Hawaii’s Congressional delegation assailed the Trump administration this week following the termination of nearly 1,300 U.S. Department of Education employees, roughly half the department’s workforce. 

What You Need To Know

  • The administration had publicly discussed its intention to dismantle the department as part of its overall plan to reduce the size of the federal government and shift the responsibility of admininstering education to individual states
  • At a media availability on Wednesday, Trump defended the firings, saying education secretary Linda McMahon retained 'the very best' and cut 'the people that aren’t working or aren’t doing a good job'
  • While outright abolishing the department would require an act of Congress, Hirono said Trump has already taken steps to undermine it functions by cutting funding and downsizing its personnel

 

The administration had publicly discussed its intention to dismantle the department as part of its overall plan to reduce the size of the federal government and shift the responsibility of admininstering education to individual states.

The firing prompted the department to close its Washington, D.C., headquarters on Wednesday due to unspecified security concerns.

“The Department of Education supports low-income students and students with disabilities, prevents discrimination in the classroom, and ensures access to afterschool and summer programs, while supporting important services like school lunch for kids in need,” U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said in a statement released on Wednesday. “Core to the Department’s mission is ensuring access to quality education for every student in our nation. Donald Trump’s cruel effort to gut the department from the inside out will wreak havoc on schools and communities across the country, leaving students, educators and families paying the price.

At a media availability on Wednesday, Trump defended the firings, saying education secretary Linda McMahon retained “the very best” and cut “the people that aren’t working or aren’t doing a good job.”

“The Department of Education, maybe more so than any other place, has a lot of people that can be cut (because), no. 1, they’re not showing up to work; no. 2, they’re not doing a good job.”

Trump said he ultimately intends to have states assume full responsibility for education.

“We’re going to do school choice, and we are doing it, but we want education to be moved back where the states run education, where the parents of the children will be running education, where governors that are doing a very good job will be running education,” he said.

While outright abolishing the department would require an act of Congress, Hirono said Trump has already taken steps to undermine its functions by cutting funding and downsizing its personnel. She noted that the administration has already cut $600 million in grants for teacher training programs and ended nearly $900 million in contracts overseen by the department’s Institute of Education Services, which gathers and disseminates data on teaching practices and the status of U.S. student achievement.”

U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda, D-Hawaii, framed her criticism of the cuts in decidedly personal fashion on social media.

“As a proud public school graduate & the mom of kids in public schools, this is the most disgusting DOGE cut yet,” she posted.

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, acknowledged problems within the education system but said the cuts would only make things worse.

“Over a third of kids in America lack basic reading skills and Donald Trump’s response is to gut the Department of Education and our public schools,” Schatz said. “Clearly our education system needs fixing so that every child in America can get the world-class education they deserve. But the solution is not to pull funding and resources from local schools and tell families to figure it out themselves.”

Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at michael.tsai@charter.com.