Sharia Smith
speaker
12 appearances
2 recordings
2 series
first heard Feb 2025
last heard Mar 2025
Sharia Smith’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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Appearances
Thank you so much, Rachel. My coworkers and I from all over the country really appreciate the platform you're giving us to talk about this.
You know, that's so interesting that you ask the question about our whole office. So, we've reviewed the list of people who are set to be laid off. And I also listened to Secretary McMahon's statement about how they're keeping the good people. The people that they— seem to be keeping are white men who happen to have graduated from very conservative schools. Not to say that they're not good.
I think all of my coworkers are excellent. Many of them are members. But the coworkers that are being laid off as well are also good. What is curious in the U.S. Department of Education is that the layoffs, the mass terminations, the administrative leaves are seeming to affect and impact disproportionately women and people of color. And the Department of Education should be a model employer.
And I want American people to think about, do they want their employer to follow this model, where the only people that are deemed good enough to keep their jobs and their ability to support their families are people who are from a certain race and are of a certain gender?
Well, absolutely, because their efforts are illegal. Again, since the new administration came into office, we have experienced mass terminations and unchecked unprofessionalism. People just not going by the rules, even this layoff, is not something that should have occurred. The layoff was not because of a budget shortfall.
The president can't just lay people off because he does not agree with them or he does not like the color of their skin or their gender. So, certainly, we are availing ourselves for— you know, of all recourse to challenge this and talking with attorneys, and we have been since the first round of layoffs on January 21st.
And so, you know, we'll be fighting, and we hope the American people will fight with us.
Absolutely not possible. Since January 21st, our entire agency has been interrupted. We've been told not to work. We've had people who have been forced from working, even though there have been high performers. There's no way—we were already understaffed. There is no way we can continue operations at the levels that we had been when you have half the workforce and you have fired great people.
You have fired high performers. There's no way. If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.
Thank you, Rachel.
We have a very chaotic situation, a toxic work environment for the last three weeks. We're concerned about what will happen to the services that we provide if we're not allowed to work.
We have tens of thousands current complaints open. And if we are eliminated, those are Americans that will not receive services. Currently in the Office for Civil Rights, American citizens can file a one page free complaint. They do not need an attorney and they will be helped by attorneys like myself who have Ivy League degrees for free.
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