Union leaders are sounding the alarm about the wide-ranging impact layoffs at the Department of Education will have not only on education, but the D.C. region at large. This comes after President Donald Trump’s administration announced more than 1,300 employees will be let go as part of a reduction in force, or RIF, at the agency.
“When you think about thousands of people being unemployed in the DMV area, the impact is going to be on the economy of D.C., Virginia and Maryland,” said Sheria Smith, with the American Federation of Government Employees.
Smith said those let go will no longer have the ability to pay their taxes, keep their homes and support businesses, on top of the broad impact to education.
In addition to being a union leader at the AFGE’s Local 252 Texas branch, Smith is also employed at the Department of Education’s Dallas Office for Civil Rights, which investigates reported civil rights violations at schools. She was among the five workers notified on Tuesday that they would lose their jobs.
Trump said the cuts to the department’s workforce come as his administration wants to put states in charge of education.
Smith said the shuttering of the Office for Civil Rights in Texas will mean a big increase in work for those who hold her position in D.C. and remain on the job.
“They’re going to now have to absorb all of the work of the eliminated offices with less staff,” Smith said.
She said many outward-facing positions, including those involved in managing and funding special education services, bilingual education and adult education, are on the chopping block.
“The school districts are going to have to raise their property taxes to keep those things up. They can’t expect to have any federal funding on that level,” Smith said.
According to a document provided by the union, a majority of positions caught up in the RIF are from the D.C. region and are not limited to the headquarters. Several satellite offices in Virginia and Maryland are also seeing jobs cut.
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