Largest teachers union slams 'unlawful' cuts to Department of Education after Supreme Court ruling

The president of the nation's largest teachers' union, the National Education Association, slammed the Supreme Court's ruling on Monday for siding with the Trump administration on dismantling the Department of Education. 

"Everyone who cares about America’s students and public schools should be appalled by the Supreme Court’s premature intervention in this case today, which stays preliminary relief ordered by the lower courts. Today’s decision does not resolve the underlying merits of Trump’s unlawful plan to eliminate the Department of Education," Becky Pringle said in a statement.

She added, "Parents, educators, and community leaders won’t be silent as Trump and his allies take a wrecking ball to public schools and the futures of the 50 million students in rural, suburban, and urban communities across America. We will continue to organize, advocate, and mobilize until all students have the opportunity to attend the well-resourced public schools where they can thrive." 

President Donald Trump's plan to cut the Department of Education is still "unlawful" despite the Supreme Court ruling, according to Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association. (Getty Images)

The Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to fire hundreds of Department of Education employees, a move that advances President Donald Trump's plans to dismantle the department. The high court's decision in McMahon v. State of New York was issued 6-3 along ideological lines.

The decision temporarily pauses an order by a lower court judge that had reinstated roughly 1,400 employees at the Department of Education.

The Supreme Court's order arose from two lawsuits, including one brought by 20 Democratic-led states that challenged the Education Department Sec. Linda McMahon's layoffs and planned closure.  (Valerie Plesch/picture alliance via Getty Images; Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In March, Education Secretary Linda McMahon laid off half of the department's workforce as part of the Trump administration's broader reduction in government efforts. Later that month, Trump announced in an executive order that he planned to shutter the department altogether.

TRUMP ADMIN ASKS SUPREME COURT TO LIFT INJUNCTION BLOCKING DISMANTLING OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

The Supreme Court's order arose from two lawsuits, including one brought by 20 Democratic-led states that challenged the Education Department's layoffs and planned closure.

McMahon praised the ruling, vowing that the federal agency can now "carry out the reduction in force to promote efficiency and accountability and to return education back to the states."

Trump signed an executive order on his plan to dismantle the Department of Education. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

"Today, the Supreme Court again confirmed the obvious: the President of the United States, as the head of the Executive Branch, has the ultimate authority to make decisions about staffing levels, administrative organization, and day-to-day operations of federal agencies," McMahon said on X. "While today’s ruling is a significant win for students and families, it is a shame that the highest court in the land had to step in to allow President Trump to advance the reforms Americans elected him to deliver using the authorities granted to him by the U.S. Constitution."

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Fox News' Ashley Oliver contributed to this report.