Over 1,300 employees are being laid off, the department announced on Tuesday. It is unclear how the cutbacks will directly affect operations.
The Trump administration has already reduced the workforce through offers of severance packages and termination of probationary employees, and with Tuesday's announcement, around half of the previously 4,100 employees will remain.
Education Minister Linda McMahon has stated that the education department's "final mission" is to transfer the authority of the agency to the states. Trump has given her the task of "making herself redundant".
Approximately 13 percent of the funding for elementary and upper secondary schools comes from federal coffers.
