10 February 2025
By ReShonda Tate
Contributing Writer
(Defendernetwork.com) — Several employees at the Department of Education have been placed on paid leave after participating in a diversity training course once encouraged by former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos during Donald Trump’s first term. The move reportedly comes as part of the Trump administration’s sweeping efforts to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs across the federal government.
Sheria Smith, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252, representing hundreds of Education Department employees, confirmed that at least 55 workers have been placed on leave, with more expected in the coming days.
“It’s very, very, unsettling,” one department employee of over 20 years, who works in Washington, D.C., told the media. “I don’t get it. What’s my crime? What have I done?”
Smith said the positions of Department of Education employees placed on leave run the gamut, from senior civil rights attorneys to attorneys for borrower defense to press specialists. She said she feared more letters would be sent in the coming days.
The affected staff members include civil rights attorneys, loan regulators, program analysts, a public affairs specialist and employees responsible for ensuring schools provide individualized education programs (IEPs) for special needs students.
A letter sent to those placed on leave states they will continue receiving full salaries and benefits but are barred from performing work-related duties or coming into the office. Their email access has also been suspended.
“It looks like they’re entrapping people,” Smith said, noting that employees were initially encouraged to take these trainings but are now seemingly being penalized for doing so. She fears the broader goal may be to pressure staff into leaving voluntarily.
“Trump has said he wants to eliminate the Department of Education,” she added. “Maybe he hopes employees will eliminate themselves.”
The decision is the latest in a series of aggressive rollbacks targeting DEI initiatives since Trump’s return to the White House. It has raised concerns among government employees and civil rights advocates about the future of diversity-focused programs in federal agencies.
“I think it is shock and awe. They’re trying to send us emails that make no sense and are super confusing to intimidate us or to make us run scared so we quit,” Smith said.
“They’re trying to make employees feel like they will soon get fired. And at the same time, they are trying to entice employees with an offer to pay them eight months’ salary if they just resigned,” Smith added. “So it seems as if you’re choosing between affirmatively resigning, where they’re saying that you might possibly get paid eight months’ salary and benefits, or eventually getting fired.”
Smith and Brittany Holder, a spokeswoman for the American Federation of Government Employees, believe hundreds of employees attended the Diversity Change Agent training. An email shared with NBC News shows that the Education Department’s goal for 2019 was to train 400 employees under the program.
According to Smith and Holder, dozens of workers at the Departments of Education and Energy who did not specifically work in diversity, equity, and inclusion roles have been placed on paid leave as part of Trump’s effort to eliminate DEI initiatives throughout the federal government.
“People are worried they are going to lose their jobs,” Holder said. “People are worried and angry.”
A spokesperson for the Education Department said it was “evaluation staffing in line with the commitment to prioritizing meaningful learning ahead of divisive ideology in schools and putting student outcomes above special interests.”
This article originally published in the February 10, 2025 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.