In anticipation of anticipated workforce reductions, the U.S. Department of Education is providing an incentive of up to $25,000 to the majority of its employees who retire or resign by Monday night.
Employees of the Education Department were offered the one-time buyout. They were given until 11:59 p.m. on Monday to accept or reject the offer.
“We can confirm that the Education Department emailed its staff today, offering employees up to a $25,000 Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP) starting today,” a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education stated.
“This is a one-time offer in advance of a very significant Reduction in Force for the US Department of Education,” Jacqueline Clay, a chief human capital officer, stated.
According to Clay, the compensation would be “the equivalent of severance pay or $25,000, whichever is less.”
With a few exceptions, the outlet stated that the majority of department employees are qualified for the buyout.
The offer is not available to anyone who are on disability retirement, have received a retention incentive during the last 12 months, or have received a student loan repayment benefit within the last 36 months.
The email stated that the offer will take effect on March 31.
The department’s offer coincides with the Senate’s scheduled confirmation of President Trump’s nominee for Education Secretary, Linda McMahon.
According to the Hill, as the Trump administration works to shut down the department entirely, dozens of workers are already on administrative leave.
Calling the Department of Education a “con job” that has failed to adequately teach American students, President Donald Trump has stated his desire to eliminate it.
“It’s a big con job,” Trump previously stated. “They ranked the top countries in the world. We’re ranked No. 40, but we’re ranked No. 1 in one department: cost per pupil. So, we spend more per pupil than any other country in the world, but we’re ranked No. 40.”
When McMahon is confirmed, Trump previously said he wants her to “put herself out of a job.”
Although a congressional act would be required to completely abolish the Education Department, the department is already being reduced in other ways, with contracts totaling close to $1 billion being canceled.
The department reportedly addressed the most urgent issues in education policy and practice when it announced in February that it had canceled around $350 million in “woke” expenditure.
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Following a review of the contracts that revealed “wasteful and ideologically driven spending not in the interest of students and taxpayers,” the agency terminated 10 contracts with Regional Educational Laboratories (REL), totaling $336 million, according to a news release.
It’s unclear if the Department of Government Efficiency’s reduction of the Education Department’s DEI-related operations was the cause of the cuts.
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