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The Department of Education announced this week that it was firing roughly half of its workforce. When President Trump started his term, ED had 4,133 employees. After these reductions, just 2,183 employees will be left.

Attempts to eliminate the Department are a direct attack on children across the country. The Department of Education supports robust educational opportunity for nearly 26 million low-income students and 7.5 million students with disabilities across the country.

When asked whether the recent move was part of a bigger plan aimed at “total shutdown,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon replied, “Yes — actually, it is.” The Administration is moving toward complete elimination of the Department of Education without Congressional oversight or approval. Despite these moves, evidence continues to show that eliminating the Department of Education is an unpopular policy. For example, a recent New America poll shows that 55% of American adults oppose dismantling the Department of Education. Only 26% favor its elimination.

Even before firing half of its staff, the Department of Education was the smallest Cabinet-level agency. The Office of Civil Rights has been hit particularly hard by the layoffs, devastating many regional offices. This comes at a time when the Office of Civil Rights has received the highest-ever number of complaints per year for the past three years. The cuts also disproportionately affected staff at the Federal Student Aid office and the Institute of Education Sciences, the research arm of the department.

Those in favor of abolishing the Department argue that the move will return power to the states without hurting students. But there is no power to return: States and school districts are already in complete control of creating curriculum and determining requirements. The Department of Education is the one-and-only federal agency committed exclusively to children, and it is an essential force for ensuring that all of the nation’s students receive a well-supported and equitable public education. It is responsible for flagging and offering funding and guidance for challenges in the system, such as the youth mental health crisis. DOE is also the most reliable reporter of homelessness among American students and keeps Congress apprised of new trends and research on this and many other issues that curb student success.

The Department of Education also enforces federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination in school programs and activities that receive federal funding. DOE also provides vital grants and funding to underserved student groups. In an age of book bans, speech codes, the whitewashing of history and science, and anti-LGBTQ+, anti-diversity movements, these functions have never been more important. Perhaps that is the very reason the Administration is targeting DOE for destruction.

Events & Resources for Action

The American Federation of Teachers has an action page dedicated to telling members of Congress to oppose education cuts.

The Century Foundation has a resource detailing how gutting the Department of Education hurts students and families.