By James Windell
South Haven Schools joined thousands of other schools in Michigan and around the nation in sponsoring a School Walk-In on Wednesday, March 19, 2025.
A protest initiated by the National Education Association, the Walk-In was intended to make a statement about the threats to school funding.
President Donald Trump has said he wants his new education chief, Linda McMahon , to “put herself out of a job.” Since Trump took office in January, staffing at the Education Department has been cut in half, and on March 20, 2025, he signed an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education. The U.S. Department of Education’s main role is financial. Every year, it distributes billions in federal money to colleges and schools. Closing the department would mean redistributing each of those duties to another agency. The department also plays an important role in services for students, ranging from those with disabilities to low-income and homeless kids.
As carried out at South Haven High School and several other South Haven schools, parents, educators and students, along with neighbors and community leaders, were invited to gather in front of their school 30 to 45 minutes before the school day began for the Walk-In. After the rally, in which participants held signs and speakers discussed the threat to the schools, staff and students were asked to walk into the school together.
At South Haven High School, a small crowd including Ana Aleman-Putman, school staff, and students, gathered at the north entrance to the high school at 7:00 am. Andrea Jegier, an elementary teacher and South Haven Educational Association President, addressed those gathered.
“One of the main things about the threat of cutting this money is the impact it will have on the ability to plan ahead for programing,” Jegier said. “We are really providing education for a majority of this community. So we need that funding – for athletics, fine arts, visual arts and most importantly academic support.”
She went on to tell those assembled that among the funds that are at risk of being cut are those for Title I, which she said is used to support students who are struggling with reading and math, and other monies that help provide support in the classrooms for high school students.
The Michigan Education Association recently released a statement that read in part: “This move to destroy the Department of Education will be devastating for Michigan students with disabilities like autism, emotional and physical disabilities, as well as for students in low-income rural and urban schools.
“Every student in our state, regardless of where they live or how much money their family makes, deserves a great education that can prepare them for the jobs of the future. Dismantling the U.S. Department of Education would cause irreparable harm to hundreds of thousands of students across Michigan at a time when we should be giving our kids more support — not less.”
South Haven Schools receives about $740,000 from the federal government annually for Title I as well as for Title II, Title III, Title IV and IDEA. Title funds are federal monies that supplement state funding for education.
Jegier said in an interview following the rally that she and the union she represents want to make sure the community understands that the risk of losing federal funds impacts South Haven Schools in a very significant way.
“We’re really just kicking off our response,” she said. “Any other actions that we do will help us come together as a community and a staff and help us start talking about the problem.”
She indicated that union members and others in the community are planning other events in April, although the details aren’t worked out yet.
“We would like to do some other rallies because this issue is so important for us,” Jegier said.
