Sheria Smith was living her professional dream before getting laid off from the U.S. Department of Education.
A Harvard graduate who’d helped children as a teacher before becoming a lawyer, Smith pursued public service over fancy, high-paid corporate positions early in her career so she could give back. That clarity of purpose led her to the DOE in 2016 to accept a position as a civil rights attorney.
“It was really important to me that Black students, students like me, had full access and opportunities in American classrooms and that they were not excluded from AP classes or magnet programs because of the color of their skin or that they were not harshly punished minor infractions or disciplined because of the color of their skin,” Smith told theGrio in an interview.
But that dream came to an end when Smith, along with an estimated 1,300 other DOE staff members, received letters of termination.
“I received notice on Tuesday evening after I was informed that we should leave the office and not come back on Wednesday,” she recalled.
Ironically, Smith is the president of the union representing all DOE employees, known as the American Federation of Government Employees, Local 252. Per union bargaining rules, Smith says she should’ve been informed of any department restructuring and given a chance to bargain.
Not only does Smith insist the layoffs are improper, but she also expresses concern that women and people of color, particularly Black professionals, have been disproportionately impacted by the layoffs.
“What is distressing about these terminations, which have started since Jan. 21, is the disparate impact on Black employees in our agency and certainly in the federal government and the lack of accountability or legitimate explanation for these terminations or placements on leave by this agency,” Smith told theGrio.
Smith noted that earlier this year, the Department of Education started putting people on leave based upon accusations that they were doing undercover DEI work that defied President Trump’s anti-DEI orders. Based on her count, 77 of the professionals laid off included people who did not do DEI work, such as IT workers, attorneys, and loan officers. Of the 77 laid off, 70 were women and 30 were Black.
Smith also noted that 38% of 970 people laid off in the most recent round of layoffs were Black.
“568 identify as persons of color,” Smith also noted. “That is an over-representation of people of color on a layoff list.”
As of this report, the Department of Education has not responded to theGrio’s inquiry to address the claims of disproportionate impact on women and racial minorities in their layoffs.
In the midst of larger backlash to DEI policies, critics have expressed concern that “anti-DEI” and “anti-woke” efforts are nothing more than doublespeak for anti-Black policies and intended to stifle racial justice efforts.
Smith fears the impact of the cuts will be seen in communities that need support.
“We’re going to have a real loss of talented and educated people who want to educate this nation’s children,” Smith told theGrio. “We’re going to have a loss of talented people who want to continue their higher education and happen to be Black because of the loss of federal student aid. So that’s going to be devastating not only to those individuals but devastating to the Black community because, generally, Black people who want to teach are teaching Black students.”
The attorney and union leader is now redirecting her efforts to challenge the layoffs.
“We are challenging them,” Smith told theGrio. “I am a lawyer by trade and so litigation and lawsuits, they all take time, but we are absolutely working. We’re using this time to work for our people and to challenge these actions.”
Based on her personal journey of benefitting from Pell Grants as a college student and utilizing that financial support to pursue a career in education and law later on, Smith sees education as an issue worth fighting for.
She encourages parents, students, and anyone who cares about the educational future of Black students in particular to resist current efforts to dismantle the Department of Education, as both Project 2025 and President Trump have promised to do.
“If we’re educated about American civics, things should not happen just with one branch of government. This should never have happened unless there was also congressional approval,” Smith told theGrio. “So now we must contact our members of Congress and our senators and let them know that we expect them to do their jobs. Their job is to check the power of the president…It is critical that we remind lawmakers who they work for, and it’s us.”
Watch the full interview with Sheria Smith above in the video player.
