Trump’s Department of Education’s mass layoffs betray American children across the nation

The Trump administration is initiating mass layoffs in the Department of Education (DOE), laying off a staggering 50% of staff in a move that is bound to harm students nationwide.

Unfortunately, it was just a matter of time before President Donald Trump made this move. Ever since his first presidential term, he has expressed a desire to dismantle the DOE. For weeks, reports have circulated that he is drafting an executive order to officially dissolve the agency, even though he doesn’t have the power to do so without an act of Congress. He has fed into Republicans’ false claims that the DOE is responsible for so-called “woke” policies and curriculum in schools. Trump’s insistence that he wants to hand education back to the states is highly hypocritical, considering he has already grasped control of the curricula nationwide with a sweeping executive order that forces schools to teach a “patriotic” and whitewashed history. He has no intention of letting states have any say in their schools’ education if they don’t match the right-wing agenda.

The DOE isn’t even involved in establishing curriculum or policies, anyway—its most significant function is disbursing and managing funds to make education accessible. Trump’s massive layoffs threaten to interrupt that function.

Donald Trump guts the Department of Education

On March 11, the DOE announced its intentions to cut its workforce in half. Over 1,300 employees will receive termination letters, in addition to the estimated 600 other employees who voluntarily resigned or accepted early retirement deals. Terminated employees will be put on leave beginning March 21. Meanwhile, Trump’s Education Secretary Linda McMahon confirmed the move was the first step in eventually dissolving the entire agency. It’s incredibly strange to have the head of a department actively working to destroy it instead of aid it, but that’s exactly what Trump ordered McMahon to do. The administration seemingly plans to downsize the DOE as much as possible before requiring Congress’s involvement.

Democrats, including Minnesota governor and former teacher Tim Walz, have sounded the alarm on the massive cuts. The abrupt, extreme cuts will impact school budgets and threaten resources for the most vulnerable students, including those who rely on special education programs. It will snatch away resources dedicated to job training, civil rights protections, and low-income and disabled students. Classroom sizes will balloon, teacher turnover will be even higher, and education will become inaccessible to many.

Reducing or dissolving the DOE means reducing or dissolving all oversight and accountability for federal funds. If schools even continue getting these funds, there will be no oversight to ensure, for example, that they go towards special education programs or any benefits to students. Considering the number of red state schools that want to squander funds on book bans and Trump Bibles in schools, one can imagine the widespread misuse that will arise while the most vulnerable students pay the price.

McMahon, the person Trump ordered to destroy DOE, couldn’t even explain the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The Trump administration purposefully chose her to oversee public education because she’s not remotely qualified to do so. She can’t have qualms about firing half her workforce overnight, dismantling the DOE, and destroying public education if she doesn’t know the first thing about it.