Office of Educational Technology, National Center for Education Statistics Fall Victim to ED Cuts

• By Rhea Kelly
• 03/12/25

The U.S. Department of Education has announced cuts of nearly half of its staff, numbering more than 1,300 workers, according to AP reporting. While official details on the cuts are not available, early commentary on LinkedIn has revealed drastic cuts in the areas of educational technology and data.

The entire Office of Educational Technology (OET) is being eliminated, according to former Education Program Specialist Kevin Johnstun. The department was responsible for developing educational technology policy and establishing strategies for encouraging the development and use of educational technology, including supporting research to improve learning outcomes and developing, disseminating and updating the National Education Technology Plan. The office also recently released a toolkit on the intentional use of AI in education.

In a LinkedIn post, Joseph South, chief innovation officer at ISTE and ASCD, broke down OET's numerous accomplishments over the past 30 years:

• Created and updated a National Educational Technology Plan for the country that has been heavily referenced by many US states and districts;
• Launched the 1st national survey of online education in K-12 schools;
• Launched SETDA, the State Educational Technology Directors Association;
• Conducted a National Study of the Effectiveness of Educational Technology Interventions and numerous other studies on the impact of ed tech in schools;
• Launched Digital Promise, a nonprofit devoted to designing, investigating, and scaling up innovations that empower learners;
• Led a national network of regional education innovation clusters;
• Launched the Ed Tech Developer's Guide, A Primer for Software Developers, Startups, and Entrepreneurs;
• Launched Future Ready Schools, a nonprofit advocacy organization focused on preparing students for the workforce;
• Launched the #GoOpen National Network to increase the use of high quality openly licensed educational materials in schools;
• Co-led #ConnectED with the White House to bring broadband to every classroom in the US;
• Released an Early Learning and Educational Technology Brief to guide the use of technology by young learners;
• Released Advancing Educational Technology in Teacher Preparation to help prepare students tu use technology in the classroom; and
• Provided ongoing guidance on the safe, ethical, and effective use of AI in schools.

The European Ed Tech Alliance has created an archive of many Office of Educational Technology resources here.

The ED cuts also reportedly included virtually all positions at the National Center for Education Statistics, save its acting commissioner and a "skeletal" staff. Key NCES research efforts include:

• The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the data behind The Nation's Report Card, one of the only common measurements of student academic achievement across districts and states;
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, the data source behind the federal College Scorecard and College Navigator;
• The Common Core of Data, collecting both fiscal and non-fiscal data about public schools, districts, and state education agencies;
• The School Survey on Crime and Safety;
• The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, providing data on the child development across the United States, as well as numerous other longitudinal studies of various education levels; and
• The National Postsecondary Student Aid Study.

"NCES's reports on the status of student learning on state-by-state and international basis are widely used by parents, administrators, and policymakers to make decisions on school programs based on what's working and isn't working. Students and parents use NCES resources to monitor school safety and help locate public and private schools and colleges that meet their needs. Policymakers in the private and public sector use NCES products to develop programs, allocate resources, and track the latest trends in education. States, localities, and institutions around the United States use the data to compare themselves with others on tuition, salaries, staffing, expenditures, student achievement, graduation rates, and many other measures. Businesses use NCES data to inform their recruitment and siting for new facilities. Federal, state, and local governments as well as businesses and corporations used the data to determine the supply of labor with specific skills and training. Researchers use data to study progressions from early childhood through postsecondary education and into early careers to help answer questions such as whether students' high school academic achievement is related to college enrollment and completion," noted Ron Wasserstein, executive director of the American Statistical Association, in a LinkedIn post. "The elimination of NCES would create a devastating information vacuum, leaving families, communities, and decision-makers without the objective data needed to guide our educational future. America's students deserve better than decisions made in darkness — they deserve the illumination that only robust, independent educational statistics can provide."