An office dedicated to special education within the U.S. Department of Education was heavily impacted during mass layoffs issued as the federal government remains shut down for the third week, CNN reported. The office served millions of people who have disabilities nationwide.
The Education Department’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services is mostly empty, with the exception of some top officials, after the White House sent layoff notices. According to court records, Stephen Billy, senior advisor for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said that an estimated 466 employees in the Education Department were given layoff notices on Oct. 10.
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Millions of students affected
Two unions, the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), sued the OMB on Sept. 30 to preemptively stop the Trump administration from laying off thousands of federal employees across the nation. The two unions wrote that the threat of layoffs violates current laws and practices for how a shutdown should be handled.
“Despite extensive efforts to minimize impact on employees and programs during the ongoing government shutdown, the continued lapse in funding has made it necessary to implement the RIF (reduction in force),” an internal memo shared with CNN said.
The layoffs impacted the Rehabilitation Services Administration and the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).
According to the Rehabilitation Services Administration’s 2023 performance report, it served 885,006 students across career and training services from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024. The Office of Special Education Programs served 7.6 million students across the nation through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA.
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In fiscal year 2024, the Education Department reported $15.5 billion in grant spending for special education programs.
The National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE), an agency that brings together state agency officials on special education, said in a Monday statement it is “confused and concerned by these staffing decisions.”
Support for special education
According to the NASDSE’s release, layoffs at the Education Department’s special education office left only two senior staffers on programs, and one person for rehabilitation services.
The department’s Office of Special Education Programs has coordinated IDEA compliance, allowing families to request that public and private school districts accommodate their child’s disabilities while still ensuring the same quality of education as other students.
The Council of Administrators of Special Education president, Kevin Rubenstein, said Monday that the office is already facing staffing issues after layoffs from March.
“These layoffs will make everyone’s job more difficult and ultimately may mean students do not get the educational services they need to succeed in school,” Rubenstein said in a statement.
The Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA) said Monday that eliminating the department’s workforce would cause profound ripple effects, especially about a month into the school year.
“Schools could lose access to crucial federal guidance, states could struggle to meet their legal obligations, and families would have fewer places to turn for help navigating special education,” the association said. “Students with learning and other disabilities already face many barriers to receiving the education and support they need and are entitled to under the law.”
Part of the office that was cut is a division — Rehabilitative Services Administration — that helps students who are aging out of secondary education and require assistance to transition to employment, independent living and education opportunities. That includes graduating students from vocational schools to trade careers, helping those with vision issues secure a safe place to live and equipping students with advocacy officers.
Several organizations focused on special education spoke out against the cuts as they could threaten the education students are currently receiving, a month into the school year.
“The elimination of the cadre of experts at OSEP and the information and resources they create,” the LDA said, “will result in greater inequities in classrooms nationwide and will be a major blow to ensuring all students with disabilities receive the free appropriate public education (FAPE) mandated by the IDEA.”
