Layoffs at the U.S. Department of Education will leave no more than a handful of staffers in the agency’s special education office, jeopardizing oversight of the nation’s programs for students with disabilities, advocates say.
The Trump administration is following through on a White House pledge to lay off federal workers as the government shutdown drags on.
While officials at the Education Department are mum on the changes, court documents show that about 466 employees at the agency are affected by the reduction in force, or RIF, and disability advocates said they suspect that the figure is an undercount.
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“These firings have decimated key offices — including the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), and the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE),” said Stephanie Smith Lee, co-director of policy and advocacy at the National Down Syndrome Congress, who served as director of the Education Department’s Office of Special Education Programs under President George W. Bush. “Together, these offices implement federal laws that are critically important to babies and toddlers, students with disabilities in K-12 and those transitioning to postsecondary education and work.”
Lee said the Office of Special Education Programs and the Rehabilitation Services Administration — which is responsible for vocational rehabilitation — could be left with just one staffer apiece. In an alert sent to its members, the National Down Syndrome Congress characterized the situation as a “five-alarm fire” and urged people to contact the White House and their representatives in Congress.
The Education Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the layoffs and advocates said that many employees are still awaiting official notice because they do not have access to a government computer. The jobs are expected to be eliminated in 60 days.
The staffers who are being let go were responsible for administering funding and overseeing implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and other laws.
“There is no way they can abide by the statutory requirements set out by Congress in IDEA 50 years ago by laying off nearly all of the staff at the department that support our community,” said Jacqueline Rodriguez, CEO of the National Center for Learning Disabilities.
IDEA requires the secretary of education to “lead, direct, oversee federal activities that are permanently codified into law,” said Denise Marshall, CEO of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, or COPAA, a nonprofit that advocates for the rights of students with disabilities and their families.
“Decimating the Department of Education disrespects and ignores the requirements of the law,” Marshall said.
Earlier this year, the Education Department cut nearly half its staff, but agency officials insisted that they would maintain statutory programs including formula funding, competitive grantmaking and “funding for special needs students.”
At that point, the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights was hit hard, with seven of 12 regional branches shuttered. Now, just two branches may remain, according to Chad Rummel, executive director of the Council for Exceptional Children.
“Between OESE and OSEP, they oversee $44 (billion) of the department’s $78.8 (billion) budget and from what we can tell, that’s fewer than 20 people overseeing that now,” Rummel said. “Now when money from these two offices goes to states, there’s no one to monitor and ensure compliance.”
The impact will undoubtedly be felt by students with disabilities, according to Katy Neas, CEO of The Arc of the United States who previously served as deputy assistant secretary in the Education Department’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
“These offices exist because, not so long ago, millions of children with disabilities were shut out of school. They represent our nation’s promise that every child deserves an education and a future,” Neas said. “With these offices gutted, families will have nowhere to turn when schools fail to meet their obligations under federal law.”
