Trump fires employees at department funding special education: NPR

Massive layoffs announced Friday by the Trump administration dealt another blow to the U.S. Department of Education, this time emptying the office responsible for overseeing special education, according to multiple sources within the department.

The reduction in force, or RIF, concerns the dozens of staff responsible for approximately 15 billion dollars dollars in funding for special education and to ensure that states provide special education services to the nation’s 7.5 million children with disabilities.

“This decimates the office charged with protecting the rights of infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities,” said a department employee who, like others NPR spoke with, requested anonymity for fear of retaliation.

According to sources, all staff at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services (OSERS), except for a handful of senior officials and support staff, were cut during Friday’s RIF. The office is the central nervous system for programs that support students with disabilities, providing not only guidance to families but also providing tracking and oversight to states to ensure they are complying with the landmark Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

The layoffs at the Ministry of Education, 466 in total, were part of broader reductions – some 4,200 jobs – announced Friday by government lawyers in a court filing the shutdown continues.

At the Department of Education, it’s unclear how many employees in the special education office have been laid off. Department officials did not respond to NPR’s requests for clarity or comment.

“Based on multiple reports from staff and their managers, we believe that all remaining staff at 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 unlawfully terminated,” said Rachel Gittleman, president of AFGE Local 252, a union that represents many employees at the Ministry of Education.

“The harm these cuts will cause to the 7.5 million students with disabilities across the country is only beginning,” Gittelman added.

Employees who received notice Friday were informed they would remain employed until December 9.

Protecting students with disabilities

NPR spoke with a half-dozen federal employees who were laid off — all working in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, as well as former officials with close ties to the special education office.

Office of Special Education employees described a host of key responsibilities that they fear are now going unmet, creating a painful void for states, school districts and families.

The federal law known as IDEA, who turned 50 this yearguarantees all children with disabilities the right to a free and appropriate public education. Before the law was passed, these children were often denied admission to schools, including public schools, or placed in unsanitary institutions where they learned little and enjoyed few rights.

IDEA is primarily considered a civil rights law, requiring states to provide special education services to children from birth to age 21. It also helps finance these services.

As part of the law, each year, states must submit student data to OSERS staff, to show they are meeting the law’s requirements. States must also submit annual plans and apply each year for the billions of dollars available through IDEA to help fund special education.

OSERS staff review these state plans, analyze the data, and ensure they comply with federal law. These staff members can initiate investigations into states if they believe they have, intentionally or unintentionally, lacked compliance. They also provide technical assistance to states.

Without this OSERS staff, one employee told NPR, “there is no oversight to ensure that all children with disabilities receive the services to which they are entitled.”

OSERS staff also respond to calls directly from parents and families across the country who seek help understanding their child’s rights under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and, in some cases, seek assistance when they are concerned about being illegally denied services.

“I don’t think people realize how many calls we get every day from parents and families,” one affected worker told NPR. From now on, these calls will go unanswered.

Return education to the States

President Trump has spoken repeatedly about wanting to return education to the states, and that dismantle the Ministry of Education is part of this plan.

Eliminating these staff members does not, at this time, reduce special education funding to states.

But a state special education director, who spoke to NPR on condition of anonymity for fear of government retaliation against the state, said he worries about the implications for students and families.

“I’m afraid. I think it’s good for states to know that there is federal oversight and that they will be held accountable,” the official said. “The idea of ​​leaving special education to the states sounds great, but it’s scary. What happens if one state decides to interpret the law a certain way, but another state disagrees and interprets it differently?

Several sources have also questioned the legality of the cuts to OSERS. Federal law requires that there be an Office of Special Education Programs – within the U.S. Department of Education – to manage and oversee special education funding and programs. As such, these sources said, effectively closing the office by laying off its staff should require an act of Congress.

“Now the federal government is not following federal disability law,” an OSERS employee told NPR. Another asked: “Who will the families go to when there is no one left?”