Cnn
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THE US education department announced Tuesday that it reduced almost 50% of its workforce, President Donald Trump proposed to completely eliminate the agency.
Hundreds will be dismissed from Tuesday evening, in addition to those who have taken volunteer “buyouts”. These actions will reduce the ministry’s workforce by around 4,100 at the start of the Trump administration in two.
“Today’s reduction reflects the commitment of the Ministry of Education to the efficiency, responsibility and the guarantee that the resources are directed where they have the most: for students, parents and teachers,” said education secretary Linda McMahon in a statement. “I appreciate the work of dedicated officials and their contributions to the ministry.
McMahon said later on Tuesday that discounts are the first line of conduct in the agency’s closure, which Trump has promised to do, although she recognized that the ministry’s fully elimination would force the congress to act. CNN reported last week that the managers of the White House have prepared an executive decree manager Mcmahon To start the dismantling process of the department.
Asked about Fox News if the layoffs were “the first step towards a total closure”, McMahon said: “Yes, in fact, because it was the mandate of the president, as indicated towards me, it is clearly arrested the Ministry of Education.” She then described layoffs as “to eliminate what I think is a bureaucratic bloating”.
The approximately 1,300 employees informed of their layoff will be dismissed in 90 days, according to senior agency officials. The dismissed persons will start to remotely start on Wednesday and reach administrative leave paid from March 21, officials said, adding that employees will receive a departure compensation according to the duration of their service.
The cuts are added to the 63 probationary employees who were dismissed as part of a White House directive last month, the officials added. More than 300 employees have also taken incentives for voluntary separation of a value of up to $ 25,000 while 260 accepted a set of delayed resignation.
Tuesday cuts follow similar layoffs in other federal agencies within the framework of Trump and continuous efforts of the Elon Musk government ministry to reduce the size of the federal government.
The senior officials told journalists that the cuts did not have an impact on the federal aid to the students “in any way, a form or a form”, while the experts stimulate if the agency can exercise its usual tasks with such a massive reduction.
Officials added that an earlier note sent to employees announcing that agency offices will be temporarily closed for “security reasons” not specified were due to layoffs. The previous note, obtained by CNN, asked employees to work remotely until Thursday.
The relaxed employees will be telecredited from Wednesday until March 21 “for security reasons to protect the 2,183 employees who will remain after” the reduction in force is over, said a senior official.
Officials have also announced that several of its offices across the country will be closed as part of changes, especially in San Francisco and New York. The agency plans to possibly consolidate a single office in Washington, DC, where it currently has three.
A few minutes before the employees had to leave the building, security agents were seen locking the doors of the headquarters of the Ministry of Education in Washington, DC. The offices are expected to reopen on Thursday.
Longtime staff members have told CNN that they do not remember a time when all offices were closed, even when important VIPs were on site.
Several employees of the Ministry of Education told CNN earlier that they were nervous about imminent mass dismissals and Trump’s imminent decree.
In an email sent to employees not affected by the cuts and obtained by CNN, the agency said: “It will take significant changes in the way we work.”
“Although your position has not been directly affected, I understand that seeing colleagues and appreciated friends is never easy,” said the director of the human capital of the agency in email, adding: “What we choose to prioritize, and in turn, do not prioritize, will be critical in this transition.”
Unions representing workers from the Ministry of Education and Teachers quickly responded to the Cups on Tuesday, expressing their concern about the labor market and the impacts on tens of millions of students served by the agency.
“What is clear of the last weeks of mass dismissals, chaos and uncontrolled non-professionalism is that this regime has no respect for the thousands of workers who have devoted their careers to serve their American colleagues,” said Sheria Smith, president of the US Federation of Government employees, local 252, in a statement. “It is also clear that there is a rampant disinformation campaign to mislead the Americans on the services, resources, subsidies and real programs that the United States Ministry of Education provides to all Americans.”
Another great teacher union criticized Trump and Elon Musk for their reshaping of the federal government which led to Tuesday cuts. “The real victims will be our most vulnerable students,” said Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, in a press release.
Such a radical reduction “is a reason to worry,” said an expert before in CNN.
“If (Trump) says:” We are going to have a 50% reduction in staff “, there are reasons to be concerned with the functioning of the system: is it sufficient people?” said Neal McCluskey, director of the Center for Educational Freedom at the Cato Institute. “We will know whether or not they can do the work with fewer of them.”
This story and the title have been updated with additional reports.
Michael Williams of CNN contributed to this report.