The Department of Education announced a sweeping reduction in force (RIF) that will cut nearly 50% of its workforce, marking a significant step in what officials describe as the agency’s “final mission” under the Trump administration. The move, impacting approximately 1,950 employees, will see affected staff placed on administrative leave starting as early as Friday, March 21.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon framed the decision as a way to support educators in the classroom. “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,” McMahon said in a Tuesday statement. “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.”
The workforce reduction brings the Department’s staff from 4,133 at the start of President Donald Trump’s second term to roughly 2,183. Of those affected, nearly 600 employees opted for voluntary separation over the past seven weeks, with 259 accepting the Deferred Resignation Program and 313 taking the Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment. The remaining employees impacted by the RIF will receive full pay and benefits through June 9, along with severance packages or retirement benefits based on their years of service, in accordance with regulatory requirements and the agency’s collective bargaining agreement.
Despite the cuts, the Department emphasized that it will maintain all statutory programs, including formula funding, student loans, Pell Grants, support for special needs students, and competitive grantmaking. However, all divisions within the agency will face some level of reorganization to adapt to the reduced staffing levels.
The news comes the same day that the department announced it was canceling the lease on several offices in major cities, including New York, Boston, Chicago and Cleveland, Rachel Oglesby, the department’s chief of staff reportedly told the Associated Press.
“A new era of accountability in federal government harkens back to Ronald Reagan & his plan to end the Department of Education in 1982,” the department posted on X on Monday, a week ago with a link to an article on “Homeroom,” the agency’s blog.
“Americans were not accustomed to such a massive role for the federal government in education, which had always been a local and state function. Voters never approved of President Carter establishing the agency, and elected Reagan in a historic landslide to shrink the size of government— and eliminate ED,” the article states; adding, “The silent majority was emphatic that the federal government is ill-equipped to centrally plan the education of America’s children.”
“The days of runaway bureaucracy are coming to an end,” the article states. “The reckoning that Ronald Reagan sought to begin more than four decades ago has forcefully reemerged.”
The Tuesday announcement fulfills another long time campaign promise by President Trump, who remains steadfast in his vision to dismantle the agency. “We want federal education dollars to follow the student, rather than propping up a bloated and radical bureaucracy in Washington, D.C.,” he told a capacity crowd of Wisconsin voters in October 2024.
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Christina Botteri is the Executive Editor of The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow her on X at @christinakb.
Photo “Linda McMahon” by Linda McMahon.
