DOE Set To Die
Department of Education cut in half: As of Tuesday, the Education Department is about half the size it was when President Donald Trump took office just a few weeks ago.
Seemingly per the Department of Government Efficiency’s guidance, the Department of Education cut 1,315 workers. In addition to those firings, “572 employees accepted separation packages offered in recent weeks and 63 probationary workers were terminated last month,” reports The New York Times (which seems substantially more concerned about these moves than I am).
Laid-off workers “will remain on the payroll for 90 days, receiving full pay and benefits, and be given one week of pay for each of their first 10 years of service and two weeks’ pay for every year of service beyond 10 years,” per the Times. (Seems reasonable.)
Trump needs congressional approval to fully close the office, which he appears motivated to do. The issuance of Pell Grants for low-income students and funding for special ed programs will not be affected by the current cuts; if the department is fully shuttered, it remains to be seen what will happen to these programs.
The DOE should best be thought of as a “grant maker and a loan lender,” higher ed expert Peter Granville tells CBS News. It manages student loans and operates the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) program, which services some 17 million students each year. Trump has called the department “a big con job” which…isn’t how I’d put it, per se, but isn’t totally wrong.
In fact, its operation of such programs has, in some cases, allowed more students to access a college education than otherwise would have. But “easily accessible loans led to skyrocketing tuition,” writes Reason‘s Emma Camp, “and gave schools an incentive to create low-value programs accepting students unlikely to graduate, all to absorb government money.” If federal student loans were abolished, private loans or income-sharing agreements could fill the void (and colleges might bring down their out-of-control prices).
“Federal money is inevitably accompanied by rules and regulations that keep the influx of funds from having much, if any, impact on student outcomes,” reads The Heritage Foundations’ (hilariously reviled) Project 2025 guidebook for what conservative policymaking could and should look like. This is accurate! (It goes on to endorse school choice, arguing that “Washington should convert some of the lowest-performing public school systems in the country into areas defined by choices, creating rigorous learning options for all children and from all backgrounds, income levels, and ethnicities.” Correct again!)
“The real victims will be our most vulnerable students,” says Becky Pringle, the president of the nation’s largest teachers union. It’s not really clear how, especially if Pell Grants and special ed program funding is preserved. Trump isn’t saying all public schools should be closed, or that all schoolteachers should be fired; he’s merely trying to bring greater control of education to states and localities (which already decide the most important things, like curriculum). Also, for all the hubbub—muc
Article from Reason.com
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