Washington, D.C. — Since taking office in January, the Trump administration has dramatically slashed the U.S. Department of Education’s workforce, jeopardizing the safety and success of millions of public K-12 students across the country.
New analysis from the Center for American Progress quantifies the administration’s cuts within the Department of Education and identifies key harms that may result from the loss of personnel. This year to date, the department’s total loss equals nearly 50 percent of its workforce, based on reported department headcounts.
Other key findings about the reductions in force within the department include:
- Newly reported terminations within the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) translate to a more than 80 percent total reduction in OCR staff from the start of the year.
- Dramatic cuts to the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) weaken enforcement of federal education laws, timely distribution of funds that support local schools, and technical assistance to states.
- The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) lost 121 employees amid the Trump administration’s latest cuts, leaving a handful of employees to manage the service of vital programs for 7.5 million students with disabilities.
- Nearly 15 percent of all students receive special education services, making the cuts at OSERS a crisis that will affect every state and district nationwide.
“The Trump administration is moving forward with its agenda to ultimately close the Department of Education and strip funding and programs that support public education and improve student achievement,” said Paige Shoemaker DeMio, senior analyst for K-12 Education Policy at CAP and co-author of the column. “This approach is as harmful as it is reckless, and the administration should abandon it in favor of fully funding and staffing the department if it wants to effectively serve America’s children and families.”
Read the column: “The Trump Administration’s Latest Staffing Cuts at the Department of Education Threaten Children’s Success Across the Country” by Paige Shoemaker DeMio and Weadé James
For more information or to speak with an expert, contact Mishka Espey at [email protected].