US EditionFederal Staff Layoffs Impact Special Education Oversight, Enforcement Rights
Layoffs will cut 465 Education Department jobs, including 121 in special education offices, threatening support for 7.5 million students under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
- Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Education proposed mass layoffs, including 121 at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, alarming disability advocates and Democratic lawmakers.
- The department's leadership signaled support for returning education functions to states, prompting the reduction in force as advocates warn it cuts federal roles and may transfer special education programs.
- OSERS, which oversees IDEA, manages $15 billion in grants and supported 7.5 million students during the recent school year, lawmakers and advocates warn.
- A federal judge temporarily blocked the layoffs, but legal proceedings continue, while Lucy McBath, Representative from Georgia, and 31 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus urged reversal of termination notices.
- At current proposed staffing levels, monitoring and compliance work supporting IDEA could be debilitated, advocates warn the department cannot fulfill legal duties, while disability organizations across the country and parents of students with disabilities mobilize to fight illegal firings.
31 Articles
31 Articles
US Education Department layoffs illegally burden students with disabilities, critics say
A boy plays with a wooden numbers puzzle. Sensory exercises like this are often used in special education classrooms. (Getty Images)WASHINGTON — Proposed mass layoffs at the U.S. Department of Education have raised alarm among disability advocates and Democratic lawmakers over the potential impact on millions of students with disabilities. Advocates warn that the department cannot carry out its legally mandated functions for special education s…
WPSD Local 6
Federal staff layoffs impact special education oversight, enforcement rights
Almost all federal staff overseeing special education have been laid off, leaving schools and families uncertain about how student rights will be enforced under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Nebraska Examiner
Education Department layoffs illegally burden students with disabilities, advocates say
A boy plays with a wooden numbers puzzle. Sensory exercises like this are often used in special education classrooms. (Getty Images)WASHINGTON — Proposed mass layoffs at the U.S. Department of Education have raised alarm among disability advocates and Democratic lawmakers over the potential impact on millions of students with disabilities. Advocates warn that the department cannot carry out its legally mandated functions for special education s…
HHS Could Soon Be Responsible for Special Education Programs
WASHINGTON -- In a move that has sparked widespread discussion and concern, the Department of Education is in the preliminary stages of possibly transitioning the oversight of federal special education programs to another agency. This decision follows the recent layoffs of nearly the entire special education division, bringing uncertainty to the future of these crucial programs. Proposed Transition of Special Education Programs to the Department…
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