US Education Department says it is cutting nearly half of all staff

The Trump administration is working toward its promise of eliminating the U.S. Department of Education. On Tuesday evening, the department released a statement saying it would cut nearly 50% of the department's workforce. Impacted staff will be placed on administrative leave beginning March 21, according to the announcement.

The statement confirms "all divisions" within the agency will be hit by cuts, but also says it will continue to deliver programs protected by 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.

According to the announcement, more than 1,300 positions will be cut as a result of this reduction in force. Roughly another 600 employees accepted voluntary resignations or retired over the last two months.

AFGE Local 252, a union that represents Education Department employees, released a statement in which its president, Sheria Smith, said, "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."

Minutes later, AFGE Local 252 told NPR that Smith was laid off, along with all five of the chapter's other union officers.

Smith told NPR, "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 is an attorney with the Office for Civil Rights, which is responsible for making sure students aren't being discriminated against at school, including students with disabilities. She said, "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."

The Department of Education sent union leaders a list of members who would be impacted by the cuts. The union shared that list with NPR. It shows hundreds of layoffs at the Federal Student Aid office, Institute of Education Sciences and Office for Civil Rights, among other units. 

Some of these offices were established in laws passed by Congress. But if the Education Department has retained at least some employees at legally protected divisions, it could be leaving the door open to say it hasn't completely shut the offices down.  

"The executive branch can argue that they are partially implementing the law," says Kenneth Wong, a professor of education policy at Brown University. "And they would probably argue that there is no longer a need for the personnel to fulfill [these] functions."

He says the question of whether these actions are legal will be up to Congress and, potentially, the courts to decide.

Earlier on Tuesday, department employees received an email advising them to vacate all department offices by 6 p.m. Staff members were instructed by the department's Office of Security, Facilities and Logistics to plan to work from home on Wednesday. Employees of the department shared the email with NPR. We are not naming them because they feared retribution.

Department employees have spent the past several weeks anticipating sweeping staff cuts by the Trump administration.

This Thursday, agency heads are expected to turn in their "reorganization" plans to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

A guidance memo from OMB and OPM sent in late February instructed agency heads to achieve "large-scale reductions in force (RIFs)" through attrition and "by eliminating positions that are not required."

Before Tuesday's announcement, at least 75 Education Department staff members had already been placed on paid administrative leave, according to a tally by AFGE Local 252. This count does not include managers and supervisors. Many of those workers on paid leave attended a diversity, equity and inclusion workshop the department has offered for many years, including during the first Trump administration. 

The union also said at least 75 probationary department staff members, who were hired more recently and are legally easier to lay off, had also had their jobs terminated. 

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