June 29, 2026

Media contact: Dorie Turner Nolt, dorie.turner@gmail.com, 404-861-1127

Washington, D.C. — American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 252, the union for the workers at the U.S. Department of Education (ED), is denouncing the agency for unlawfully moving the majority of P-12 program workers to the U.S. Departments of Labor (Labor) and Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an ongoing effort to dismantle ED.

Starting today, despite multiple complaints and grievances filed by the union, as well as ongoing litigation brought by 21 attorneys general and other federal labor unions, ED is transferring about 60 employees from the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) to other federal agencies with no expertise in education or experience serving students and families.

“The Trump Administration continues to dismantle the Education Department unlawfully — even after Congress and the courts warned Secretary Linda McMahon she doesn’t have the authority,” said Rachel Gittleman, president of AFGE Local 252. “Students, families, and taxpayers are already paying the price: funding delays, confusion for both employees and the public, wasted taxpayer dollars, and no accountability or oversight. Shuffling education programs to other agencies doesn’t make government work better — it breaks it.”

ED Divisions that will move to Labor

• Division of Teaching, Leading, and Learning
  • Instructional Leadership and Educator Development Group
  • Literacy Achievement Group
• Division of Family Empowerment and Education Choice (split between Labor and HHS)
  • Education Choice Group
• Division of Safe Schools (split between Labor and HHS) 

The divisions above oversee the following programs (view program descriptions):

• Preschool Development Grant program
• Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grants program 
• Innovative Approaches to Literacy grant program
• Supporting Effective Educator Development program 
• Charter Schools Program – State Entity Grant program 
• Charter Schools Program – Charter Management Organizations Grant program 
• Charter School Programs – Credit Enhancement Grant program 
• Charter School Programs – State Charter School Facilities Incentive Grant program
• Charter School Programs – Developer Grant program components and National Activities 
• Teacher and School Leader Incentive program
• Teacher Quality Partnership Grant 
• Magnet Schools Assistance program

ED Divisions that will move to HHS

• State and Grantee Support Services 
• Division of Family Empowerment and Education Choice (split between Labor and HHS)
  • Family and Community Empowerment Group

The divisions above oversee the following programs (view program descriptions): 

• Ready to Learn Programming Grant program
• Full-Service Community Schools 
• Promise Neighborhoods program 
• Statewide Family Engagement Centers
• School Emergency Response to Violence (Project SERV) program
• School Safety National Activities 

This is part of an interagency agreement announced by McMahon in November, one of 14 agreements that will scatter education programs unlawfully across six federal agencies. These agreements unlawfully transfer hundreds of grant programs that support career, technical and adult, Pre-K-12 and higher education grant programs worth tens of billions of dollars to other federal agencies, ignoring clear directions from Congress and the courts.

“These interagency agreements are the opposite of efficiency — they are chaos,’ Gittleman said. “The agreements create unnecessary, additional layers of bureaucracy for states, communities, schools and families. They sow chaos for states, grantees, and the American public that now have to go to six different federal Departments for answers to questions and making it harder for federal workers to do their jobs on behalf of the public. Secretary McMahon continues to choose playing politics over serving the American people.”

To date, the fullest interagency moves have been the Office of Career and Technical Education and the Office of Postsecondary Education, which are now spread across Labor and HHS, the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Department of the Interior. The union has filed a complaint with the Occupational Health and Safety Administration about the long-documented, abhorrent working conditions at Labor’s Frances Perkins Building, which houses the bulk of transferred ED programs. The agency has also moved some Federal Student Aid staff to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. ED leadership has said they intend to continue these agreements indefinitely.

The most recent move comes on the heels of a new report from the ED’s Inspector General that shows that ED can no longer fulfill its congressionally mandated duties, prevent waste, fraud and abuse, or follow federal law. 

###

June 26, 2026

Media contact: Dorie Turner Nolt, dorie.turner@gmail.com, 404-861-1127

American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 252, which represents more than 2,000 U.S. Department of Education current, unlawfully terminated, and retired employees, released the following statement from AFGE Local 252 President Rachel Gittleman about a proposed Office of Personnel Management rule on nondisclosure agreements for government workers:

“As part of an ongoing effort to silence and intimidate public servants, the Trump Administration is proposing requiring all federal employees to sign nondisclosure agreements about their work. This rule is not only entirely unnecessary based on longstanding confidentiality requirements for federal workers, it will also cause a chilling effect on employees reporting waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars at their agencies — a protected right that is more important than ever given the continued dismantling of the U.S. Education Department. The Trump Administration is not trying to protect matters of national security with this rule — they simply want to stop workers from telling the public about the administration’s unlawful and destructive policies across the federal government. We will continue to fight to hold this Administration accountable and to stand with the hardworking public servants who show up every day to ensure every student in America is treated with dignity, fairness, and respect.”

You can read the official comment that AFGE Local 252 submitted to OPM here.

##

June 23, 2026

Media contact: Dorie Turner Nolt, dorie.turner@gmail.com, 404-861-1127

American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 252, which represents 2,000 U.S. Department of Education current, unlawfully terminated, and retired employees, released the following statement from AFGE Local 252 President Rachel Gittleman about a new report from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of the Inspector General on the changes in staffing and operations at the agency since January 2025:

“This confirms what we’ve been saying all along: The Trump Administration has been systematically destroying the Education Department. The courts agree, Congress agrees, and now the agency’s own Inspector General gives the public the fullest picture to date of the devastation Education Secretary Linda McMahon has wrought: the massive staff cuts, the programmatic eliminations, the billions in grant funding slashed from programs that serve students, families, and teachers across the country. The Inspector General makes clear that the Department can no longer do its job — it cannot fulfill its congressionally mandated duties, prevent waste, fraud, and abuse, or follow federal law.

“What’s more, the list of cuts makes the story even clearer: The Secretary gutted the Department’s programs helping historically underserved students, but she kept the entire legislative affairs office so someone was available to peddle lies to Congress that everything is fine. Let me be clear: Nothing is fine, and this report proves it.”

##

June 16, 2026

Media contact: Dorie Turner Nolt, dorie.turner@gmail.com, 404-861-1127

American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 252, which represents 2,000 U.S. Department of Education current and former employees, released the following statement from AFGE Local 252 President Rachel Gittleman about new interagency agreements moving the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Office for Civil Rights to the U.S. Department of Justice: 

“The Trump Administration continues to unlawfully dismantle the Education Department — despite clear warning from Congress and the courts that Education Secretary Linda McMahon lacks the authority to do so. The Secretary is now transferring special education programs to the Health and Human Services Department and shipping civil rights enforcement to the Justice Department. This will leave our most vulnerable students and families who have been shut out of our education system without the services they need and without protection when they face discrimination.

This isn’t efficiency — it’s chaos. Secretary McMahon is yet again targeting historically underserved students, eroding public trust, and sowing dysfunction for the federal employees who are trying to do their jobs on behalf of the public. Previous interagency agreements divvying up both P-12 and higher education programs to other federal agencies have led to massive delays in Congressionally mandated funding and confusion for federal employees and the public alike. 

Scattering programs across six federal agencies doesn’t streamline government; it breaks it. Secretary McMahon is choosing politics over students — again. That’s an insult to the millions of students and families who rely on these services and the taxpayers who count on federal oversight to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse.”

##

May 27, 2026

Media contact: Dorie Turner Nolt, dorie.turner@gmail.com, 404-861-1127

The union for U.S. Education Department employees, American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 252, filed a notice of arbitration in a case where agency leaders are unlawfully disciplining an employee who is blind for speaking with the news media and a member of Congress.

Christine Grassman, who works in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, spoke publicly in her personal capacity after the agency unlawfully tried to fire her and nearly 500 of her colleagues during the historic government shutdown last fall. The reduction-in-force notices for Grassman and her colleagues were eventually paused by the courts and then halted by Congress. 

“Since January 2025, hardworking public servants at the U.S. Department of Education like Christine Grassman have been subjected to threats, harassment and sustained demoralization. Christine is a dedicated public servant who spoke about her personal experience being unlawfully fired by the Education Department,” said AFGE Local 252 President Rachel Gittleman. “This is another example of this administration’s war on civil servants who exercise their First Amendment rights to speak up against unlawful actions.”

The Agency continues to threaten employees who speak publicly about working conditions and other issues. These disciplinary tactics related to employee speech have led to workers being fired in other federal agencies. This week, the Office of Personnel Management proposed a government-wide nondisclosure agreement for all federal employees that would bar them from speaking publicly about most of their work.

The union has filed a grievance about Grassman being disciplined, but the agency has denied the grievance. The next step in the process is arbitration, which involves a third-party arbitrator evaluating the union’s claims that the Department has acted unlawfully.

##