Conservatives have been working to correct President Jimmy Carter’s mistake ever since he made federal education programs into a Cabinet-level agency.
For decades, Republicans have said they wanted the U.S. Department of Education abolished as billions of dollars have been spent at the federal level, yet student test scores have steadily declined. Now, President Donald Trump is really starting to dismantle it.
Significant moves came immediately after Trump took office, with outside contract freezes and cancellations along with generous incentives for staff to leave the agency. About 600 staffers took an offer to quit. The first huge move, though, came this week, when about 1,300 staff learned that their services were no longer desired or required.
These staffing cuts reduced the workforce by roughly half—from 4,133 to about 2,200. But the bigger part of the story…
