Education Department fires 1,900 staff and cuts NCES to three employees

Linda McMahon's Education Department fired more than 1,300 employees in a single wave and accepted separation packages from over 600 more, cutting the agency to roughly half its prior workforce. The National Center for Education Statistics — which employs over 100 researchers to track student achievement and program effectiveness — was reduced to three employees after mass layoffs and administrative leave. Researchers warned the cuts would destroy the federal government's capacity to collect reliable national education data.