| By AP News Photos: YouTube Screenshots\Wikimedia Commons The Education Department plans to lay off more than 1,300 of its employees as part of an effort to halve the organization’s staff – a prelude to President Donald Trump’s plan to dismantle the agency. Department officials announced the cuts Tuesday. Read more. |
| Why this matters: The Trump administration had already been whittling the agency’s staff, though buyout offers and the termination of probationary employees. After Tuesday’s layoffs, the Education Department’s staff will sit at roughly half of its previous 4,100, the agency said. The department is also terminating leases on buildings in cities including New York, Boston, Chicago, and Cleveland, officials said. Already there are concerns the administration’s agenda has pushed aside some of the agency’s most fundamental work, including enforcement of civil rights for students with disabilities and the management of $1.6 trillion in federal student loans. Department officials said it would continue to deliver on its key functions such as the distribution of federal aid to schools and student loan management. |
