The U.S. Department of Education announced on Tuesday evening that it will be cutting its staff by about 50 percent as part of a “reduction-in-force” to start downsizing the department.
In a press call, a senior department official said that of the 4,133 employees currently at the Education Department, 1,315 will be subject to the reduction-in-force — a formal governmental process. That number is on top of the 259 employees who utilized the deferred resignation program, 313 who took the voluntary separation incentive payment of $25,000, and another 63 probationary employees who were terminated in February.
“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,” Education Secretary Linda 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 toward restoring the greatness of the United States education system.”
The department official said that the Trump administration has been pursuing “substantial reforms” across the government in the civil service, adding that this reduction constitutes “a piece of those substantial reforms.”
“As the president and Secretary McMahon have noted repeatedly, what we are doing right now in education is simply not working. Seventy percent of kids cannot read proficiently by the time they reach high school, we have spent over $1 trillion at the federal level since the department was created, and test scores and outcomes have plummeted even before pandemic-related school closures drove down performance even more,” the official stated. “But, in the meantime, the bureaucracy has grown, and we have a department now that exists largely to oversee contractors, add strains, and in many cases do duplicative efforts across the department.”
The department’s plan focuses on eliminating entire teams whose operations have been deemed redundant or unnecessary. The official said that every part of the department will be affected “in some way.”
Those subjected to the reduction will have 90 days from Tuesday until they are actually terminated and will receive full pay and benefits during that time. The affected employees will also receive in severance one week’s salary for every year of service they have up to ten years and two weeks’ salary for every year of service beyond ten years. That formula is created by the official reduction-in-force process.
The responsibilities of the employees being terminated will be rolled over by March 21, which will be the date the employees go on paid administrative leave for the remainder of the 90 days.
Those employees will be teleworking until that date — a move that comes after the department announced that employees would not be able to enter the Washington, D.C., headquarters on Wednesday due to security concerns.
Some employees anticipate the possibility of protesters outside the department making the area unsafe for those not affected by the reduction.
Part of the reduction includes cutting department building leases in San Francisco, New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, and Cleveland. Eventually, the department will consolidate into one building in the nation’s capital instead of three.
“This is not in any way, shape, or form, going to impact our ability to deliver federal student aid in a timely manner,” the official said. “This is not going to impact the rollout of the FAFSA by October 1. It’s not going to impact how we deliver formula funding to states, including Title I and IDEA [Individuals with Disabilities Education Act] for special needs students. It’s not going to impact our civil rights investigations, and it’s, in general, not going to impact our ability to carry out all of the statutorily mandated functions that Congress has given us.”
Breccan F. Thies is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. He previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.
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