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Welcome to The Logoff. In the present day I’m specializing in the Trump administration’s transfer to chop the Division of Training’s employees by half. Earlier than we dive in, a request: Should you’re having fun with The Logoff, please contemplate forwarding it to a good friend (or textual content them this sign-up hyperlink: https://voxdotcom.visitlink.me/MFBxDE.) I actually recognize it.
What’s the most recent? The administration Tuesday night time laid off 1,315 Training Division staff. The cuts, mixed with earlier employees reductions, imply the company can be about half the dimensions it was when Donald Trump took workplace seven weeks in the past.
What does the Training Division do? Amongst many duties, the division is answerable for:
Will it preserve doing all of that? The administration defended the cuts by saying they’d enhance effectivity and preserve the group centered on its core missions. Critics say that’s merely not attainable on the new employees degree: some or all of its capabilities will undergo.
What’s (probably) subsequent? A number of shops have reported that Trump was planning to attempt to shut the division by government order. It’s not clear if these cuts changed that transfer, or if there’s extra to come back. However Trump would want Congress to eradicate the division completely, and he doesn’t have the 60 Senate votes he’d must do it.
What’s the large image? Conservatives have lengthy had a vendetta towards the Training Division. Gutting it received’t have an effect on what faculties train — that’s managed on the state and native degree — however, by means of understaffing, Trump could make it tough for the division to implement legal guidelines and assist faculties, districts, and anybody with a scholar mortgage. The results could also be quiet, however they could possibly be monumental.
And with that, it’s time to sign off…
A confession: I do know that I actually need to be taught extra about synthetic intelligence, however I generally really feel like I’m to date behind within the dialog that I keep away from it completely. That’s why I’m so enthusiastic about Vox’s new podcast collection, Good Robotic, which each gives an excellent introduction to the subject and dives into the large questions that encompass it (beginning with: “Is AI going to imply humanity’s finish?”). The primary episode got here out in the present day (accessible on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and elsewhere), and I hope you’ll get to take pleasure in it. Thanks a lot for studying, and I’ll see you again right here tomorrow.
