The National Education Association (NEA), the country’s largest teachers union, sharply criticized a Supreme Court decision on Monday that allows the Department of Education to proceed with cutting its workforce by half — a major step in President Donald Trump’s long-term goal of dismantling the department.
NEA President Becky Pringle issued a fiery statement following the ruling, accusing Trump and the conservative-led court of undermining public education.
“America’s educators and parents won’t stay silent as Donald Trump, with backing from his MAGA Supreme Court, strips students, families, and communities of the protections and funding Congress has mandated,” Pringle said. “Gutting the Department of Education has already done damage. Today’s ruling will only deepen that harm.”
The ruling lifts an injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Myong Joun, who earlier this year had blocked the layoffs and ordered the reinstatement of roughly 1,400 Education Department employees. The Supreme Court’s 6–3 decision now allows the downsizing to continue while the case proceeds in lower courts.
The NEA has vowed to keep fighting what it calls Trump’s “illegal and destructive dismantling” of the department, both in court and through public advocacy. Pringle emphasized that “parents, educators, and community leaders won’t be silent as Trump and his allies take a wrecking ball to public schools and the futures of 50 million students across the country.”
In March, Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced plans to slash the department’s workforce by 50%, describing the move as a way to eliminate redundant bureaucratic roles. The department claimed the cuts would not affect core responsibilities like student aid, FAFSA processing, special education funding, or civil rights enforcement.
Conservative education advocate Corey DeAngelis revealed that the NEA had recently passed a resolution opposing any effort to eliminate the Department of Education, calling such actions “illegal, anti-democratic, and racist.” Open Secrets data shows that 98% of NEA’s political donations in the last election cycle went to Democratic candidates.
President Trump has repeatedly stated his intention to abolish the Department of Education altogether, saying he wants power over education returned to states and local communities. While he signed an executive order initiating the department’s phase-out, fully dismantling it would require congressional approval.
The Supreme Court’s ruling does not settle the legal challenge against the downsizing effort, meaning the issue could return to the High Court in the future. Meanwhile, the NEA and other critics are intensifying efforts to stop what they view as a dangerous erosion of public education infrastructure.
