Carr (D-Richmond) and Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D-Richmond), who is also the chair of the State Senate Education and Health Committee, attended the walk-in and both expressed to the crowd the importance of education and appreciation for the demonstration of support from the school community.

Hashmi voiced the “mounting” challenges facing public education and said she introduced a senate bill that would increase funding for public schools. 

“We’re not going to let them harm the future of the children we love,” Hashmi said. “Let’s continue to show Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Glenn Youngkin, that we are not giving up this fight.”

RPS Board Member Wesley Hedgepeth (4th District) also attended in support and told The Richmonder that the changes happening at the national level are “chaotic and worrisome.”

“They’re slashing programs that are so impactful to our community,” he said. “We would lose a lot.”

Despite the anxiety, speakers and attendees expressed hope for change as a result of events and rallies like walk-ins. Hashmi said that walk-ins “build solidarity” and “show congressional representatives that we’re not going to stand idly by while they make decisions that jeopardize our children’s education.”

Walk-ins “build hope that we will make a difference and that we can change the course of these policies before it’s too late,” she said.