Education Department Cuts Nearly Half of Their Workforce

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. Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon on Tuesday announcing that the agency plans to cut nearly 50% of its workforce. The statement said the cuts will not impact “formula funding, student loans, Pell Grants, funding for special needs students, and competitive grantmaking.”

Why It Matters: The Department of Education laid off more than 1,000 Department of Education employees on Tuesday as part of the broader push to shrink the size of the federal government through the work of the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

• The majority of students will not experience a large immediate shift in policies or education experience as state and local school districts largely make their own decisions when it comes to curriculum, teacher pay, testing policies, etc.
• Most of the Education Department’s budget goes toward helping college students pay for college. Only 10% of funding for public education flows through the federal government (most of which is directed toward disabled students and low-income students). These budgets are expected to shift to the Treasury.
• The future of the department remains in limbo. “Asked on Fox News whether the layoffs were ‘the first step to a total shutdown,’ McMahon said, ‘Yes, actually it is, because that was the president’s mandate as directed to me clearly is to shut down the Department of Education.'” (CNN) While Sec. McMahon has confirmed the roadmap is to shut down the department, she notes that Congress would have to abolish a cabinet-level government agency.
• Unions for both Department of Education workers and also teachers have spoken out in concern. Following the announcement, Director of the Center for Educational Freedom at the Cato Institute, Neal McCluskey said, “If [Trump] says, ‘We’re going to have a 50% reduction in staff,’ there is reason to be concerned about how the system will work: Is that enough people?” He added, “We’re going to learn whether or not they can do the job with fewer of them.”

Read More: Cuts at the Education Department (The New York Times)

Education Department cutting nearly half of workforce (CNN)

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