ED has not released details on which positions were cut and did not respond to a request for comment before this story was published, but Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a public statement that the goal of the cuts was to make the department more efficient.
"Today’s reduction in force reflects the Department of Education’s commitment to efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers," McMahon's statement read.
In separate emails to Government Technology today, Keith Krueger, the CEO of the Consortium for School Networking, and Julia Fallon, the executive director of the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), confirmed that the Office of Educational Technology (OET), or at least its staff, has been eliminated.
Fallon said that OET had provided “essential leadership in ed-tech policy, research and innovation” for more than 30 years, and that SETDA would be pushing to restore the federal office while continuing to offer support to state ed-tech leaders.
“While OET’s absence creates uncertainty, SETDA remains steadfast in our mission to empower state leaders and ensure that technology continues to drive meaningful learning outcomes,” Fallon wrote. “Now, more than ever, states need a strong, unified voice leading the way.”
Adding to the uncertainty around education and technology, news broke yesterday that the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), which provided free cybersecurity services to schools and other public entities, lost its federal funding.
"This isn’t just about the Department of Education — cuts to cybersecurity services like MS-ISAC also leave school districts without critical support to prevent and respond to cyber threats," Krueger wrote in an email. "Schools are already a prime target for ransomware and other cyber attacks, and the administration’s shocking decision to shrink CISA and eliminate support for services like MS-ISAC will only make the problem worse."
SKELETON CREWS
Regarding layoffs at ED, the department's news release said “all divisions within the department are impacted by the reduction,” but the department will “continue to deliver on all statutory programs that fall under the agency’s purview, including formula funding, student loans, Pell Grants, funding for special needs students and competitive grantmaking.”
Many of those programs are outlined in the Department of Education Organization Act, which established the agency in 1979. The act mandates the existence of ED and many of its departments, including OET and the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the department's independent research, statistics and evaluation arm. But these statutes don’t specify the number of employees these departments must have, and a growing number of posts on social media appear to confirm that OET and other ED offices have either been eliminated or are now down to skeleton crews.
One such post appeared today on LinkedIn from Kevin Johnstun, a program specialist at ED for the past five years and a former research analyst for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, according to his LinkedIn profile.
“I was the co-lead for the department’s AI and education work and worked alongside a great team in the Office of Educational Technology. Unfortunately, the entire office was eliminated,” Johnstun wrote. “We have been a leading voice in providing guidance to the education sector in this fast-changing and deeply consequential period. I personally have engaged in dozens of listening sessions with educators and technologists at every level and from every corner of this country, and I took very seriously the responsibility to reflect their input in the guidance we provided.”
Similar posts could be found from staffers in other departments, such as Beth Gellman-Beer, who said she had been a regional director for ED’s Office for Civil Rights, where she and her team enforced civil rights compliance in public schools across five states.
“It’s true. I, along with my entire staff, were terminated last night,” Gellman-Beer posted today on LinkedIn. “It was my greatest honor and privilege to serve the public in fighting against the rising tide of discrimination in public schools all these years.”
OUTCOMES UNKNOWN
Employees of IES posted today about widespread layoffs in their departments as well. One of those posts came from IES statistician Aida Ali Akreyi, who said she served as operations lead for the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).
“IPEDS has been a cornerstone of higher education data for more than 40 years, providing essential insights on enrollment, graduation rates, financial aid and institutional performance,” she wrote. “With the recent reduction in force eliminating the IPEDS team, I am deeply concerned about the future of this valuable resource.”
IES is home to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the National Center for Education Research, the National Center for Special Education Research, and the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance.
NCES is responsible for producing the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nation’s Report Card, which tracks student academic performance across all 50 states every two years. Last month, Peggy Carr, the commissioner of NCES who oversees NAEP, was placed on administrative leave.
As for the ED employees laid off yesterday, they will be placed on administrative leave starting March 21 and will receive full pay and benefits until June 9, according to the ED news release.
