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Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team said that it had “terminated” 89 of the department’s contracts, apparently targeting its research arm.
- Feb. 11, 2025Updated 2:55 p.m. ET
Elon Musk’s cost-cutting effort announced a variety of cuts at the Education Department totaling over $900 million, apparently aimed at hobbling the department’s research arm, the Institute of Education Sciences.
The team Mr. Musk has assembled, which has operated in relative secrecy in shuttering other agencies such as U.S.A.I.D. and slashing government programs, said on Monday that the Education Department had “terminated” 89 contracts, as well as 29 grants associated with diversity and equity training.
Most, if not all, of the contract cuts hit the Institute of Education Sciences’s portfolio, including Education Innovation and Research grants and review projects associated with the What Works Clearinghouse, which produces and curates research on best practices in education, according to three people familiar with the department’s contracting. The people requested anonymity out of fear of reprisal because they were not authorized to discuss the cuts.
Less than two weeks after the release of new federal testing data showing reading achievement at historic lows, the cuts were likely to hit research intended to answer questions about some of the biggest problems in American education since the Covid-19 pandemic, such as absenteeism and student behavioral challenges.
A spokesman for the Education Department did not elaborate on the programs or grants it gave the order to suspend, referring reporters to a social media post from the account associated with Mr. Musk’s efforts.
But the move created immediate alarm among researchers and lawmakers, who see the information assembled by the department as an invaluable resource for educators working to improve teaching methods.
