Department of Education Staff Cuts Will Harm America’s Children and Schools

This column contains a correction.

The Trump administration’s recent decision to slash the U.S. Department of Education’s workforce nearly in half is a direct blow to the roughly 50 million public pre-K-12 students across the country and 19 million students enrolled in higher education. Coined as its “final mission,” the department has willfully terminated 1,315 personnel with specialized expertise, on top of the nearly 600 employees who have resigned since the administration took office. Already the smallest Cabinet-level agency in the federal government, the department must now endure dramatic workforce cuts that will have devastating consequences on its functionality. And America’s students, families, and educators will bear the brunt of these consequences.

The Department of Education was founded in 1979 to ensure equal access to a high-quality education for every individual, to promote the quality of education through federally sponsored research and evaluation, and to protect the rights of students and educators. Despite these commitments, nearly 51 percent of the recent employee cuts affected the same offices that protect equal access to education; oversee research and evaluation; and safeguard students’ civil rights.

In lieu of issuing an executive order eliminating the department outright, which would require an act of Congress, it seems the Trump administration has decided to illegally freeze federal funding and incapacitate key functions of the agency. In a press release addressing the staff cuts, the Department of Education insisted that it 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.” Yet this assertion does not line up with the reality of the scope and scale of terminations or the offices and functions affected. The Department of Education workforce has already experienced more than a 35 percent decrease in staffing since it was established. (see Figure 1)

How the reduction in force will affect the department’s critical functions

The recent cuts to personnel will make it more difficult for the agency of now 2,183 workers to fulfill its mission and key functions, which include administering federal elementary, secondary, and postsecondary programs. There are congressional mandates the agency must achieve regardless of its workforce capacity, and the recent cuts jeopardize its ability to meet compliance requirements and deliver for students, teachers, and school districts.

Some of these harms include:

• Eroding students’ civil rights: Of the 243 employees recently fired at the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), 180 were staff attorneys. Across the 11 regional OCR offices, seven have seen all of their staff terminated. Yet the agency continues to receive thousands of complaints annually—most recently, 22,687 filings in fiscal year 2024, the highest in the agency’s history, with a 36 percent increase in resolutions from the prior fiscal year.* Without appropriate staffing of investigators, attorneys, and other key personnel, the OCR will be unable to protect students from discrimination and other civil rights violations. Federal law requires that the department maintain the OCR to provide assistance and guidance to education agencies and uphold the civil rights protections of students. It must also coordinate data collection; hire staff, including attorneys, to ensure civil rights enforcement; and provide an annual report to Congress on noncompliance and dispute resolution activities.
• Hindering research and evaluation: The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is an independent arm of the Department of Education that advances research and evaluation to inform pre-K-12 education practices and policies. IES operates four research centers that already have experienced nearly $900 million in cuts to research contracts thanks to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), followed by the termination of 105 employees during the most recent staff reduction. Cuts to IES will also affect the mandated National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) assessment and the NAEP long-term trend (LTT) assessment, which has been abruptly nixed by the administration. It’s worth noting that the NAEP LTT assessment has shown score increases nationally in reading and math achievement, challenging claims of a failing public education system. The loss of employees at IES will both limit transparency of student progress and research that informs effective instruction.
• Impeding technology integration: Technology is essential to student achievement. While establishing the Department of Education, Congress acknowledged the important role of technology, suggesting the need to shore up technology integration in K-12 education. As part of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, the department established the Office of Educational Technology (OET), which has been affected by the recent reduction in force, with its public website, research, and resources for schools and districts erased. As optimism grows toward the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in education and countries such as China, Singapore and South Korea introduce AI curricula for students and teacher preparation, the loss of OET will leave U.S. students and educators behind in AI literacy skills and global competitiveness. Already, just 18 percent of U.S. teachers have identified themselves as AI users, of whom only 7 percent reported actively seeking and using AI tools and products.
• Creating barriers to educational equity for low-income students, English language learners, and rural students: The recent termination of 49 staff within the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) will have a direct impact on the level of technical assistance and oversight the Department of Education can provide to states for Title I and other formula and competitive grant programs, including programs for English learners and the roughly 10 million students in rural schools. Federal law supplements state and local funding by providing grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to support the education of these students, particularly those who are economically disadvantaged. This funding has multiple uses, including supporting teaching positions in local schools. Districts rely on the expertise of Department of Education staff for the administration and implementation of Title I and other federal programs.
• Weakening identification and education of students experiencing homelessness: The reduction to the Department of Education’s staffing will affect the agency’s ability to fulfill the mandates of the McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Act, including oversight and support to the 3,952, or 20.8 percent of, school districts that receive funding under this law. Each year, there is approximately $129 million in homeless education funding that is distributed to districts across the country. This funding supports the 1.4 million pre-K-12 students experiencing homelessness, who districts and schools must identify, enroll, and educate. The department is responsible for making grants available to states to meet this obligation, including by conducting outreach to increase awareness of funding opportunities.
• Reducing oversight protections for students with disabilities: There are more than 7 million students with disabilities in the United States, and the Department of Education helps ensure they receive a free, appropriate public education—as guaranteed under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Accordingly, the department authorizes grant programs for early intervention and special education services, including specialized instruction and related services such as speech language therapy for infants, toddlers, and school-age children with disabilities. Yet it has been reported that with the recent cuts, the office that ensures proper implementation of IDEA has reduced its number of employees by 16. Such personnel reduction increases the risk of discriminatory practices against students with disabilities when there are fewer staff to provide oversight and compliance. It also raises concerns about future funding reductions to IDEA that could limit special education personnel and lead to loss of services for students at a crucial time when the program is severely underfunded.
• Making higher education less affordable and accessible: The Department of Education administers federal higher education programs through the Higher Education Act, which authorizes a broad range of federal student aid programs and supports postsecondary education. In particular, the Federal Student Aid office was established under the Higher Education Amendments (HEA) of 1998 and is responsible for administering the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, processing more than 17 million FAFSA forms annually.

Reporting suggests significant cuts were made to this office that will increase processing times and weaken communication with student borrowers. Title IV of the HEA authorizes an array of federal student aid programs that help students and their families finance the cost of a postsecondary education, including distributing federal Pell Grant funding (HEA IV-A-1), providing access to federal direct student loans (HEA IV-D), and operating the federal work-study program. These resources have enabled millions of students to attain a college degree. For example, in 2024, more than 6 million Americans received Pell Grant support to make their college costs more affordable. Cuts or disruptions to the Pell Grant program—which is already facing a projected shortfall—could particularly hurt community colleges and minority-serving institutions, whose students rely heavily on such federal aid. Ultimately, this could lead to closures of colleges and institutions if they cannot provide sufficient funding.

• Undermining postsecondary education and pathways: Section 205 of the Department of Education Organization Act (DEOA) requires the department to maintain an Office of Postsecondary Education, which oversees key programs that support millions of students after grade school. For example, TRIO helps low-income students and those less likely to go to college attain a degree. Since it was created in 1964, TRIO has helped more than 6 million Americans earn degrees. But now, with less capacity following staff cuts across the department, programs such as TRIO could face significant disruptions and delays in serving students.
• Leaving the next generation less prepared for the workforce: The Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE), which was originally established as the Office of Vocational and Adult Education under Section 206 of the DEOA, administers programs for adult education and literacy, career and technical education, and community colleges. Additionally, it oversees key grant programs established by the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act and provides support to states to improve program quality and accountability. These programs are essential for building the nation’s workforce, expanding career pathways, and strengthening community colleges; staffing cuts will result in a less prepared generation of students entering the labor market.
• Poorer oversight and communication with stakeholders: The Department of Education’s ability to conduct oversight will also be affected by the cuts. Student loan borrowers are now likely to face longer hold times when trying to reach the department for help handling disputes or administrative issues; longer processing times for FAFSA and student loan forgiveness and repayment applications should also be expected. For example, under the first Trump administration, borrowers who were defrauded by schools such as ITT Technical Institute and Corinthian Colleges were denied relief under the borrower defense to repayment program, despite the Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau concluding that the institutions engaged in wrongdoing. After six years of inaction, the Department of Education under the Biden-Harris administration approved group discharges for the two schools in 2022.

At the K-12 level, these staffing cuts mean students and families will likely experience delays and incur financial costs associated with litigation to resolve civil rights violations. The reduction in force could also affect elementary and secondary education rulemaking and lead to fewer federal regulations guiding the implementation of congressionally appropriated programs and federal laws. State grantees are also likely to encounter limited technical assistance, including webinars produced by the department’s staff, as well as limited guidance to inform implementation of federal programs. Moreover, fewer employees administering competitive and discretionary programs could lead to poorer oversight of the initiatives that support learning and teacher development. It could also cause funding disbursement delays for states and districts, contributing to financial instability and loss of critical resources such as teaching positions supported by federal funds. Notably, fewer teachers can lead to larger class sizes and unequal access to educational opportunities.

Conclusion

The Department of Education’s mission is “to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.” The unprecedented staff cuts announced this week will undoubtedly undermine these efforts, harming students, schools, and educators and ultimately leaving the nation less globally competitive for this next generation.

Since its founding, the Department of Education has supported states in implementing federal education laws, protecting the civil rights of students and educators, and increasing the academic achievement of pre-K-12 students, which, in turn, has improved graduation outcomes and postsecondary enrollment. Reducing the department’s staffing is guaranteed to make the agency less effective in meeting its statutory requirements while increasing the responsibilities and burdens faced by states and local districts.

* ‎Correction, March 14, 2025: This column has been updated to reflect more recent data on both the number of OCR offices whose staff were terminated and the number of complaint filings and resolutions.