Evelyn DeJesus Executive Vice President | American Federation of Teachers
AFT President Randi Weingarten has publicly addressed the recent decision by the Trump administration to cancel $1 billion in mental health grants. These grants were initially set up under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act following the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The cancellation affects numerous psychologists, mental health workers, and counselors who were employed under the program.
In her statement, Weingarten expressed disapproval, questioning, "Does this administration have to impose its ideological whims on everything? Even, apparently, on bipartisan grants passed after the murder of students and educators in a school shooting?"
Weingarten described the move as "a direct attack on the safety and well-being of America’s children—a repugnant act of moral vandalism that will endanger millions of lives." She stated that despite the desire for safer schools among parents, students, and educators, "gun violence remains, shockingly, the No. 1 killer of young people." According to her, the grants represented bipartisan progress, providing children with mental health support to better understand themselves and their surroundings.
She criticized the administration's approach, noting, "Now, with the stroke of a pen, that halting progress has been wiped away, even as the president and his allies insist that improving mental health is the only way to fix the gun violence epidemic."
Weingarten concluded her statement by emphasizing the preventable nature of gun violence and warning that without sensible measures, school shootings would continue to increase, resulting in more tragedy.
Randi Weingarten serves as the President of the American Federation of Teachers, with Fedrick C. Ingram as Secretary-Treasurer and Evelyn DeJesus as Executive Vice President.
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