Support RF Workers | Resist Trump’s Attempt to Eliminate the Department of Education

President Trump’s executive order is illegitimate; the Department of Education cannot be shut down without an act of Congress. But this administration can cause more chaos, fire more federal workers, and subject millions of educators, parents, and student loan borrowers to more anxiety. “See you in court,” was the rebuke from Randi Weingarten, president of the PSC’s national affiliate, the American Federation of Teachers. Our membership in the PSC is helping to power the fight back in the courts, including recent wins like restraining DOGE from harvesting personal information. But we cannot count on judges to save us. We have to be in the streets and in our communities, building broader coalitions and deeper solidarity. Destroying the federal Department of Education is part of an agenda to destroy opportunities and the more equitable society that PSC members help to create through our work. The fact that it is an unpopular idea among Americans broadly means it can be defeated – learn more here.

Hundreds of PSC members marched with 10,000 New Yorkers–mostly fellow union members–to defend our democracy and to oppose the dismantling of the federal government and cuts to the social safety net. See coverage on NY1, ABC 7 and a short video of the die-in from Indivisible.

See more photos on the PSC’s Instagram.

New Yorkers will take the streets again Saturday, April 5th as part of a national Hands off! Day of Action. In NYC, the plan is to gather at Bryant Park at 1 PM and march on 5th Ave to Madison Square Park.

Trump, Musk, and the Far Right majorities in Congress are gutting services, firing workers, raising prices, and racing towards slashing Medicaid and Social Security. Civil liberties, universities, the Department of Education, the truth of our nation’s history are being attacked and suppressed.

It’ll take more than marches to change this country’s direction, but every resistance needs a mass movement behind it, and workers and our unions are needed now more than ever. Tell us you’ll be there.

RSVP: HANDS OFF, APRIL 5

Nearly 850 PSC members participated last Tuesday in an online town hall, Defending Our Institutions and Communities. It was an opportunity to remind each other of our collective strength and ability to resist the attacks coming out of Washington and their reverberations on our campuses. Members heard from the union’s principal officers and one another, including prepared remarks from Jesus Pérez, Director of the Brooklyn College Immigrant Student Success Office; Cynthia Carvajal, Director of the CUNY Immigrant and Undocumented Student Programs; Denis Nash, Distinguished Professor at the CUNY School of Public Health; and Ramzi Kassem, Professor at the CUNY School of Law. Most importantly, members discussed ways to get involved in the PSC’s ongoing efforts.

April Town Hall: Resisting Attacks on Our Institutions and Communities

Monday, April 28th at 6:30 PM, Register Here

In order to stay connected, keep up the organizing momentum, discuss evolving analyses, and share updates from our union committees, mark your calendars for the next mass Zoom meeting on Monday, April 28th at 6:30 PM. Click here to register.

Immigrant Solidarity Working Group

• Fill out this webform to join the group’s list and its subcommittees.
• The next meeting is Monday, April 7, 6:30 PM. It will be a hybrid in-person/online meeting. RSVP here for the April 7 meeting.

Gender and Sexuality Working Group

• Fill out this webform to join the group’s list and be invited to its first working meeting.

Defending Research in the Sciences and Medicine Working Group */New/*

• Fill out this webform to join the group’s list and be invited to its first working meeting.

Academic Freedom Committee

• Contact the committee chair, Tony Alessandrini, to get involved: tonyalessandrini@gmail.com

Social Safety Net Committee

• Contact Interim Committee Chair Lorraine Cohen to get involved: safetynet@pscmail.org

The recent capitulation by the Columbia University administration to the extortionate demands of the Trump administration have alarmed many in the higher education community, including here at CUNY. Allowing the executive branch of the federal government to dictate a private university’s operation of academic departments, policies on campus protest, and admissions policies, among other areas, is a dangerous invitation to further erosion of shared governance and academic freedom across the higher education sector. Suppression of the free exchange of ideas and academic inquiry is another hallmark of fascism. Collaborating won’t protect our universities or our democracy. After a well-attended workshop on March 13, the PSC will host a second in-person forum Tuesday, March 25 at 6:30 PM in the union hall to discuss academic freedom, Title VI, and free speech, this time in the national context. Guest speakers from the Cornell School for Industrial and Labor Relations and the American Association of University Professors will join us. PSC members may register here to attend.

The PSC hosted the CUNY Rising Alliance’s Mayoral Forum on the Future of CUNY in our union hall on Friday, March 14th. It was the third time that candidates for mayor have gathered in our hall, but the first time that CUNY issues were the subject of every question. Watch the video to hear from six mayoral candidates about their plans to uplift our city through funding and investing in CUNY: Michael Blake, Brad Lander, Zohran Mamdani, Jessica Ramos, Scott Stringer, and Zellnor Myrie.

Watch the mayoral forum here on the PSC’s YouTube.

The CUNY University Student Senate is leading the annual March in March for CUNY on Saturday, March 29th, just in time for a push before the April 1st state budget deadline. PSC members can sign up here with the USS to let them know you plan to join the march. The event will kick-off at 11:30 AM at Brooklyn Borough Hall. It will end at City Hall with a rally and student-led press conference. Sign up to support the USS campaign to make transportation more accessible for CUNY students and to ensure every student has the resources they need to succeed.