Education Department Dismantlement: $881M in Contracts Slashed, IES Eliminated, 50% Workforce Cut

What Happened

The dismantlement of the Department of Education proceeded in three waves across 2025, systematically eliminating the federal government's capacity to enforce educational civil rights, fund research, and oversee student loan programs.

Wave 1: Research Destruction (February 2025)

On February 10, 2025, DOGE announced the termination of 89 Education Department contracts totaling $881 million. The primary target was the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the department's research arm and one of the country's largest funders of education research.

Over 100 IES employees were terminated, including research analysts specializing in K-12 studies, adult education, and career education. IES maintained a massive database of education statistics and contracted with scientists and education organizations to compile and publish data about school crime, safety, science course completion, and educational outcomes. ProPublica reported that DOGE "decimated" the arm of the Education Department that tracked national school performance.

The cuts included contracts that supported evidence-based literacy instruction and services for students with disabilities. Some of the terminated contracts had been mandated by Congress or created in response to lawmakers' requests, raising legal questions about whether the executive branch had authority to cancel them.

Wave 2: Workforce Gutting (March 2025)

On March 11, 2025, the Department announced it would cut nearly 50% of its workforce — approximately 1,700 of its 4,100+ employees. The cuts included staff responsible for civil rights enforcement, student loan servicing, and special education oversight. NPR documented what was being lost: the capacity to investigate discrimination in schools, manage $1.6 trillion in student loans, and ensure compliance with federal special education law.

Wave 3: Formal Closure Order (March 2025 Onward)

On March 20, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order declaring that the Department of Education should be closed. Education Secretary Linda McMahon began the process of transferring programs and staff to other federal agencies, describing it as "breaking up the federal education bureaucracy."

However, legal experts immediately noted that closing a Congressionally-created department requires an act of Congress — meaning the Trump administration needs majority support in both chambers and must overcome a Senate filibuster. As of March 2026, this legislation has not materialized, leaving the department in a diminished state but technically still in existence.

Why This Matters

The Department of Education exists because Congress determined that a federal role in education was necessary — to enforce civil rights in schools, to fund research that informs teaching, to manage student financial aid, and to ensure students with disabilities receive appropriate education. These are not discretionary functions; many are mandated by law.

The destruction of IES eliminates the nation's ability to collect and analyze education data at scale. Without this data, policymakers, researchers, and school administrators lose the evidence base needed to make informed decisions about instruction, safety, and resource allocation.

The 50% workforce cut directly degrades the Department's capacity to enforce civil rights law in the approximately 130,000 schools that receive federal funding, to process and manage student loans for tens of millions of borrowers, and to oversee special education compliance under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

International Law Implications

The right to education is among the most broadly recognized international human rights. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Article 13) requires states to ensure the full realization of the right to education. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 28) establishes the right of every child to education. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Article 24) requires inclusive education with reasonable accommodations.

While dismantling a single department does not automatically violate these provisions, the systematic elimination of the federal government's capacity to enforce educational rights, fund research, and ensure equitable access represents a significant regression in the protection of these rights.