Pennsylvania education advocates say Department of Education cuts will hurt vulnerable students
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon announced on Tuesday that the Department of Education has initiated what they're calling "a reduction in force."
It will reduce the department's workforce from 4,100 to just under 2,200.
"What this says is: 'We are not valuing students,'" Linda Carmona-Bell, the president of Pennsylvania's Education For All Coalition (PEAC), said. "We are not valuing the workers who are working very hard to make this work."
PEAC focuses on ways to level the playing field for students with disabilities.
"It's part of the overall plan to give tax cuts to billionaires," said Arthur Steinberg, who is the president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and AFT Pennsylvania. "What is especially intriguing about this is the Department of Education is the smallest department of the federal government."
McMahon said in a statement that the cuts reflect the "Department of Education's commitment to efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers."
Carmona-Bell and Steinberg said they strongly disagreed with McMahon and the Trump administration.
"Everybody, including us, is worried about efficiency and is opposed to bureaucracy," Steinberg said.
Steinberg said that slashing the Department of Education will hurt the most vulnerable communities in the United States.
"The poorest kids, the 7.5 million kids with disabilities, the English language learners — and it enforces civil rights rules," he said. "It does not determine curriculum."
Carmona-Bell outlined what she fears the job losses could ultimately result in for schools and students.
"When funding is reduced, and is this case it's going to be through staff, it negatively impacts graduation rates, academic achievement, school improvement," Carmona-Bell said.
