Educators across the country are worried about the impact from major job cuts at the Department of Education. NBC 7’s Shandel Menezes spoke to the representative for California’s 58 superintendents about what it could mean for schools and students.
The U.S. Department of Education has cut roughly half of its 4,133 jobs.
The main argument surrounding the federal Department of Education has been whether it was needed to begin with. It provides funding for students, of course, and California County Superintendents say the average student would not feel the effects of funding cuts, but the most vulnerable students would.
“This is sad because this is people's livelihood, you know? ,” said Kindra Britt, the communication and strategy Director for California County Superintendents. "A huge workforce layoff — like, over 1,000 — is massive and is not common."
The White House reasons the move will save money but hasn’t specified how much.
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“School districts have to do this all the time,” Britt said, "but we have to show our work. We have to show our proof, and we have to help people understand why that's going to be helpful in the long run.”
President Trump’s end goal is to scrap the department altogether, but he doesn’t have the power to do so. That kind of move would need to go through Congress first.
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The department also said it will continue to provide funding for students, but there are many questions about what will happen to that funding if the department is dissolved.
“None of this feels right if there's any threats to disable funding for some of our most vulnerable populations,” Britt said. “These are low-income families. These are students with disabilities. These are working families ... Cutting any kind of funding to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA] would be — I mean, I actually just don't want to live in a world where we consider that because it would just be horrible on so many levels.”
Britt said her office has been trying to process new directives from the White House. This is the most turbulent time in her four years of service — even more so than the COVID pandemic.
“I think this one's different because they threatened all of this, so there's no surprise,” Britt said. “But they're actually following through on some things. I think the whiplash comes from trying to determine what's a threat and what's performative versus what's actually going to be, you know, brought to fruition.”
For mental health’s sake, her office’s plan is to pause before reacting to a new threat to see what actually sticks.
Those employees being laid off started working remotely Wednesday and will go on paid administrative leave starting March 21.
