On March 11, the U.S. Department of Education announced mass layoffs to its workforce that shrunk the department’s capacity to half of its size. These layoffs included what are, effectively, abolishments of multiple offices mandated by statute, such as the Office of English Language Acquisition, the Institute of Education Sciences, and the Office of Educational Technology, and a severe incapacitation of the Office for Civil Rights, with total eliminations of half of the regional offices which investigate civil rights violations across the country. In response, TCF senior fellows offered their reactions to the assault on America’s education system.
“Students, borrowers, taxpayers, and colleges will be hurt by President Trump’s illegal moves to dismantle the Department of Education,” said TCF’s director of higher education policy Carolyn Fast. “Students and taxpayers count on the Department to protect them from scams and bad actors. The Department of Education has long been a shield for students from discrimination and a vehicle for students getting the opportunities to which they are entitled. The Department ensures low income students can go to college through Pell grants and student loans, and helps provide HBCUs and Minority Serving Institutions with the resources they need to provide the education their students deserve.
“The result of this chaos and confusion will be students, families, and schools knocking on the door to ask for help and finding no one home. Low income students would be left to fend for themselves without Pell grants and be far more likely to take on student debt. The Trump administration is leaving millions of students, families, and borrowers out to dry.”
“All of us, across the political and ideological spectrum, want our students to succeed and grow. We also agree the status quo is failing a lot of students,” said TCF’s director of PK–12 education policy Halley Potter. “But closing the Department of Education with no plan to improve student outcomes and schools throws the whole tub out with the baby and the bathwater. We already have a localized education system: the job of determining curriculum and educating students is done at the local and state level already, not from some bureaucrats in Washington. All that eliminating the Department of Education accomplishes is to cut funding to schools, undermine public education, and make it harder to invest in students—it will worsen student outcomes, not improve them.”
“Public schools are the cornerstone of our democracy and should provide every child—regardless of background or circumstance—an equal opportunity to succeed,” said TCF senior fellow and former senior policy advisor Kayla Patrick. “This administration has begun an assault on these core American values. This is not just an attack on the people working in Washington, D.C. This is an attack on students, families, and educators in every state, every city, and every community across this country. The department was created with one clear purpose: to protect the civil rights of American students and to ensure they have the opportunities they need and deserve to succeed and pursue the American dream—because many states failed to uphold that responsibility. For forty-five years, career civil servants have worked tirelessly to support states in their mission to better educate and serve students. Without them, our schools and students are left worse off.”
“The individuals receiving layoff notices weren’t bureaucrats—they were the frontline defenders of our children’s rights and qualified experts in education, research, law, and policy,” said TCF senior fellow and former senior policy advisor at the Department of Education Loredana Valtierra. “The civil sevants who were fired investigated civil rights violations like sexual assault, racism, and discrimination, which in turn create environments where students cannot learn to read or write. They made sure students with disabilities had the support they needed and were not excluded from classrooms because of their learning differences. The civil servants illegally fired were responsible for accountability and transparency, holding states and schools responsible for improving when necessary and accurately reporting data, so parents have access to vital information about their neighborhood schools. And they supported states and school districts in teaching all children the English language, which is now the nation’s official language. Without them students lose rights and opportunity and achievement gaps will widen.
This is an attack on our children’s future and the future of this country. Our students deserve better, and we must hold those in power accountable for putting politics over the well-being and future of our children. Congress and the administration must restore these critical functions of the American education system.”
Tags: department of education, donald trump, layoffs
TCF Leaders Speak Out on Assault on Education by the Trump Administration
On March 11, the U.S. Department of Education announced mass layoffs to its workforce that shrunk the department’s capacity to half of its size. These layoffs included what are, effectively, abolishments of multiple offices mandated by statute, such as the Office of English Language Acquisition, the Institute of Education Sciences, and the Office of Educational Technology, and a severe incapacitation of the Office for Civil Rights, with total eliminations of half of the regional offices which investigate civil rights violations across the country. In response, TCF senior fellows offered their reactions to the assault on America’s education system.
“Students, borrowers, taxpayers, and colleges will be hurt by President Trump’s illegal moves to dismantle the Department of Education,” said TCF’s director of higher education policy Carolyn Fast. “Students and taxpayers count on the Department to protect them from scams and bad actors. The Department of Education has long been a shield for students from discrimination and a vehicle for students getting the opportunities to which they are entitled. The Department ensures low income students can go to college through Pell grants and student loans, and helps provide HBCUs and Minority Serving Institutions with the resources they need to provide the education their students deserve.
“The result of this chaos and confusion will be students, families, and schools knocking on the door to ask for help and finding no one home. Low income students would be left to fend for themselves without Pell grants and be far more likely to take on student debt. The Trump administration is leaving millions of students, families, and borrowers out to dry.”
“All of us, across the political and ideological spectrum, want our students to succeed and grow. We also agree the status quo is failing a lot of students,” said TCF’s director of PK–12 education policy Halley Potter. “But closing the Department of Education with no plan to improve student outcomes and schools throws the whole tub out with the baby and the bathwater. We already have a localized education system: the job of determining curriculum and educating students is done at the local and state level already, not from some bureaucrats in Washington. All that eliminating the Department of Education accomplishes is to cut funding to schools, undermine public education, and make it harder to invest in students—it will worsen student outcomes, not improve them.”
“Public schools are the cornerstone of our democracy and should provide every child—regardless of background or circumstance—an equal opportunity to succeed,” said TCF senior fellow and former senior policy advisor Kayla Patrick. “This administration has begun an assault on these core American values. This is not just an attack on the people working in Washington, D.C. This is an attack on students, families, and educators in every state, every city, and every community across this country. The department was created with one clear purpose: to protect the civil rights of American students and to ensure they have the opportunities they need and deserve to succeed and pursue the American dream—because many states failed to uphold that responsibility. For forty-five years, career civil servants have worked tirelessly to support states in their mission to better educate and serve students. Without them, our schools and students are left worse off.”
“The individuals receiving layoff notices weren’t bureaucrats—they were the frontline defenders of our children’s rights and qualified experts in education, research, law, and policy,” said TCF senior fellow and former senior policy advisor at the Department of Education Loredana Valtierra. “The civil sevants who were fired investigated civil rights violations like sexual assault, racism, and discrimination, which in turn create environments where students cannot learn to read or write. They made sure students with disabilities had the support they needed and were not excluded from classrooms because of their learning differences. The civil servants illegally fired were responsible for accountability and transparency, holding states and schools responsible for improving when necessary and accurately reporting data, so parents have access to vital information about their neighborhood schools. And they supported states and school districts in teaching all children the English language, which is now the nation’s official language. Without them students lose rights and opportunity and achievement gaps will widen.
This is an attack on our children’s future and the future of this country. Our students deserve better, and we must hold those in power accountable for putting politics over the well-being and future of our children. Congress and the administration must restore these critical functions of the American education system.”
Tags: department of education, donald trump, layoffs