BREAKING NEWS: Trump destroys the U.S. Department of Education

Donald Trump's Department of Education late this afternoon slashed its staff by about 50%, effectively shuttering the agency and gutting its ability to support public schools.

Dear MoveOn member, Donald Trump's Department of Education late this afternoon slashed its staff by about 50%, effectively shuttering the agency and gutting its ability to support public schools.1 The order has triggered mass layoffs, with over 1,300 workers losing their jobs with the flick of a pen, on top of hundreds of others who voluntarily left or were already fired.2 From day one, Trump has made clear his commitment to eliminate the Department of Education. Gutting this agency will devastate American public education—stripping away critical funding to support students with disabilities, students in low-income communities, and students who use federal loans to attend college. This is a five-alarm fire. And we must fight back—immediately. The futures of millions of students, educators, and families are hanging in the balance. Rush a $9 donation right now to help support our emergency campaign to stop Trump's attack on public schools and education in America. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately. Trump and Elon Musk's attempt to shut down the Education Department is part of their plan to destroy American public education. Trump has already threatened to strip away federal funding from schools that engage in diversity, equity, and inclusion. He's also thrown his support behind private vouchers, which use taxpayer dollars to pay for private school tuition and are funneled disproportionately to wealthy families.3 Crucially, these private schools are not regulated and have zero academic standards to which they are held accountable—and some wealthy families have even used taxpayer dollars to pay for flat earth curriculums.4 You read that correctly: Trump is pushing for a plan that will allow conspiracy theorists to use taxpayer money to teach children that the Earth is flat. Perhaps worse, students who attend private schools with publicly funded vouchers are forced to sign away their federal education rights. This means that private schools, using taxpayer dollars, can deny accommodations to students with disabilities and can discriminate against students on the basis of their gender identity and sexual orientation.5 That will become the future of American education—unless we all come together to defeat Trump and Musk's extreme agenda. That's why MoveOn is launching an emergency campaign to expose and stop the Republican agenda to erode the right of every child to receive free and public education and demand that Congress block the gutting or elimination of the Department of Education. We stopped Trump's attacks on education during his first term. And we can do it again—but only with your support. Rush an emergency $9 donation today to help power MoveOn's campaign to help save American public education. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately. Thanks for all you do. –Kelsey, Allison, Oscar, Justin, and the rest of the team Sources: 1. "Education Department to Fire 1,300 Workers, Gutting Its Staff," The New York Times, March 11, 2025 https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/11/us/politics/trump-education-department-firings.html 2. Ibid. 3. "Trump is pushing 'school choice,' but some Republicans aren't on board," NBC News, February 20, 2025 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/education/trump-pushing-school-choice-rural-republicans-rcna192601 4. "Flat earthers and universal school vouchers, a match made in Cuckooland (Arizona)," AZ Central, September 13, 2024 https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2024/09/13/flat-earth-esa-arizona-school-voucher/75201189007/ 5. "One year in, Arizona's universal school vouchers are a cautionary tale for the rest of the nation," AZ Mirror, December 11, 2023 https://azmirror.com/2023/12/11/one-year-in-arizonas-universal-school-vouchers-are-a-cautionary-tale-for-the-rest-of-the-nation/ Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation's pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your ongoing support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us? Donate: $100 monthly Donate: $200 monthly Donate: $1000 monthly Donate another amount monthly Or make a one-time gift Contributions to MoveOn Civic Action are not tax-deductible for income tax purposes. MoveOn.org Civic Action - PO Box 96141, Washington, D.C. 20090-6141. 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