In a televised interview this weekend, Education Secretary Linda McMahon told CNN’s Dana Bash, “It’s unacceptable where education is in our country today.” Citing poor test scores, she made clear her plan: shutter the department she heads, resulting in mass firings at the Department of Education, in compliance with President Donald Trump’s March 20 executive order.

“I’m not quite sure how eliminating the Department of Education is going to make those test scores go up,” Bash pushed back, before asking the secretary for a guarantee that students with disabilities would be protected, even without the oversight of a federal education agency.

Throughout the exchange, McMahon — who in a recent Fox interview struggled to define the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act — remained firm that all students would be better served once the department was dismantled and programs re-allocated to other agencies.

But many former and current department employees feel differently. They claim the past two months have been marked by a recklessness that not only upended their lives and careers, but will ultimately inflict the greatest harm on America’s most vulnerable students.

Three of them spoke with The 74 to share their stories. Each was dedicated to education before landing at the department, working in a range of environments, including classrooms, foster care, afterschool programming and advocacy organizations for people with disabilities. Despite the recent tumult, all three women hope to be reinstated and return to the work they love, though the prospect of that happening anytime soon seems to be receding.

While the Education Department cannot officially be abolished without Congress’s unlikely approval and separate lawsuits were filed this week to stop its demise by the nation’s two largest teachers unions, the N.A.A.C.P. and others, the agency has already been dramatically weakened by Trump.

On March 11, McMahon cut the staff by almost half. These mass firings came a little over a month after at least 55 Education Department employees were put on administrative leave, pursuant to Trump’s anti-DEI executive order, and at least 65 probationary employees — those who had recently been hired or promoted — were fired.

Read the full article about mass firings at the Department of Education by Amanda Geduld at The 74.