I want to acknowledge the deep sense of unease that many of us are feeling right now. Never in living memory has a new president unilaterally attacked public services, public education and worker rights like is happening now. But no one should underestimate the strength and grit that it takes to be a public school educator in New York City. We will not allow the new administration to erode our rights and harm our students without a fight.

The battle lines have been drawn. This second Trump administration is wasting no time in undermining public education. On March 20, the president signed an executive order directing his education secretary to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. By that point, his administration had already wiped out half of the agency’s 4,000 employees.

Let’s be clear: The U.S. DOE plays an essential function in public education. Our city’s schools are governed by state laws, which protect us. But the federal agency provides billions of dollars in funding for our nation’s public K–12 schools, narrowing the gap between needed resources and state and local revenue. From Title I funds to special education funding, New York City public schools benefit greatly from this targeted funding for students most in need. The U.S. DOE also administers Pell grants and student loans that make college attendance possible for many of our public school graduates.

At the same time, the new administration is undercutting other public services that we count on by eliminating the federal staff who deliver those services. In February and March alone, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency laid off a total of 280,253 federal workers and contractors across 27 federal agencies.

Then there’s the attack on unions. The president signed an executive order on March 27 seeking to eliminate collective bargaining for workers in the vast majority of federal agencies. But labor unions like ours remain one of the few groups that have the clout to stand up to this president and his billionaire backers. We’ve been working closely with the American Federation of Teachers and our allies to file numerous lawsuits against the administration, and we have already scored several victories.

In addition to fighting back in the courts, we are participating more and more in ground-level rallies and protests, most recently at the Hands Off! demonstration at Bryant Park on April 5.

This fight will be different from many that we’ve engaged in before. It’s going to go on for four years, and to be successful we will have to work closely together with other community groups and labor allies that share our concerns. We are a union filled with members who have demanding jobs and busy lives. But we are also a union filled with members who refuse to remain silent in the face of injustice.

We are just a few months into this presidency, and we will confront plenty more challenges. The federal assault on public education has only just begun. We are bracing for the attacks that this administration will launch on our Medicare and Social Security benefits, two benefits that each and every one of us has worked tirelessly to earn. We will stand strong and not allow this president to erode these benefits.

As a nation, we are living in a moment of great uncertainty. But one thing is for sure: We will keep up the fight no matter what. There is strength in numbers, and the numbers are on our side.