The US Department of Education is planning to cut about half
of its workforce, as the Trump administration works to slash the size of the
federal government.
The mass layoffs will affect nearly 2,100 people who are set
to be placed on leave from 21 March.
Trump has long sought to eliminate the department, a
long-cherished goal of some conservatives, but such an action would require
approval by Congress.
The department, which has an annual budget of around $238bn
(£188bn), employs more than 4,000 people.
Established in 1979, the department oversees funding
for public schools, administers student loans and runs programmes that help
low-income students.
But Trump has accused the agency of "indoctrinating
young people with inappropriate racial, sexual, and political material".
A common misconception is that the department operates US
schools and sets curricula - that is done by states and local districts.
And a relatively small percentage of funding for primary and
secondary schools - about 13% - comes from federal funds. The majority is made
up from states and local groups.
The agency also plays a prominent role in administering and
overseeing the federal student loans used by millions of Americans to pay for
higher education.
"As part of the Department of Education's final
mission, the department today initiated a reduction in force impacting nearly
50% of the department's workforce," a statement from Education Secretary
Linda McMahon said on Tuesday.
She said the cuts would impact all divisions in the
department and were made to "better serve students, parents, educators,
and taxpayers".
The agency had 4,133 employees when Trump was sworn into
office, an announcement from the department states. It has the smallest staff
of all the 15 US cabinet-level agencies.
After the cuts, 2,183 people would remain, which included
several hundred who retired or accepted a buyout programme earlier this year,
the agency said.
The notice to employees said that all of those who are laid
off would continue to receive their normal pay and benefits until 9 June, as
well as a severance package or retirement pay based on how long they'd worked
at the department.
"The Department of Education will continue to deliver
on all statutory programs that fall under the agency's purview, including
formula funding, student loans, Pell Grants, funding for special needs
students, and competitive grantmaking," the email states.
Reports have suggested that Trump, for weeks, has considered
signing an executive order impacting the Department of Education, though he has
not yet done so.
Several of his executive orders have been met with lawsuits,
as have Trump's dramatic cuts at agencies around Washington.
Several lawsuits have also challenged actions by the
Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), a team aiming to slash government
spending that's being led by Elon Musk. The agency has installed deputies at
various agencies, slashed staff and accessed data across the government.
For decades, Republicans have floated the idea of axing the
Education Department. When Ronald Reagan ran for president in 1980, he pushed
for its dismantling.
It hasn't been done because it would take an act of
Congress to accomplish, which in the current makeup would mean Trump would need
Democratic support.
Many conservatives have pointed to decentralising education
and giving states and local governments more power.
The American Federation of Teachers, the nation's most
powerful education union, condemned the cuts to the department in a statement.
"The massive reduction in force at the Education
Department is an attack on opportunity that will gut the agency and its ability
to support students, throwing federal education programs into chaos across the
country," the union's president Randi Weingarten said.
She called for Congress and the courts to intervene.
