(CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Against the backdrop of the Trump administration’s plan to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, the state’s largest teachers’ union says Illinois families back what is going on in the classroom.

A survey indicates 71 percent of respondents believe public education needs more money, 78 percent say they are concerned about the teacher shortage, and 81 percent says the curriculum should include slavery.

“Despite what President Trump and U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon are doing nationally,” says Illinois Education Association president Al Llorens, “Illinoisans strongly believe in the value of our public schools. They believe we should be investing more in our public school system, not less. Illinoisans go so far as to deeply believe public education is a right for all of the children of our state.”

Despite his praise for the state’s evidence-based funding model, Llorens says eighty percent of Illinois school districts are underfunded.

Two polling firms, one Democrat- and one Republican-oriented, conducted the survey.