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Trump Administration Fires 13 Members of Key Education Research Board, Citing ‘Partisan Influence’

https://time.com/7291039/trump-administration-fires-education-research-board/

by 

Nik Popli

REPORTER

The Trump Administration fired all 13 Biden-appointed members of a key federal education research board last month, a move that drew sharp rebuke from former members amid the Administration’s ongoing campaign to dismantle the Department of Education.

The firings, carried out on May 23, targeted the National Board for Education Sciences (NBES), which Congress established in 2002 to advise the Department of Education’s research arm, the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). The board—whose members include researchers, educators, and civic leaders—had been tasked with shaping the Department’s $900 million research agenda, including approving priorities, overseeing peer-reviewed grants, and advising on efforts to close achievement gaps across race, income, and disability status. The future of that work is now unclear, as the new Administration has slashed much of that spendin

The dismissals are the latest blow to a board that has struggled for more than a decadeto maintain its statutory role. For much of President Donald Trump’s first term, he did not appoint enough members to NBES to fill the 15-member board. They didn't hold any meetings over those four years, according to the board's web page.

“We can confirm that the Department fired thirteen Biden appointees to the National Board for Education Sciences on May 23,” said Madi Biedermann, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications under Education Secretary Linda McMahon, in a statement to TIME. “One of the core duties of a board member is to ensure that activities are objective, nonideological, and free of partisan influence—they failed.”

Biedermann cited poor student outcomes, excessive spending on research contracts, and the alleged politicization of federal research as justification for the purge. She said new appointees will be announced to “drive forward President Trump and Secretary McMahon’s vision” for education reform, which emphasizes decentralization and a sharp reduction in the federal government’s role.