AUSTIN, Texas — Following mass layoffs at the Department of Education Tuesday, some are now concerned about the agency’s ability to continue normal operations.
The cuts affected roughly 1,300 workers, nearly half of the department’s staff, as the layoffs come as part of President Donald Trump’s plan to eliminate the agency altogether.
David DeMatthews, a Professor of Education at UT Austin, said this will have a big impact on students with disabilities, low-income students and English language learners. He said one major cut was to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), which tracks the implementation of federal education programs.
Without staff at the center, DeMatthews said the federal government won’t be able to collect and monitor data as required by laws.
The includes laws like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which ensures that children with disabilities have the opportunity to receive a free appropriate public education.
“We will be unable to track, if the law is being implemented,” said DeMatthews. “Who is in our schools? How are students being served?”
In the past, DeMatthews said federal monitoring and compliance systems like NCES have helped address delayed or denied access to special education for thousands of children with disabilities.
“I think it’s really scary for parents. And it doesn’t matter whether you’re in Westlake, or Lake Travis, in one of the wealthiest school districts in the state, or if you’re in one of the poorest,” said DeMatthews. “Children with the greatest needs, that require extra support and services are going to be most at risk of being denied equal access under the law.”
Meanwhile, Linda McMahon, the Secretary of Education, said this is the first step to eliminate “bureaucratic bloat,” but said it will not interrupt funding for educational programs.
“We kept all of the right people and the good people to make sure that the outward facing programs, the grants, appropriations from Congress, are being met and none of that is going to fall through the cracks,” McMahon said in a Fox News interview Tuesday.
McMahon said with the cuts, they will be able to make sure more money goes to the states.