Joe Murphy, whose position as a management and data analyst was eliminated when the Department of Education dismissed almost 50% of his workforce on Tuesday night, said Wednesday that he and his colleagues are full of a feeling of “sadness” and “disbelief.”
“We have the feeling that we were disposable in a certain sense, especially those of us in the data space,” he told ABC News.
According to Murphy, everyone who worked directly had their finished positions.
The 56 -year -old Dumfries player, Virginia, said he has spent almost 20 years in educational data, previously working for the National Education Statistics Center, in addition to serving as a contractor for a space for collection of formula subsidies data in the Department of Education.
Civil and supporters of the Department of Education are manifested outside the Washington Department, on March 11, 2025.
Jim LO SCALZO/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTO/JIM LO SCALZO/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTO
In the last efforts of the Government’s efficiency department to reduce federal costs, some 1,315 employees of the Department of Education were affected by the “force reduction” notices, leaving 2,183, according to senior officials of the agency.
The White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, defended employment cuts on Wednesday, referring to them as “a promise made and a promise maintained.”
“There is no reason for us to spend more than most developed countries in the world. And our education system is failing,” he added. “The president wants to return education to the United States, to train those closest to people to make these important decisions for the life of our children. And this is a first step in that process.”
The headquarters of the Department of Education of the United States, which was ordered closed for the day so officials described as security reasons amid large -scale layoffs, is seen on March 12, 2025 in Washington.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Although Murphy said the endings were expected, he said that the experience has still been disconcerting.
“Nothing surprises me, but it’s still a bit shocking and shocking,” he said.
“I don’t know where I advance from here … I am suddenly in a labor market that has been at the same time, severely restricted and also completely flooded with people who have a similar skill for mine. I am 56 years old,” Murphy continued, and added that he has spent “more than a third of one third of one third of [his] all life “in this line of work.
“I felt really strange to wake up this morning and be like, Wow, what am I going to do?” said.
Murphy emphasized how the most important and rewarding aspect of his work, which is under the Office of Primary and Secondary Education, was attending to the children of the Nation.
“It is really for children, and what we do is for children. And many of us feel like that,” he said, adding that “he wants[es] Things were differently. “
“That is what I have the greatest sense of pride. I think, you know, do a good job and bring the data to the programs in the right way: good and precise data, so that they can make decisions on behalf of, you know, 100,000 schools in this country and 18,000 districts and 50 state education agencies,” he explained, “he explained.
When asked if he believes that children will continue to receive the necessary educational benefits and services, Murphy projected a gloomy perspective and expressed his belief that “we are politicizing the Department of Education and Education of our students.”
Chloe Kienzle de Arlington, Virginia, has a signal while it is outside the headquarters of the United States Department of Education, which were ordered closed for the day for which officials described as security reasons in large scale layoffs, on March 12, 2025, in Washington.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
He also expressed concern for whether his work can even continue.
“So, all that work we did for the programs, I do not know who will do it now or can do it. The people of the programs were already overwhelmed. They were very grateful for the work we did for them by distilling this large amount of data to some answers with the land that joined with us,” he said. “So, I don’t know where that is going to do.”
Murphy is a member of the Union of Employees of the Government of the American Federation, which according to him only recently joined due to the change in Biden Administrations to Trump.
“When it seemed to go south and everyone took over after the inauguration, I said, okay, well, I will move on and register,” he said, explaining how he was affected by the “last two months of being led by threats and intimidation.”
“I do not necessarily disagree with the idea that the federal government needed some improvements and some restructuring to some extent,” Murphy acknowledged. “But how you really matter, and you can’t … the federal government is not a private business, and you can’t execute it that way.”
