Massive layoffs announced this week at the U.S. Department of Education have essentially gutted the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the department’s research and statistical unit. Sources say only a few dozen people will remain at IES, which has an annual budget of $800 million that was managed by some 184 staffers before the firings. IES’s mission is to monitor the state of U.S. education, fund research to improve academic achievement at all levels, and evaluate the effectiveness of federal, state, and local education programs.

13 March, 2025 20 states sued the department over its firing of more than 1300 employees, asserting that the layoffs violate federal statutes and ignore congressional authority over the department. Although education researchers hope public databases collected and curated by IES will remain online, they are scrambling to preserve access to restricted data now in the hands of NCES contractors. Those data have routinely been available to graduate students and others with the proper clearance.

 
Source https://www.science.org/content/article/layoffs-gut-research-agency-helped-monitor-u-s-education

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