Labor leaders and education advocates American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten and AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler condemned the Department of Education’s reduction in force announcement.
Weingarten said:
Many of America’s global competitors — and adversaries — are no doubt cheering President Donald Trump’s plan to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. They know that countries who out-educate the rest of the world will out-compete it. And now brand new Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Trump want to neuter, if not completely shutter, the entity that helps give all children in the United States access to the great public school education they deserve. On Tuesday, the department announced plans to cut nearly half of its staff. McMahon says these catastrophic firings, alongside hundreds of so-called "buyouts," are about "efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers.” The reality is far more cowardly.
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A gutted department would mean fewer teachers, more crowded classrooms and increased mental health and behavioral challenges for students. We’d most likely see increased absenteeism and decreased graduation rates. Fewer students would be able to obtain the degrees or credentials they need for well-paying jobs, meaning more students would have to settle for low-wage work or simply drop out of the workforce. And many cities and states would have to increase school budgets to make up for these cuts, resulting in higher state and local taxes.
Instead, this move sends a clear message that, in Trump’s America, only kids from wealthy families are entitled to opportunity. How does that help make America great?
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My union will continue to fight to protect our kids and to fund their future, because it is both the smart and the right thing to do. Last Tuesday, we held over 100 events across the country to protect our kids.
Diverting billions from our children to pay for tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy is a callous decision that short-changes everyone. If we want to engage kids, if we want America to be a nation of “explorers, builders, innovators [and] entrepreneurs,” as Trump said in his inaugural address, then logically it follows that we should be investing more in education, not less.
The dreams of millions of kids, and the promise of America, depend on it.
Read the rest of Weingarten's statement.
Shuler said:
Firing half of the staff so that the Department of Education cannot function will jeopardize the resources, programs and protections that give millions of students the opportunity to succeed. Public schools are the cornerstones of our communities: they provide the free, universal education that working families depend on, feed and care for our kids, and create millions of good union jobs. The Department of Education provides critical support to educators and school staff, and financial aid and student loans that put college and trade schools within reach for working families who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford it.
Access to quality public education is a top priority for the American people, but billionaires like Elon Musk are pushing a Project 2025/DOGE agenda that only boosts the rich and powerful. We urge members of Congress to safeguard our taxpayer dollars by quickly acting to protect services that are essential to American life and provide vital support to our nation’s students, parents and educators.