The U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday that nearly 50 percent of its workforce will be laid off.
The announcement aligns with the efforts of President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to cut federal workforce and reduce federal government waste in the United States.
However, the staffing cuts come as the DOE halts grant funding and applies pressure to public schools on administrative priorities, including removing all references of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
DOE staff affected by the layoffs will begin administrative leave on March 21, as reported by NPR. DOE’s announcement stated that “all divisions” in the department will be affected by the workforce cuts, but that the DOE will continue to deliver programs that are protected by U.S. law, “including formula funding, student loans, Pell Grants, funding for special needs students and competitive grantmaking.”
“Today’s reduction in force reflects the Department of Education‘s commitment to efficiency, accountability and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in the statement.
More than 1,300 positions will be eliminated and approximately another 600 have accepted voluntary resignations or retired since January.
“We will fight these draconian cuts and urge all Americans to stand up and contact their members of Congress … to protect the Department of Education‘s vital work, working people and our nation by rejecting these political games,” said Sheria Smith, who is president of AFGE Local 252, a union that represents DOE employees.
Minutes after Smith’s statement, the union told NPR that Smith and the chapter’s four other union officers.
“Not only are we concerned about how we will now pay our bills, but another concern we have is what impact this is going to have to the American public,” Smith, an attorney with the Office for Civil Rights, said.
Within the DOE, the Office for Civil Rights is responsible for ensuring that American students are not discriminated against at school, including students with disabilities.
“Families who have students with special needs, what they’ve just done today is fire hundreds of the employees that would be enforcing [their] rights,” Smith said.
The bigger picture for DOE is that Trump intends to eliminate the department and McMahon has agreed to work to make that vision a reality by returning “education to the states where it belongs.”
Union leaders received lists from the DOE of affected employees and the unions shared the lists with NPR. Hundreds of Federal Student Aid office, Institute of Education Sciences and Office for Civil Rights employees are among the cuts. Some of the offices were established by U.S. Congress through legislation, but the DOE has retained enough employees to legally protect the divisions.
“The executive branch can argue that they are partially implementing the law. And they would probably argue that there is no longer a need for the personnel to fulfill [these] functions,” Kenneth Wong, a professor of education policy at Brown University, told NPR. Congress and the court system will decide whether the DOE’s actions are legal.
DOE employees received an email early Tuesday which advised them to vacate offices by 6 p.m.
U.S. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, disapproved of McMahon’s nomination for Secretary of Education. Kaine’s disapproval was in part due to McMahon’s past comments which indicated she would support Trump’s efforts to abolish the DOE.
“America has always been at the forefront of innovation and economic opportunity — in large part because of our strong education system. But President Trump and Elon Musk’s firing of nearly half of the federal employees at the U.S. Department of Education will hurt every student across the country. It will lead to longer processing times for students’ financial aid, additional problems disbursing funding for K-12 schools, and reduced oversight of programs for students with disabilities and laws regarding sexual assault on college campuses,” Kaine said.
According to Kaine, the loss of nearly half of the DOE’s workforce and eliminating the department will not allow the nation to continue to leading the world in the 21st century.
“I will do everything I can to protect Virginia’s federal employees at the Education Department and the students, parents and educators they serve,” Kaine said.
Related stories
- Trump pledges to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education
- Democratic lawmakers stand up for students at U.S. Department of Education
- DOGE slashes $1B in contracts at Department of Education
- Trump seeks immediate closure of U.S. Department of Education
- Eliminating Department of Education: Equal education for all?
- Special education expert explains importance of DOE
Share
Rebecca Barnabi
