据美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)查阅的副本显示，受教育部3月11日裁员影响的1300多名联邦雇员周四收到了正式的离职通知。
“非常遗憾，我必须通知你，你的职位被取消了，你已经被联系到削减力量(RIF)行动，”通知的部分内容是这样的。
在唐纳德·特朗普总统于3月20日签署行政命令，指示教育部长琳达·麦克马洪关闭该机构后，RIF是大规模削减教育部的第一个重大步骤之一。
特朗普和麦克马洪都表示，他们将继续缩小该机构的规模，并将教育权和决定权还给各州。
总统说，被解雇的员工要么不去上班，要么不擅长自己的工作。但通知解释说，这种分离不是基于绩效评估，而是由于该机构“职位数量的减少”。通知还说，员工有权对这一削减提出上诉。
此外，根据全美有色人种协进会政策和立法事务主管Patrice Willoughby的说法，不经过公务员保护就解雇员工是“非法的”。
“他们所做的是非法的，”威洛比告诉美国广播公司新闻。“他们知道这是违法的。它对人造成伤害。他们不仅破坏了他们所说的深层国家——真正致力于代表教育家庭和年轻人专业工作的联邦工作人员，而且还破坏了这些家庭和这些社区的孩子，他们中的许多人投票支持本届政府，这些参议员和众议员的选民对此什么也没说。”
据知情人士透露，周四发出的这封信是一份要求60天的通知，提醒联邦雇员他们的最后几天。在这60天结束之前，受影响的员工将享受带薪行政休假。6月10日，他们将不再被雇用。
“埃德感谢你提供的服务，”通知说，并补充说，“我们对这一决定影响到你深感遗憾，我们认识到这一时刻的困难。”
上个月，该部门宣布，其4000多名员工中约有一半通过裁员、自愿离职或退休而被淘汰。数十名试用期员工被解雇，然后在法院命令推翻政府解雇后被重新雇用。
首席人力资本官杰奎琳·克莱(Jacqueline Clay)在美国东部时间下午3点至4点之间发送了一封官方电子邮件，主题为“因裁员而离职通知”，以及相关文件，包括员工福利和遣散费的信息。
根据美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)查阅的副本，这些通知是根据一项名为“实施总统的“政府效率部”劳动力优化计划”的行政命令发出的。
在过去的一个月里，受到影响的公务员已经清理了他们的办公室——如果他们亲自工作的话——并且不再被允许进入教育部的大楼。他们没有工作职责，也无法访问电子邮件、系统和服务器。
与ABC新闻分享通知的公务员表示，这些信件让裁员感觉“更真实”
一名收到通知的员工告诉美国广播公司新闻，“这对我们来说很悲伤，但毫无疑问，学生们也将受到伤害。”
另一个整个办公室都被淘汰的部门员工说，他们感到麻木。
“我们知道它会到来，但仍然难以置信，”他们说，并补充说，“没有解释为什么办公室被废除。我的办公室是国会授权和法定要求的。没有答案。”
'Your position is being abolished': ED staff get official reduction-in-force notices
Over 1,300 federal employees impacted by the Department of Education's March 11 reduction in force received their official separation notices Thursday, according to copies reviewed by ABC News.
"It is with great regret that I must inform you that your position is being abolished and you have been reached for reduction in force (RIF) action," the notices read, in part.
The RIF was one of the first major steps in massively reducing the Education Department after President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to close the agency on March 20.
Both Trump and McMahon have suggested they will continue reducing the size of the agency and return education power and decisions to the states.
The president has said that the RIF'd employees either weren't showing up to work or they weren't good at their jobs. But the notices explained that the separation is not based on performance evaluations -- it is due to the "reduction in the number of positions" at the agency. The notices also said that employees have the right to appeal this reduction.
In addition, laying off people without going through the civil service protections is "illegal," according to NAACP Chief of Policy and Legislative Affairs Patrice Willoughby.
"What they're doing is illegal," Willoughby told ABC News. "They know it's illegal. It creates damage to people. They're damaging not only what they say is the deep state — really dedicated federal workers who are working professionally on behalf of education families and young people but they're also damaging these families and these kids in these communities, many of them who voted for this administration and the constituents of these senators and representatives, who are saying nothing about it."
The letter sent on Thursday is a required 60-day notice alerting federal employees of their final days, according to a source familiar with the matter. Until those 60 days are up, the affected employees are on paid administrative leave. On June 10, they will no longer be employed.
"ED appreciates the service you have rendered," the notice said, adding, "We deeply regret that this decision affects you, and we recognize the difficulty of the moment."
Last month the department announced that about half of its 4,000-plus employees were eliminated either through its reduction, voluntary separations or retirements. Dozens more probationary employees were let go -- and then rehired after a court order overturned the administration's terminations.
Chief Human Capital Officer Jacqueline Clay sent the official email, with the subject line of Notice of Separation Due To Reduction In Force, between 3 and 4 p.m. ET along with associated documents, including information on employee benefits and severance pay.
The notices were sent in accordance with an executive order titled Implementing The President's "Department of Government Efficiency" Workforce Optimization Initiative, according to the copies reviewed by ABC News.
Over the past month, the impacted civil servants have cleaned out their offices – if they worked in person – and are no longer allowed in the Education Department's buildings. They have no work responsibilities, and they do not have access to emails or systems and servers.
Civil servants who shared the notices with ABC News said the letters make the reduction feel "more real."
"It is sad for us but also the students who undoubtedly will be harmed by this," one employee who received the notice told ABC News.
Another department employee whose entire office was eliminated said that they feel numb.
"We knew it was coming but still unbelievable," they said, adding, "No explanations of why offices were abolished. My office was congressionally mandated and statutorily required. There are no answers."
