Trump Administration Guts Office Of Special Education
The office is responsible for ensuring that children with disabilities receive the services they need and deserve under the law.
Amid the chaotic government shutdown, the Trump administration has taken the opportunity to lay off the vast majority of Education Department (ED) workers in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS).
All staff were let go on Friday with the exception of a handful of top officials and their support staff.
The office, which uses about $15 million annually in funding, ensures that the 7.5 million school-aged children with disabilities are treated fairly under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). They do this through overseeing and guiding state school systems. At the same time, the office offers programs that support kids with disabilities, their educators, and their families.
"This is decimating the office responsible for safeguarding the rights of infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities," an anonymous department employee told NPR.
With no one to uphold the law under IDEA, kids across the country with disabilities could face discrimination or unequal treatment with no repercussions.
The Education Department layoffs — more than 460 in total and about 20% of the remaining employees — were announced as part of the 4,200 federal jobs lost on Friday, ostensibly because of the government shutdown. Even before this latest reduction in force (RIF), the department has laid off more than 2,000 workers and bought out about 600. Some of the other offices hit hard so far include the Office of Federal Student Aid, the Office for Civil Rights, and the Institute of Education Sciences.
Like many of the recent federal cuts under President Donald Trump, this one will directly impact a vulnerable and marginalized population.
"The system is designed to happen at the school level, with oversight from the district, with oversight from the state, and then with oversight from the federal level," Glenna Wright-Gallo, a former assistant secretary in the office, told USA Today. "Now we're losing that checks and balances system."
Currently, about 90% of the Education Department is furloughed, too.
It’s not clear if the layoffs were legal, and the union that works with the ED is expected to investigate.
"Based on multiple reports from staff and their managers, we believe that all remaining staff in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), including the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and the Rehabilitative Services Administration (RSA), have been illegally fired," said Rachel Gittleman, president of AFGE Local 252, a union that represents many Education Department employees.
The laid-off employees will have their last day on December 6.
It’s long been a plan of the Trump Administration and ED Secretary Linda McMahon to completely shutter the Department of Education. However, Trump has also asked the agency to expand into some new areas of work, such as reinstating the Presidential Fitness Test and promoting school prayer.
