Education Dept. To Cut Half Its Staff: See Possible PA Impacts

PENNSYLVANIA — The Department of Education has announced a wide-scale reduction of force, with plans to cut half of its staff across multiple regions.

Approximately 1,300 Department of Education employees will be laid off, the Department of Education said in a news release. Impacted Department staff will be placed on administrative leave beginning March 21, the news release said.

All employees working out of the department's regional offices in San Francisco, New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas and Cleveland will be fired as part of the layoffs, NBC News reported.

The Department’s workforce will go from 4,133 workers to roughly 2,183 workers. Included in the reduction in force are nearly 600 employees who accepted voluntary resignation opportunities and retirement over the last seven weeks, the Department of Education said.

In Pennsylvania, Department of Education offices are located in Harrisburg.

The Education Department said it would continue to deliver on its key functions, such as the distribution of federal aid to schools, student loan management and oversight of Pell grants. Department employees are also charged with enforcing civil rights laws in federally funded schools and colleges.

“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,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said Tuesday. “I appreciate the work of the dedicated public servants and their contributions to the Department. This is a significant step toward restoring the greatness of the United States education system.”

Pennsylvania’s K-12 curricula and funding comes from the state and local level, but the Education Department plays a supporting role in funding through programs such as Title I for low-income students, IDEA for students with disabilities and various grants aimed at improving student performance and ensuring equitable access to education.

The Pennsylvania State Education Association, which represents 177,000 current, retired, and future educators and other school staff, said the cuts could put close to 7,000 public school jobs in jeopardy around the state.

Most public school funding comes from the local level, with the federal government providing an average 13.6 percent of the funding for public K-12 education nationwide in the 2021-2022 school year, according to an analysis by USA Facts of National Center for Education Statistics data.

About 13.6 percent of public school funding in Pennsylvania also comes from the federal government, or $1.6 billion. This includes $578 million for Title I programs and $428 million for Individuals with Disabilities in Education (IDEA) programs, according to the PSEA.

PSEA President Aaron Chapin, a middle school teacher in Stroudsburg Area District, said this move is creating "a tremendous amount of chaos" at schools across the state.

“Think of what this means for students from low-income families living in communities that count on these federal investments to support their public education," he said in a statement. "Think about what this means for students receiving special education services and their families. These students deserve more support, not less. But they and many others will pay the price if the department that distributes and oversees billions in federal funding is dismantled so that billionaires can get another massive tax cut."

Trump has said he wants to return all control of schools to states. The biggest question for many is what happens to the billions of dollars sent to run public schools every year, such as Title I funding, which supports schools in communities with high concentrations of poverty.

Educating low-income children, students learning English and those with disabilities often costs more because it requires specialized teaching or smaller class sizes. Districts without a strong tax base to fund schools often struggle to meet these students’ needs, which Congress recognized by authorizing the money.

The White House has drafted an executive order launching the process to dismantle the Department of Education and pushing Congress to make it official.

“The experiment of controlling American education through Federal programs and dollars—and the unaccountable bureaucrats those programs and dollars support—has failed our children, our teachers, and our families,” the draft order reads.

It’s not clear when Trump will sign the order.

The union representing more than 2,800 Education Department workers pledged to fight the “draconian cuts” and urged Americans to contact their representatives in Congress to intervene.

“What is clear from the past weeks of mass firings, chaos, and unchecked unprofessionalism is that this regime has no respect for the thousands of workers who have dedicated their careers to serve their fellow Americans,” Sheria Smith, president of the American Federation of Government Employees chapter representing Education Department staff, said in a statement. “It is also clear that there is a rampant disinformation campaign to mislead Americans about the actual services, resources, grants, and programs that the U.S. Department of Education provides to all Americans.”

The National Education Association, which lobbied for the department’s formation in the 1970s, decried the cuts, saying they will send class sizes soaring.

“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,” NEA President Becky Pringle said in a statement.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.