(The Lion) — Teachers’ union head Randi Weingarten is spouting fury over the Trump administration’s recent Education Department workforce slashes, calling them “evisceration by a thousand cuts.”
“I’m so mad, I’m spitting mad about this because it’s hurting the people who can’t vote; children don’t vote,” Weingarten, who leads the American Federation of Teachers, told MSNBC in a recent interview.
Her comments come as the Trump administration announced a “reduction in force” last week, halving the department’s staff. Education Secretary Linda McMahon defended the cuts as a way to ensure the department’s resources are directed “where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers.”
“This is a significant step toward restoring the greatness of the United States education system,” McMahon said of the layoffs.
The department is facing a lawsuit over the cuts by a coalition of Democrat-led states, as the Lion reported, which are arguing the executive branch overstepped its constitutional authority.
Weingarten, who has faced national scrutiny for lobbying to keep schools closed longer than necessary during the pandemic, said the Education Department is an “opportunity agent” for children, and called it an “equalizer.”
“Everything that it does, from the first moment that Johnson did the War on Poverty until now is about getting poor kids some money for, like, a reading specialist when you’re trying to deal with literacy and helping a poor kid,” she said, adding the department also helps kids with disabilities and low-income college students.
“So what it does is, it levels the playing field so all kids can have opportunity, and that is what they are cutting,” Weingarten said. “And when they cut half the people it’s like evisceration by a thousand cuts.”
Weingarten told CBS News getting rid of half the workforce would mean “you can’t get things done” and the “federal role in education will just collapse.”
McMahon is “a good person,” Weingarten added. “I mean, we disagree on many, many things, but she has often said she is just doing the bidding of Donald Trump, and Donald Trump has made no secret of the fact that he wants to abolish the Department of Education. So, they’re abolishing it by 10,000 cuts.”
The Education Department didn’t return The Lion’s request for comment, but McMahon has repeatedly said her vision is aligned with Trump’s, as she hopes to return education back to the states and embrace school choice.
“As a mother and grandmother, I know there is nobody more qualified than a parent to make educational decisions for their children,” she said earlier this month, noting review of the department’s programs is “long overdue.”
“The Department of Education is not working as intended. Since its establishment in 1980, taxpayers have entrusted the department with over $1 trillion, yet student outcomes have consistently languished,” she said, adding millions of students are trapped in “failing schools” as teachers are leaving “the profession in droves” because of red tape.
“The reality of our education system is stark, and the American people have elected President Trump to make significant changes in Washington. Our job is to respect the will of the American people and the president they elected, who has tasked us with accomplishing the elimination of bureaucratic bloat here at the Department of Education – a momentous final mission – quickly and responsibly.”
