US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon says the administration will work with Congress to abolish the department.
The United States Department of Education has announced it will lay off nearly half of its employees as President Donald Trump moves to fulfill his campaign promise to dismantle the agency.
On Tuesday, the department stated it would reduce its workforce to approximately 2,183 employees by placing staff on administrative leave starting March 21.
It assured that it would continue to provide “all statutory programs” under its jurisdiction, including student loans and funding for students with special needs.
These cuts follow similar rounds of firings as part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to drastically streamline the federal bureaucracy.
“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,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a 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.”
In an interview with Fox News later on Tuesday, McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, confirmed that the layoffs were a step toward abolishing the department.
“Actually, it is because that was the president’s mandate,” she said. “His directive to me clearly is to shut down the Department of Education, which we know we will have to work with Congress to accomplish.”
McMahon added that the cuts targeted “bureaucratic bloat” and that the department’s “outward-facing programs,” such as grants, would be preserved.
During his campaign, Trump pledged to abolish the Department of Education, which he claimed had been infiltrated by “radicals, zealots, and Marxists,” and to transfer responsibility for education to individual states and local school districts.
In a conversation with reporters last month, the president said he had told McMahon that he wanted her to “put herself out of a job.”
Education in the US is already primarily provided by states and local communities, with the federal government contributing only about 8 percent of the total funding for elementary and secondary schooling.
Established in 1979 by Congress and former President Jimmy Carter, the department’s main functions include providing financial aid to schools, overseeing student loan programs, and enforcing civil rights protections.
Republicans have long opposed the department, arguing that education policy should be managed at the state and local levels.
Former President Ronald Reagan repeatedly called for dismantling the department but ultimately failed to secure congressional support before leaving office in 1989.
The National Education Association, the largest teachers’ union in the US, condemned the Trump administration’s move, accusing it of taking a “wrecking ball” to the futures of some 50 million students.
“The real victims will be our most vulnerable students,” National Education Association President Becky Pringle said in a statement. “Gutting the Department of Education will send class sizes soaring, cut job training programs, make higher education more expensive and out of reach for middle-class families, take away special education services for students with disabilities, and gut student civil rights protections.”
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