- The U.S. Education Department announced Tuesday that a sizable chunk of its employees was receiving pink slips.
- President Trump has long held the federal agency in disdain and wants it shuttered.
- More than 100,000 Utah K-12 students benefit from federal funds allocated by the Department of Education.
Almost half of the people who were working at the Department of Education when President Donald Trump took office just over 50 days ago are now former employees of the embattled agency.
On Tuesday, the Education Department announced plans to lay off over 1,300 of its employees.
Add in the number of employees who have left in recent weeks through buyout offers or were terminated because they were probationary employees, and the department’s staff is now roughly 50% of its previous 4,100.
“Today’s reduction in force reflects the Department of Education’s (DOE) commitment to efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in an agency statement.
“I appreciate the work of the dedicated public servants and their contributions to the Department. This is a significant step toward restoring the greatness of the United States education system.”
The statement added that the Department of Education will continue to deliver on all statutory programs that fall under the agency’s purview — including formula funding, student loans, Pell Grants, funding for special needs students, and competitive grantmaking.
The employees who received today’s pink slips will be placed on administrative leave beginning Friday, March 21.
“Pursuant to regulatory requirements and the Department’s collective bargaining agreement, all impacted employees will receive full pay and benefits until June 9th, as well as substantial severance pay or retirement benefits based upon their length of service,” according to Tuesday’s DOE press release.
All divisions within the department are impacted by the reduction, added the release, with some divisions “requiring significant reorganization to better serve students, parents, educators and taxpayers.”
Trump: The DOE’s ‘a big con job’
While Tuesday’s force reduction is dramatic in size, it comes as little surprise.
During last year’s campaign and following his inauguration, Trump has made no secret of his disdain for the 46-year-old federal agency that, among other duties, allocates funds to public education programs such as Title 1 and others that support low-income students and those with disabilities.
“The Department of Education’s a big con job,” Trump said last month.
And the president has added he wants McMahon — who is just a week into her role as the country’s education chief — to “put herself out of a job” and shutter the Department of Education.
Eliminating the Education Department would require cooperation from Congress.
“President Trump understands that we’ll be working with Congress,” McMahon said during her recent confirmation hearing. “We’d like to do this right.”
During his campaign, Trump called for shifting education functions to the states. He has not offered details on how the agency’s core functions of sending federal money to local districts and schools would be handled.
The Department of Education does not dictate what educators teach in the classroom. Instead, the agency’s primary role is financial.
The department’s largest K-12 task is overseeing implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which requires states to monitor their schools’ progress and intervene in poorly performing schools in exchange for federal money, including funding from Title I, an $18.4 billion program, according to Education Week.
The department also administers the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act — a $14.2 billion program that helps schools pay for special education services for students with disabilities.
Those federal programs support services that allow for lower class sizes with additional teaching positions — and pay for social workers and other non-teaching roles in schools.
At her recent confirmation hearing, McMahon said she would preserve core initiatives including Title I money, Pell Grants for low-income college students and Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
She added that the goal is not to defund key programs — but to have them “operate more efficiently,” the AP reported.
But she also questioned whether some programs directed by the DOE should be moved to other federal agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services and the Justice Department.
Utah education leaders in a holding pattern
In Utah, more than 108,000 Utah K-12 students benefit from federal funds allocated by the DOE through programs such as Title 1.
When asked recently how the Utah State Board of Education would respond to the possible elimination or overhaul of the DOE, a spokesperson said the board is “not taking any action until we have that order — just because we want to make sure we know exactly what’s going on and how we need to address it.”
The National School Lunch Program, which reimburses Utah schools and other states for students receiving free or reduced school meals, is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture — not the DOE.