Education department faces near elimination of special education office

Amid the latest government shutdown, the Trump administration moved to lay off thousands of employees, including nearly 500 at the education department.

The cuts included the near elimination of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, which has advocates worried about the impact on students with disabilities.

A judge issued a temporary restraining order pausing the layoffs on Wednesday, but advocates remain concerned that the attempt to reduce staff signals the administration’s commitment to closing the education department.

“It’s becoming more clear with this latest round of cuts, especially during a shutdown, that the ultimate goal is the entire elimination of the department, and a complete withdrawal of the federal role in education in the United States,” said Robert Kim, executive director of the Education Law Center.

The Trump administration initially eliminated 466 jobs in the education department, according to a White House budget official’s court declaration. Those jobs included nearly all staff in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, which protects the rights of students with disabilities, and much of the remaining staff in the Office for Civil Rights, which enforces anti-discrimination laws, according to reporting from PBS News Hour. The education department already lost about half of its staff in March through layoffs and buyouts.

The Department of Education press office did not respond to a request for comment. An automatic reply said the press team will respond to emails once the government shutdown is over.

The shutdown, which has lasted over two weeks, has forced agencies to evaluate what federal responsibilities are “truly critical,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said on the social media site X.

“Two weeks in, millions of American students are still going to school, teachers are getting paid, and schools are operating as normal,” McMahon posted. “It confirms what the President has said: the federal Department of Education is unnecessary, and we should return education to the states.”

No education funding, including for special education, is impacted by the reduction in force, she said before the judge issued a temporary restraining order.

Without staff in key federal special education offices, Mary Ciccone, policy director at Disability Rights NJ, said she is not sure how the money will be distributed.

“If these educational services are cut, the problem is these kids are going to be left behind,” she said.

Even if the funding for special education does continue to go out to states, Kim said department staff are vital to making sure it is properly distributed and used to support students with disabilities.

“The loss of staff really jeopardizes the future of not only that funding, but also the supports that states need to ensure students with disabilities are being properly served,” he said.

Peg Kinsell, policy director at SPAN Parent Advocacy Network, said most people don’t realize how much work is done at the federal level to serve students with disabilities in New Jersey. This includes training, technical assistance, data collection, grant management and monitoring, she said.

“If we don’t have any kind of accountability, we don’t have the data, there’s no oversight of who’s implementing [the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act] correctly and who isn’t,” Kinsell said. “All that work that we’ve done since 1975 around the law goes right down the sink.”

The layoffs, which were scheduled for December, are paused following a judge’s order. But advocates remain worried since the pause is only temporary while the matter is argued in court.

There is a lot of uncertainty about what might happen going forward, especially if the matter moves to the appellate division or U.S. Supreme Court, Ciccone said.

“The damage may be done by the time these cases make their way to a final decision point,” Kim said.

The proposed layoffs are already eroding trust between families of students with disabilities and the federal government, Kinsell said.“They are just walking around on eggshells, and it’s hard to say, ‘Okay, well, don’t worry. The department’s still there,’” Kinsell said. “It’s hard to reassure families right now, because they don’t know what’s going to hit next.”

The proposed cuts are traumatic, especially for families who are also worried about cuts to Medicaid or other changes at the federal level, she said.

“Those students with the most needs are most vulnerable to these cuts,” Kinsell said.