Former Trump appointee condemns cuts at US education department

A former education department commissioner appointed by Donald Trump has condemned the recent massive cuts to the federal agency.

James Woodworth, who served as commissioner for the department’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) from 2018 to 2021, said the cuts to the agency made by the so-called department of government efficiency, led by Elon Musk, were made by someone “without knowing what they were doing”.

Woodworth told the Hechinger Report: “You’re talking about millions of dollars’ worth of investment just vanishing because someone canceled a contract too early without knowing what they were doing.”

Doge’s budget cuts to the DoE, which total nearly $1bn, have severely affected its research arm, the Institute of Education Sciences, which has historically garnered bipartisan support.

The National Center for Education Statistics, a part of the IES mandated by Congress to collect data on the state of public education, includes information about enrollment, student achievement, poverty, and other financial information.

The cancellation of many contracts means the maintenance of historical data, collection of new data, and publication of data has been made impossible.

It’s not clear what will happen to this data.

Woodworth said: “The NCES existed for over 100 years, before the Department of Education was ever founded, because one of the legitimate purposes of the federal government in education is collecting data so that people can see how schools are doing. We need to make data-driven decisions.”

He added: “The data belongs to the people. It doesn’t belong to the president. It belongs to the public. It is a public asset.”

“The consequences of these actions will prevent the public from accessing accurate information about student demographics and academic achievement, abruptly end evaluations of federal programs that ensure taxpayer funds are spent wisely, and set back efforts to implement evidence-based reforms to improve student outcomes.”

Trump campaigned on a promise to dismantle the department of education, which would require an act of Congress. The president is reportedly drafting an executive order to accomplish this, but it remains unclear what exactly the order will do or if it can be legally enacted.

The Department of Education did not respond to a request for comment.