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The dismantling of the Education Department, briefly explained
Here’s what Trump’s latest move means for students and schools.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Patrick Reis was the senior politics and ideas editor at Vox. He previously worked at Rolling Stone, the Washington Post, Politico, National Journal, and Seattle’s Real Change News. As a reporter and editor, he has worked on coverage of campaign politics, economic policy, the federal death penalty, climate change, financial regulation, and homelessness.
Welcome to The Logoff. Today I’m focusing on the Trump administration’s move to cut the Department of Education’s staff by half. Before we dive in, a request: If you’re enjoying The Logoff, please consider forwarding it to a friend (or text them this sign-up link: https://voxdotcom.visitlink.me/MFBxDE.) I really appreciate it.
What’s the latest? The administration Tuesday night laid off 1,315 Education Department workers. The cuts, combined with previous staff reductions, mean the agency will be about half the size it was when Donald Trump took office seven weeks ago.
What does the Education Department do? Among many tasks, the department is responsible for:
- Distributing billions of dollars of federal funding to schools and school districts
- Investigating violations of students’ civil rights
- Managing the $1.5 trillion student loan portfolio
- Collecting crucial research data about students and schools to inform policymaking
Will it keep doing all of that? The administration defended the cuts by saying they’d improve efficiency and keep the organization focused on its core missions. Critics say that’s simply not possible at the new staff level: some or all of its functions will suffer.
What’s (possibly) next? Multiple outlets have reported that Trump was planning to try to close the department by executive order. It’s not clear if these cuts replaced that move, or if there’s more to come. But Trump would need Congress to eliminate the department entirely, and he doesn’t have the 60 Senate votes he’d need to do it.
What’s the big picture? Conservatives have long had a vendetta against the Education Department. Gutting it won’t affect what schools teach — that’s controlled at the state and local level — but, through understaffing, Trump can make it difficult for the department to enforce laws and help schools, districts, and anyone with a student loan. The consequences may be quiet, but they could be enormous.
And with that, it’s time to log off...
A confession: I know that I really need to learn more about artificial intelligence, but I sometimes feel like I’m so far behind in the conversation that I avoid it entirely. That’s why I’m so excited about Vox’s new podcast series, Good Robot, which both provides a great introduction to the topic and dives into the big questions that surround it (starting with: “Is AI going to mean humanity’s end?”). The first episode came out today (available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and elsewhere), and I hope you’ll get to enjoy it. Thanks so much for reading, and I’ll see you back here tomorrow.
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