Education Department could see brain drain

EDUCATION DEPARTMENT COULD SEE BRAIN DRAIN: The Education Department appears poised to lose a significant chunk of its institutional knowledge, as some career employees with decades of experience are looking for the exits because they’re unable to stomach a Trump administration. Some younger employees who joined the Education Department after being energized by President Barack Obama might head for the doors, too. That’s according to several former senior department officials familiar with the post-election mood at the agency.

— The Education Department is focused on Obama’s final months, which will include work on equity issues related to the Every Student Succeeds Act. But spirits are low, with current and former staffers exchanging emails to check in with each other and offer support, sources say. Everyone is still trying to process the election results and they’re uncertain about what’s next, as President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to downsize the department, or maybe even eliminate the entire agency. The previous two decades have been a long and intense period of work for many, said Massie Ritsch, a senior communications official during the president’s first term, who was later nominated for assistant secretary for communications and outreach. “What’s disheartening is so much of that work is seemingly at risk.” Ritsch added, “There will be people who will say, ‘I just can't do this transition.’ I think you’ll see people who represent decades and decades of service say they’re done.”

http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-education/2016/11/education-department-could-see-brain-drain-217343