US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said the administration will work with the US Congress to abolish the department.
The U.S. Department of Education has announced that President Donald Trump will fire almost half of his employees as he moves to fulfill his campaign promise to dismantle the agency.
The department said Tuesday that it will reduce the size of its workforce to around 2,183 by staffing its administrative leave starting March 21.
It said it will continue to offer “all statutory programs” that are within its scope, including student loans and funding for special needs students.
The cuts follow similar firings made as part of the Department of Government Efficiency to fundamentally streamline federal bureaucracy.
“Today’s power cuts reflect the Department of Education’s efficiency, accountability and its commitment to ensuring that students, parents and teachers are directed to where they are most important,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement.
“We appreciate the work and contributions of our dedicated civil servants to the department. This is an important step in restoring the greatness of the American education system.”
In an interview with Fox News later Tuesday, McMahon, former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, confirmed that the layoffs are a step towards repealing the division.
“In fact, it was a presidential mission,” she said.
“His direction to me is to close the Ministry of Education, and I know we have to work with Congress to achieve that.”
McMahon said Cuts aims to “bureaucratic bloat” and that departments such as grants will be preserved.
Trump campaigned to abolish the Department of Education. He claimed to have permeated “extremists, enthusiasts, Marxists” and appointed individual states and local school districts to account for education.
In an exchange with reporters last month, the US president said he told McMahon he wanted him to “get out of work.”
U.S. education is already primarily provided by states and communities, with the federal government providing only about 8% of the total funding for primary and secondary schools.
‘wrecking ball’
Founded in 1979 by US Congress and former President Jimmy Carter, the department’s main functions include providing financial aid to schools, overseeing student loan programs and implementing civil rights protections.
Republicans have opposed the sector since their founding, arguing that education policies should be handled at the state and local levels.
Former President Ronald Reagan repeatedly called for the division to be demolished, but ultimately failed to win Congressional support before taking office in 1989.
The National Education Association, the largest teachers union in the United States, has denounced the Trump administration’s moves, accusing them of taking a “ball of destruction” into the future of around 50 million students.
“The real victims will be our most vulnerable students,” said Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, in a statement.
“By obstructing the Department of Education, it will raise the size of its classes, cut vocational training programs, send higher education out of reach for middle-class families, strip off special education services for students with disabilities, and deprive students of civil rights protections.”
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