Federation Teachers Massachusetts blames “deportation terror campaigns” as immigrant students fear going to school, backs reserve fund that supports districts facing disruptions

BOSTON – The American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts, which represents educators and staff in Gateway Cities across the Commonwealth, announced in a release that they are leading the effort to support immigrant students and their families through critical investments and protections. 

The House Ways and Means Budget for Fiscal Year 2027 released today includes a reserve fund to support districts facing unexpected disruptions in enrollment of non-native English speaking students, which the AFT Massachusetts leaders and members say they have been advocating on behalf of for months. 

“Too many of our immigrant families continue to be gripped by fear. Children worry that when they walk out the door, their family might not be there when they return. Many have resorted to sheltering in place—afraid that just going to school puts their family at risk. For parents, every day they send their child to school is a day they may have just put their own livelihoods and lives at risk,” said AFT Massachusetts President Jessica Tang. “These students haven’t disappeared or left and we must do everything in our power to protect our immigrant families and ensure their schools have the tools and resources they need to support them.”

AFT Massachusetts released the following statement.

“The federal immigration agenda is having a chilling effect on public education. Districts with strong immigrant communities like Boston, Lynn, Chelsea, and Lawrence are seeing disproportionate and unprecedented disruptions in enrollment of multilingual students. Not only do these districts stand to lose generations of students, these enrollment declines have the potential to upend their budgets and cause significant shortfalls, impacting all students in these districts. 

“Educators are going above and beyond to try to reassure students and families that schools and their surroundings are the safe spaces they are supposed to be. That message rings hollow when parents are detained on the way to dropping their child off at school or when students who are here legally are detained and sent out of state or when ICE agents are using children to bait their parents.

“In 2022, the Legislature created a grant program to support districts experiencing pandemic-related enrollment declines. This funding, administered by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, helped stabilize the budgets of nearly 130 school districts across the state at a time when health risks and COVID-19 were causing wild fluctuations in enrollment.” 

“We look forward to working with the State House to secure meaningful investments and resources so that the schools serving our immigrant students who have been most impacted by the federal mass deportation terror campaigns can not only survive this crisis, but have the foundation in place to support these students when it is ‘safe’ for them to return,” continued Tang.