The Department of Education plans to cut about half its staff, officials announced Tuesday evening.
Senior officials within the department told reporters Tuesday the reduction will not have any impact on the government's ability to deliver programming to students, but is instead about "consolidation" of redundant roles.
The department will make the following reductions from its more than 4,000 staff:
- 259 staffers who signed up for deferred resignation
- 313 staffers who accepted $25,000 voluntary separation incentive payments
- 1,315 staffers who are now subject to the reduction in force
- 63 probationary employees who had their roles eliminated in February
Those staffers who are now subject to the reduction in force will receive full pay and benefits for the next 90 days and a severance of one week's salary for service up to 10 years and 2 weeks' salary for every additional year of service.
Notifications to affected workers were sent via email around 6p.m. ET on Tuesday, department officials said. The main Department of Education office building was to be closed for safety on Wednesday.
The reductions would also lead to a consolidation in department office space, officials said. Offices in San Francisco, California; New York; Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; Cleveland, Ohio; and Dallas, Texas would be closed. The department would also consolidate its footprint in Washington, D.C. from three buildings to one.
The cuts would not impact federal student aid, FAFSA operations, civil rights investigations or any other mandatory department functions, officials said.
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The reduction comes shortly after the Senate confirmed billionaire Linda McMahon, President Trump's pick for Education Secretary.
At her confirmation hearing, McMahon said she intended to make the Education Department "operate more efficiently."
But President Trump has promised to eliminate the Department of Education. He has already signed sweeping orders to target diversity programs and transgender accommodations in schools and expand school choice.
Critics warn staffing cuts at the department will erode its effectiveness in the meantime.
“The real victims will be our most vulnerable students. 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," said National Education Association President Becky Pringle. “Firing — without cause — nearly half of the Department of Education staff means they are getting rid of the dedicated public servants who help ensure our nation’s students have access to the programs and resources to keep class sizes down and expand learning opportunities for students so they can grow into their full brilliance. The Trump administration has abandoned students, parents, and educators across the nation."
