AFT Massachusetts on Trump Administration’s Continued Dismantling of Department of Education (November 18, 2025)
AFT Massachusetts President Jessica Tang released the following statement in response to news that, even as it is being sued by the AFT Massachusetts and others, the Trump Administration continues its efforts to dismantle the Department of Education:
“While we have the utmost confidence in the virtue and facts of our case, we know the damage is already being felt in our schools, with our most vulnerable students suffering the most.
“The Department of Education plays one, very important role in public education - to fill opportunity gaps and ensure every child in America has the ability to succeed.
“Spreading services across multiple departments has nothing to do with increasing efficiency. It is just the latest effort to sow confusion in a way that makes it harder for our students, educators, and schools to access the support they need.
“The White House is not above the law and we will never stop fighting on behalf of our students and our public schools and the protections, services, and resources they need to thrive.”
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Background
In March, the AFT Massachusetts, along with coalition members, was the first to challenge Secretary of Education Linda McMahon’s massive reduction-in-force at the U.S. Department of Education (US ED). This not only gutted the department of the staff levels necessary to operate but greatly decimated the crucial services and protections millions of students, teachers, and communities across the country rely on.
Additional plaintiffs include the Easthampton School District, Somerville Public School Committee, AFT, AFSCME Council 93, American Association of University Professors (AAUP), and Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The group is being represented by Democracy Forward in their lawsuit.
The coalition was originally successful in their efforts to secure a preliminary injunction against the Trump Administration that banned the Administration from moving forward with plans to dismantle the US ED while the court case plays out.
Showing their focus on doing as much destruction to the Department as possible, the Trump Administration appealed this preliminary injunction all the way to the Supreme Court, which released an unsigned decision in June that allowed the Administration to continue its layoffs at the US ED even though the courts have yet to rule in the underlying lawsuits. The decision was an “emergency” or shadow docket decision, which means no public hearing was held and no opinion was released to explain the Court’s decision.
The dismantling of the US ED began earlier this year via mass layoffs of half of the entire Department. Prior to January 20, 2025, the Department employed 4,133 employees. If the Trump administration’s actions were allowed to proceed, just 2,183 would remain. From distributing funds to help schools work with students with disabilities, to providing support and assistance to parents and families, protecting students’ civil rights, and making sure higher education is affordable for students, civil servants at the Department of Education are essential to the success of students. Mass firings of these hardworking people will harm students and schools.