Among the companies was a cargo airline implicated in a bribery scheme involving Russian officials at the United Nations, an American branch of a cybersecurity firm believed to have ties to Russia’s intelligence services, and RT, the Russian government’s English language television channel, according to the letter, which was sent to Mr. Trump on Thursday by Representative Elijah E. Cummings, a Maryland Democrat. Mr. Cummings is the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The document provides new details about Mr. Flynn’s ties to Russian entities just over a month after being forced to resign following revelations that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other top White House officials about his conversations last year with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

An email from Katia Illarionova, an RT producer, discusses expenses for Mr. Flynn’s trip to Russia.
The letter, addressed to Mr. Trump; James B. Comey, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, requested additional documents related to Mr. Flynn’s security clearances.

The fees were apparently for speaking engagements by Mr. Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general and former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency. The engagements occurred before he became an official adviser to Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign.

We at the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University denounce the continuous assault by the Trump administration on the communities that we are committed and dedicated to serve. We reject the harmful actions of President Trump’s divisive policies and hateful rhetoric, which are in direct conflict with our mission – to develop, share, and act on knowledge that improves the conditions and outcomes of schooling in America, especially in communities of color and schools serving children historically marginalized by inequitable systems – and our four guiding principles: “results matter,” “equity matters,” “communities matter,” and “learning matters.”

We join a long list of organizations, individuals, and entities that have taken unwavering positions against President Trump’s direct attacks against democracy and human decency and have resisted rhetoric that has caused deeper divisions of fear and anxiety against some of our country’s most vulnerable communities. President Trump has signed a set of executive orders laced with xenophobia and rooted in lies and misrepresentations that only serve to intensify fear, anxiety, and hatred towards the undocumented population, Muslims, the transgender community, and other targeted groups.

These executive orders were designed to destabilize our communities and incite fear, and they directly interfere with the work of schools, school systems, and the community-based organizations that help young people thrive. The communities that we work with have seen increases in bigotry and discrimination. Some of our parent leaders are afraid to travel to attend meetings and trainings. Families are no longer seeking out services – and even keeping their children out of school – because they fear Immigrant and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. Children are grappling with the trauma of being separated from their parents and other family members.

Children who are not in school because of the fear ICE has imposed on their families cannot learn. ICE raids on homes and near schools make it increasingly unsafe for parents to attend school meetings and events or speak out on behalf of their children. This disenfranchises our parents as full partners in schools – when we know that deep family engagement is crucial for strong schools and strong communities. Teachers cannot teach and fully attend to their students’ trauma and anxiety at the same time. The increases in racist, xenophobic, homophobic, anti-Semitic, and Islamophobic bullying and hate speech – which are a direct result of this administration’s rhetoric and policies – poison school cultures and threaten many students beyond those directly impacted by the orders. Schools, districts, and community organizations are spending valuable time and resources to protect students and families at the expense of their work to expand opportunity and improve education.

Therefore, we condemn this administration’s rhetoric and policies that have harmed and will continue to harm so many people in the communities we work with, and we commit to remain vigilant to oppose any future hateful and hurtful policies. We will continue to work with our partners and allies to resist these policies wherever they are implemented, and to help make schools safe havens from hate and xenophobia.

Along with the cuts, among the steepest the agency has ever sustained, the administration is also proposing to shift $1.4 billion toward one of President Trump’s key priorities: Expanding charter schools, private-school vouchers and other alternatives to traditional public schools. His $59 billion education budget for 2018 would include an unprecedented federal investment in such “school choice” initiatives, signaling a push to reshape K-12 education in America.

The president is proposing a $168 million increase for charter schools — 50 percent above the current level — and a new $250 million private-school choice program, which would probably provide vouchers for families to use at private or parochial schools. Vouchers are one of the most polarizing issues in education, drawing fierce resistance from Democrats and some Republicans, particularly those in rural states.

Trump also wants an additional $1 billion for Title I, a $15 billion grant program for schools with high concentrations of poor children. The new funds would be used to encourage districts to adopt a controversial form of choice: Allowing local, state and federal funds to follow children to whichever public school they choose.