Amid the shutdown, the Trump administration is leaning on the department that oversees special education

The sweeping layoffs announced by the Trump administration on Friday dealt another blow to the U.S. Department of Education, this time dismantling the agency responsible for overseeing special education, multiple sources within the department said.

The workforce reduction, or RIF, roughly affects the dozens of employees responsible for this $15 billion 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 agency responsible for protecting the rights of infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities,” said a department official, who, like the others NPR spoke to, requested anonymity for fear of retaliation.

According to sources, in Friday’s RIF, all staff at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) were laid off, with the exception of a handful of top officials and support staff. The agency is the central nervous system for programs that support students with disabilities, not only by providing guidance to families, but also by monitoring and supervising states to ensure compliance with the historic Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

There were a total of 466 dismissals at the Ministry of Education part of broader cuts – some 4,200 jobs – announced by government lawyers in a lawsuit filed Friday as the the lockdown continues.

At the Ministry of Education, it is not clear exactly 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 illegally terminated,” said Rachel Gittleman, president of AFGE Local 252, a union that represents many Education Department employees.

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

Employees who received a termination letter on Friday were told they would remain employed until December 9.

Protection of students with disabilities

NPR spoke with half a dozen federal employees who have been fired — all at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services, as well as former officials with close ties to the special education agency.

Special education agency officials described a host of important responsibilities that they feared would now go unfulfilled, leaving a painful void for states, school districts and families.

The federal law known as IDEA, which celebrates its 50th anniversary 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 access to schools, including public schools, or housed in substandard facilities where they learned little and enjoyed few rights.

IDEA is primarily considered a civil rights law, requiring states to provide special education services for children from birth to age 21. It also contributes to the financing of these services.

As part of the law, states must submit student data to OSERS staff each year to demonstrate compliance with the law’s requirements. States must also submit annual plans and apply each year for the billions of dollars available through IDEA to help them pay for special education.

OSERS staff reviews these state plans, analyzes the data, and ensures they comply with federal law. These staffers can initiate investigations into states if they believe they are intentionally or unintentionally not following the rules. They also provide technical assistance to states.

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

OSERS staff also answers calls directly from parents and families across the country seeking assistance in understanding their child’s rights under federal disability law, and in some cases seeking help if they are concerned that they are being unlawfully denied services.

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

Return education to the states

President Trump has repeatedly talked about wanting to return education to the states, and that too dismantling the Education Department is part of that plan.

Eliminating these staff members will not reduce special education funding for states at this time.

But a state director of special education, who spoke to NPR on condition of anonymity out of concern that the administration would retaliate against that state, said he worries about the impact on 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 concept of leaving special education up to states sounds great, but it’s scary. What happens when one state decides to interpret the law one way, but another state disagrees and interprets the law differently?”

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

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