Bloomberg – no paywall “Republicans have been trying to dissolve the Department of Education since it was created. Under Trump, they’re closer than ever to getting it done.In the early days of President Donald Trump’s second term, he made a blunt promise about the US Department of Education: “We’re going to shut it down as quickly as possible.”
In a matter of months, 40% of the agency’s staff were gone. At the department’s hulking office building just south of the National Mall in Washington, hallways are quiet and rows of cubicles — once occupied by some of the more than 1,500 colleagues who’ve left since Trump took office — are vacant. It’s part of a sweeping attempt by the Trump administration to reshape the federal government. Some agencies, including those that oversee consumer protection and disaster relief efforts, have been gutted. Others, like the Department of Homeland Security, are being beefed up. But the Education Department is the only cabinet agency that has been singled out for complete elimination. The White House has set out to achieve that goal with massive layoffs and a major reorganization effort. Though the changes sound bureaucratic, their impact is anything but: This is the department forged to unite the numerous federal programs born out of the civil rights movement and the war on poverty. It oversees school funding that supports millions of children in low-income families across the US, and is tasked with making sure discrimination complaints are heard quickly and resolved fairly. [Read more: Trump Is Dismantling the Education Department. What’s at Stake.]

Administration officials say they’re removing a layer of red tape, and that students will be better served by state and local governments. But staffers say schools are already struggling with the effects. Some districts and organizations that receive federal support have been hesitant to raise issues or ask questions, worried the administration will use any pushback to justify cutting their grants, according to one current employee, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation. And since Trump began his second term, the department has resolved just two racial harassment cases, federal data show; in 2024 that number was 25. Nearly half a century after the department was established, seasoned staff say it’s a shell of its former self. Senior officials say they’re just getting started…”