Sheria Smith dedicated her career to advocating for Black students and ensuring educational equity—until she was abruptly laid off from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) as part of the Trump administration’s restructuring plan.
A Harvard graduate, former teacher, and civil rights attorney, Smith joined the DOE’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in 2016 to enforce Title VI, which protects students from race-based discrimination.
She believed deeply in the mission, working to guarantee Black students full access to Advanced Placement (AP) courses, magnet programs, and fair treatment in classrooms across the country.
However, Smith and approximately 1,300 other DOE employees found themselves without jobs when the administration moved to significantly downsize the department.
In a video posted on social media, Smith, who also served as the union president, described how she and her colleagues were blindsided by the decision.
“I received notice on Tuesday evening after being told to leave the office and not return on Wednesday,” Smith said in a video posted by The Grio. “We were laid off because the agency had decided to restructure. What’s crazy about this is that I’m the union president, and if the agency is planning a restructuring, they needed to have notified our union and bargained the restructuring.”
Smith stated that such a unilateral move by the executive branch should have required congressional approval.
“The restructuring can’t just be based on vibes,” she asserted. “Things should not happen just with one branch of government. Congress has a duty to check the power of the president.”
The layoffs are part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to scale back the federal government’s role in education. Critics argue that this move disproportionately affects marginalized communities, stripping away essential protections and oversight.
Smith urged the public to take action.
“We must contact our members of Congress and our senators and let them know we expect them to do their jobs,” she said. “Their job is to check the power of the president, not rubber-stamp what he is doing because they happen to be on the same side of the aisle.”
As the legal and political implications of the layoffs unfold, Smith remains committed to fighting for educational equity.
“This should have never happened,” she said. “Lawmakers work for the American people, not the president. And it’s critical that we remind them of that.”
