Debbie Lee, president of the Abington Education Association and a second-grade teacher in the Abington School District, protested potential federal funding cuts to local schools under President Donald Trump’s administration, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Lee and others spoke during a “walk-in” outside Copper Beech Elementary School in Glenside on Wednesday, March 19.

Among Lee’s concerns is slashed Title I federal funding, which enables schools to provide students with more individualized support in reading and math, she said.

Federal funding accounts for a relatively small share of K-12 school budgets in Pennsylvania, which are funded primarily by local property taxes and state aid, The Inquirer said. In Abington, non-stimulus federal funding accounted for 2.1%, or $3.6 million, of district revenues in 2023, and federal money for free and reduced lunches accounted for 50% of the budget, according to the PSEA.

Similar protests took place across the country on Wednesday morning following more than 1,000 firings from the Education Department last week, The Inquirer said.

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Photo: Abington School District