Education Department Documents Detail Massive Scope of Agency Worker Terminations
HEADLINES
Education Department Documents Detail Massive Scope of Agency Worker Terminations (Politico, March 12, 2025) According to agency documents obtained by POLITICO, the Trump administration’s steep workforce cuts at the Education Department include hundreds of attorneys, student aid workers, and civil rights office staff. The documents provide a detailed view of the unprecedented wave of Education Department employee terminations and account for nearly 1,000 planned staff terminations. See the revamped Department of Education organizational chart, which indicates which offices the staff cuts would hit.
U.S. Department of Education Initiates Reduction in Force (Ed.gov, March 11, 2025) As part of the Department of Education’s final mission, the Department today initiated a reduction in force (RIF) that will impact nearly 50% of its workforce. The affected Department staff will be placed on administrative leave beginning Friday, March 21st. “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,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.
Assessing the Damage After the Education Department’s Mass Layoffs (Inside Higher Ed, March 13, 2025) The Trump administration’s deep cuts at the department hit some offices harder than others, but the effects will likely be felt by students, families and institutions across the country. Across the board, former department officials, policy analysts, equity advocates and legal experts worry that the reduction in force will be a blow to crucial services for students and institutions. The Education Department sends them billions of dollars each year in student loans, Pell Grants and other federal support.
What the Education Dept.’s Job Cuts Could Mean for Financial Aid (The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 12, 2025) When the U.S. Department of Education announced on Tuesday that it was eliminating nearly half of its staff, it said that it would “continue to deliver on all statutory programs that fall under the agency’s purview,” including Pell Grants and student loans. As news of the job cuts circulated on Tuesday night and Wednesday, experts wondered how to square that assurance with their knowledge of the work it takes to get federal financial aid into students’ accounts.
Democratic State Attorneys Generals Sue to Block Trump from Dismantling the US Education Department (Reuters, March 13, 2025) A group of Democratic state attorneys general on Thursday filed a lawsuit seeking to block Republican U.S. President Donald Trump's administration from dismantling the U.S. Department of Education and halt it from laying off nearly half of its staff. Democratic attorneys general from 20 states and the District of Columbia filed the lawsuit in federal court in Boston after the Education Department on Tuesday announced plans to lay off more than 1,300 of its employees as part of the agency's "final mission."
Trump Administration Ordered to Temporarily Restore Teacher-Prep Grants in 8 States (Education Week, March 11, 2025) A federal judge on Monday evening ordered the Trump administration to temporarily reinstate some of the grant funding for teacher-preparation programs that the U.S. Department of Education terminated last month—but nearly a day later, it remains to be seen whether the federal government has moved to restore the money. This week’s temporary order affected federal grant funding awarded to teacher-preparation efforts in California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Wisconsin.