Dear Commons Community
The U.S. Department of Education’s office of educational technology has been eliminated as part of the federal agency’s massive reduction in force, according to sources familiar with the layoffs and an email notice obtained by Education Week.
The office, also called OET, was tasked with setting a national education technology plan and assisting states and districts in implementing technology in schools. Practically speaking, the OET has helped states and districts navigate whatever new and emerging technology is affecting schools—from cellphones and social media to artificial intelligence and cybersecurity—by providing policy guidance and evidence-based strategies.
The OET staffers are among the hundreds of employees dismissed from the Education Department, after the federal agency announced that it will shrink its workforce to about 2,200 employees by March 21. That’s just over half of its size when President Donald Trump—who has repeatedly pledged to eliminate the 45-year-old agency—took office on Jan. 20.
While the OET was small, consisting of just three career officials and a handful of fellows, proponents of its work said the office had an outsize impact.
“There’s going to be a new technology—it’s inevitable,” said Joseph South, the chief innovation officer for ISTE/ASCD, who was a former OET director during the Obama administration. “States and districts are going to be trying to figure it out, … and there won’t be an entity that’s gathering research on effective pedagogy, best practices, and then responding back to states with guidance.”
Not all states have a dedicated team or person who coordinates ed-tech, he added.
The Education Department did not respond to a request for comment. In a statement announcing the overall reduction in force, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the goal was to make the agency more efficient.
After this announcement, several news sources were reporting that Trump intends to sign an executive order eliminating the entire Education Department today!
Tony
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