DeVos shrinking agency’s workforce
Education staff cuts could hurt ability to perform key functions
WASHINGTON — The seventh floor of the Education Department’s headquarters near the Mall used to bustle. Now, nearly a dozen offices sit empty and quiet.
The department’s workforce has shrunk under Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who has said she wants to decrease the federal government’s role in education, including investigations and enforcement of civil rights in schools. In all, the department has shed about 350 workers since December — nearly 8 percent of its staff — including political appointees. With buyouts offered to 255 employees in recent days, DeVos hopes to show even more staff the door.
At the same time, the Trump administration has moved slowly to fill key roles, making nominations for just eight of the 15 key positions that require Senate confirmation. The Senate, which has taken an average of 65 days to confirm nominees, has approved only two of those nominees, giving the department one of the worst track records among Cabinet-level agencies for filling senior positions, according to data from the Partnership for Public Service.
The reduction of the department’s workforce reflects the challenge of filling senior positions when even right-leaning academics are reluctant to work for President Donald Trump and DeVos’ belief that the federal government should tread more lightly in U.S. schools. And it is emblematic of the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal workforce overall.
“Secretary DeVos has made clear since day one that her goal is to return control of education back to states, localities and parents,” said Nathan Bailey, a department spokesman. “The secretary is building a strong team of experienced leaders who will help America rethink school and focus on improving student achievement.”
But current and former officials with the department express concern that the loss of staff will compromise the department’s ability to perform key functions, such as enforcing civil rights law and aiding debt-burdened students defrauded by for-profit colleges.
“The Department of Education is already hugely understaffed for the responsibilities Congress has delegated to it, as evident in the rampant fraud that has festered in the programs it oversees,” said Barmak Nassirian, director of federal relations and policy analysis at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. “Cutting this agency would be penny-wise and poundfoolish. We would lose billions to outright fraud and mismanagement and end up ruining millions of people’s financial lives.”
DeVos sought to cut $9.2 billion from the department’s budget of $68.2 billion, eliminating teacher training and college-prep programs for impoverished children while investing heavily to expand school choice through increasing funds for charter schools and possibly offering vouchers for private schools. Congress has signaled it is likely to restore many of the cuts, but DeVos is empowered to trim staff. Her proposal would cut 154 positions from the department — including 46 from the Office for Civil Rights, even though its workload has grown significantly as discrimination complaints have risen to record levels. In the budget proposal, the department said the staff reduction would mean each investigator would handle more cases — 42 instead of 26.
DeVos has sought to scale back the activities of the Office for Civil Rights, with staff directed to narrow the scope of their investigations.
Bailey said DeVos’ decision to cut civil rights staff should not be construed to mean she does not value them.
“The secretary has also made clear her commitment to enhancing the core roles of the department, including protecting civil rights. Staffing head counts are not a proxy for focus or priority,” Bailey said.