Students protest the closing of the Department of Education at the General Meeting of ‘Hands Off Our Schools’

The crowd of school and high school students representing the government of students from some of the largest schools in Washington, DC, areas gathered outside the US Department of Education on Friday to oppose the burning of government agencies.

The song “Our Hands Off” and “Restores Our Doe,” the demonstrators attended the headquarters outside the department as a supporter of education and student organizers discussed the importance of the department to US students.

Julia Comino, Vice President of the Student Agency at American University, said that closing the agency would endanger the most vulnerable American rights.

“The Department of Education is a government institution that ensures that our university has the same access, that people of all gender identities, from all racial, ethnic and protected classes,” Comino told ABC News. “And we know that when you pursue the Department of Education, you really pursue a marginalized community. So this is just a history of attacks on marginalized and vulnerable groups,” he said.

Last month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that directed the Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to take all the steps needed to reduce the department and restore the education control to the state. The department has released almost half of its workforce.

“I think what we really want to convey is that Trump’s administration has just surpassed its authority,” said Asher Maxwell, student press coordinator for the Georgetown University Student Association. “That really will endanger our education and future.”

This demonstration was held by the student government representing more than 130,000 students in several universities in the region, including Georgetown University, American University and Howard University, and Temple University in Philadelphia, according to the organizer.

The coalition is a “historical alliance” that opposes “attacks on education,” including freedom of campus speech and student financial assistance programs, according to the release by the organizer.

Critics said students would be mainly affected if the President followed up by transferring the responsibility of the Federal Student Assistance Office – with a $ 1.6 trillion student loan portfolio – to other agents and ending federal workers who manage funds for higher education.

Ethan Henshaw, recipient of Pell Grant and President of the Georgetown Student Agency, called the agency as a “life line” for students to achieve fair and quality education.

“This threatens livelihoods, access to education, economic mobility of low -income Americans and medium income from each background throughout the country,” Henshaw said. “I know, without access to programs that come from this building, you know, education may not be possible for me, so it is very important to come here and demand that this institution remain strong, and that Trump’s government does not eliminate what is so important to us.”

In an impromptu performance at a press conference held by Democrats outside the departmental headquarters this week, McMahon defended the administrative movement, saying he believed the best education was “closest to children where teachers and parents, local supervisors, working together and local school councils to develop curriculum for students are the best ways that can occur.”

McMahon also vowed to continue funding the functions and responsibilities of the department which was legally mandated.

Friday rally participated in a one-month-down Friday demonstration in the department, including the general meeting “Ed Matters”, “Study-in” and “Clap-Out” for federal workers ended.

Recently, Democratic MPs in Capitol Hill have condemned changes in the department. Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Launched the “Save Our Schools” campaign this week against administrative efforts to dismantle the department. The campaign includes investigations, supervision, community involvement and lawsuits, according to Senator.

“The federal government has invested in our public school,” Warren said in an exclusive interview with ABC News. “Taking it from our children so that a handful of billionaires can be richer -really ugly, and I will fight it with everything I have.”

Fully eliminate the department cannot be done without the consent of the congress.

However, students at a demonstration on Friday said the threat to close the department had a terrible effect on their campus, according to the Vice President of the Georgetown University Student Association Darius Wagner.

“We see them directly affect what we can discuss in our room, teach in our classroom and also through K to 12 schools, because they threaten to cut their funds if they do not comply with the President’s view,” Wagner told ABC News.

“That’s what happens here and it is not difficult to see that that is the way to violate our institutions and limit our ability to speak freely,” he said.

“This is just the beginning,” Wagner said, “This is why we started here at Doe.”