Lease will end at SF education department office as mass layoffs announced

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The Trump Administration's effort to dramatically remake the U.S. Department of Education with layoffs will end leases nationwide, including in San Francisco.

As the Education Department announces plans to lay off more than 1,300 of its federal employees, their lease will end at the San Francisco office on Beale Street. Offices in New York City, Boston, and Chicago are among the other leases ending.

San Francisco employees and those at all U.S. Department of Education offices have been told to stay home Wednesday, with access forbidden. The only reason given for the closures was unspecified "security reasons."

RELATED: Department of Education lays off nearly 50% of its workforce

President Trump has vowed to dismantle the Education Department, calling it a "con job" and vowing to give states more control over schools.

But teachers fear gutting the Department will leave vulnerable students even more vulnerable.

Now, the president of the biggest education union in the U.S. is slamming the Trump Administration as the Education Department begins layoffs.

The cuts add up to more than half of their workforce affecting nearly every part of the department.

RELATED: What is the Department of Education? Here's a look at some of its key functions

"Firing half of your workforce without cause - we know necessarily will mean there will be cuts to services that our students and families need," Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, said.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon says the agency will continue to oversee federal aid and student loan management.

"We want more money to be able to go to the states, that's what the president has said all along," McMahon said.

Six hundred employees have already accepted voluntary resignation offers.