Crawford Calls for Well Funded Higher Education Amid Trump’s Threats to Undermine Illinois Schools (Springfield, IL) – State Rep. Mike Crawford, D-Chicago, joined fellow legislators and representatives from Illinois higher education institutions for a call to attention to existential threats to public higher education under President Donald Trump.
Following a Capitol press conference, Crawford released the following statement:
“For almost 20 years, I have worked as a higher education professional, making sure that students can and do succeed. I’ve spent the first weeks of my time in the Illinois House authoring legislation to support students and their educational and career opportunities, but putting money where our priorities are is the surest way to Trump-proof education and create a truly affordable public higher education system in Illinois.
“The threats the president poses to higher education are clear: closing the Department of Education, axing programs that uplift minority teachers, support underrepresented students, and create equity in our educational spaces, and allowing wrestling executives and TV personalities, not educators, to make decisions binding on millions of Americans. However, in our defense of these higher education institutions, we cannot deny that fundamental changes need to be made.
“The cost of tuition, textbooks and housing continue to outpace any financial gains families have experienced in recent memory. A degree doesn’t go as far in the job market as it used to. Finding new ways to address these real challenges would be great, but bolstering our state provided grants, prioritizing programs that meet a workforce need, and doubling down on the solutions we know to work are a must.
“I am clear eyed about the obstacles in front of us, but I am not deterred.”
Crawford Calls for Well Funded Higher Education Amid Trump’s Threats to Undermine Illinois Schools
