Walz slams Department of Education cuts, says it will undermine schools and children
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has slammed the decision by the Trump administration to lay off nearly half of the staff at the Department of Education, a move he says will have a "detrimental impact on children."
The Department of Education announced on Tuesday it is laying off 1,378 employees beginning on March 21. A further 572 employees have been accepting voluntary resignation opportunities and retirement over the last seven weeks.
In a statement, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said the decision reflects her department's "commitment to efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers."
She claims the department still intends 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."
However, Walz took opposition to the federal government's decision.
"I guarantee you, there weren't a lot of parents that went into the voting booth and voted to have their schools undermined. To have the $1.4 billion be at risk, the nearly 860,000 students in Minnesota to be impacted by this, 2,500 schools — and it was not thought out, the chaos that would go through this," Walz said.
"But then I heard [the federal government] push back: 'Well we're going to do competitive grants.' Who is going to administer those? You fired everybody," he said.
Walz believes the "competitive grants" the department highlighted will likely to distributed based on whether you agree with the Trump administration or not.
"And we've seen how this works with states. Ruby Bridges wouldn't have needed a police escort to go to school if we would've had the federal government and the Civil Rights Unit and the Department of Education in place. That's one of the reasons we have it so that doesn't happen, so that every child has access," Walz said, expressing fears that the gutting of the Department of Education could lead to discrimination.
Walz also took aim at McMahon's claim that the firings were "of the worst and they kept the best."
"[McMahon] is either the most efficient person that has ever lived on this planet or she's not telling you the truth," Walz said.
The governor also made the following comment during a Democratic Governors call on Wednesday:
'This is undermining our economic wellbeing for the future, it's undermining our competitive advantage, and it's undermining the moral authority that every child truly matters. So what Donald Trump continues to do is the idiocy of whatever he thinks at the time is a good talking point. Linda McMahon said she fired half the [staff at the Department of Education] but only the bad ones. She missed one. She missed one for sure, and that's herself.'
Minnesota Department of Education Commissioner Willie Jett said its partnership with the federal department "is critical," adding: "This isn't just about politics; this is about that students get the education that they so rightly deserve."
Jett said they are seeking clarity on whether the U.S. Department of Education is dissolved and as of Wednesday, haven't received an answer.
"Let me be clear: uncertainty is not a strategy. Disrupting the foundation of our schools without a clear plan puts students, teachers, and communities at risk," Jett said. "But while federal actions remain unclear, here in the State of Minnesota our commitment is not. The Minnesota Department of Education, we're still here, and we're not going anywhere. We will continue to fight for the resources, the stability, and policies that our schools, families, students and communities need."
AFGE Local 252, a union that represents educators, released a statement from president Sheria Smith, saying: "We will fight these draconian cuts and urge all Americans to stand up and contact their Members of Congress… to protect the Department of Education's vital work, working people, and our Nation by rejecting these political games."
NPR reports minutes after the statement was released, Smith said she was laid off, as well as the rest of the chapter's union officers.
The federal government has fired many employees of its Office for Civil Rights Division, with offices in Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco being shuttered, according to ProPublica. The office is one of the federal government's largest enforcers of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, investigating thousands of allegations of discrimination that includes disability, race and gender each year.
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