The United States Department of Education cuts staff

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The United States Department of Education announced on March 11 that it is reducing its workforce almost halfway, a movement that the Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said it is a first step to eliminate the department.

Approximately one third of staff will lose their work through a “strength reduction,” the department said in a press release. Combined with voluntary purchases, the Department of Education will have just under 2,200 employees by the end of the month, compared to 4,133 when President Donald Trump assumed the position of promises To close the department.

The layoffs represent a significant escalation of Trump's efforts to reduce the role of the department in education, which is mostly administered by the states and school districts. Already, The administration has canceled hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies and contracts. That paid educational research, technical assistance to schools and school districts, and teachers training programs.

The affected personnel will be placed on administrative license as of March 21, the department said. Before the ad, The workers were told to leave the office at 6 pm on Tuesday and that the office would remain closed until Thursday “for security reasons.” Later, McMahon said this was a standard corporate process when dismissals occur.

“Today's reduction reflects the commitment of the Department of Education with efficiency, responsibility and guarantee that resources are directed where they care more: for students, parents and teachers”, “,” McMahon said in a press release. “I appreciate the work of the dedicated public servants and their contributions to the department. This is a significant step to restore the greatness of the United States education system. “

The Education Department administers the main federal financing programs such as Title I, which provides additional money to high poverty schools, and the Disabilities Information Education Law, or idea, which supports special education. It also investigates civil rights complaints and supervises a system of responsibility that pushes states to identify low performance schools and provide additional resources.

Exactly how layoffs will affect specific programs, it was not clear immediately. A former employee of the Department of Education, who spoke with Chalkbeat on anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal the information, said that the entire office for civil rights equipment based in Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, Cleveland, Boston and New York were fired. That represents half of the regional civil rights offices.

The department said that all divisions are affected but did not describe specific positions that were eliminated. In the press release, department officials said that all the functions required by law will continue.

Only Congress can eliminate the department, but such deep cuts could leave the department a shell of their former self.

Appearing in “The Ingraham Angle” in Fox News shortly after the layoffs were announced, McMahon said Trump had given him a clear mandate to close the department. She said she would work with Congress to do that. Immediately reducing these positions would help the federal government send more money to the states, he said.

“I said 'Ok, we have to identify where the swelling is, where the bureaucracy is, and we are going to start there,” McMahon said. “We need to make sure that money reaches the United States.”

Trump is expected to firm an executive order to begin the process of eliminating the department, but it has not yet done so. Conservatives say that for decades the department has not been able to adequately address the low academic performance and is a swollen bureaucracy.

In Fox, McMahon assured spectators that programs as an idea would still be financed through the assignments of the Congress. When asked what idea represented, McMahon replied: “I am not sure to be able to tell him exactly what it represents, except that they are programs for disabled needs. It is my fifth day at work, and I'm really trying to learn quickly. “

The bosses of the Conservative State School said in a letter to McMahon Last month, they need more flexibility in how to use federal money, instead of following complex rules that guarantee that specific financing flows benefit certain groups of students.

Public education defenders fear that if money flows without restrictions on states, there is no guarantee that it helps the most vulnerable students. Even without an executive order, they are concerned that administrative changes may affect the ability of the department to perform basic functions.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, condemned the dismissals.

“Dening an agency so that it cannot work effectively is the most cowardly dismantling it,” he said in a statement. “The massive reduction of strength in the Department of Education is an attack on the opportunity that will gut the agency and its ability to support students, launching chaos federal education programs throughout the country.”

Sheria Smith, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, Local 252, which represents 2,800 employees of the Department of Education, said the union will fight against the dismissals and against what she called an erroneous information campaign on the work of the department.

“We must ask our fellow citizens: do you want the rights of their children and their children to apply at school? Do you want your children to have the ability to practice sports in their school districts? Do you need financial help for the university? Are you an official who depends on forgiveness of student loans? Does your school district compensate for property taxes with federal funds? She said in a statement.

“If so, then trust the Department of Education and the services you trust and the employees that support them are under attack.”

Shortly after it was confirmed, McMahon sent a message to the staff of the Department of Education. Describe a “final mission” that would affect the staff, budgets and operations of the agency.

The department staff was Given unique offers of up to $ 25,000 withdraw or give up before a “very significant reduction in force.” More than 500 employees took some kind of purchase.

Other 1,300 employees are losing their work through force reduction, McMahon announced.

Exposed employees will be paid until June 9.

This story has been updated to include comments from Linda McMahon in Fox News, reaction to additional layoffs and information about the affected offices.

Chalk It is a non -profit news site that covers educational change in public schools.

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