The deal Congress reached to re-open the federal government requires the Trump administration to reinstate federal workers who were fired in October, including those charged with overseeing the nation's special education laws. But it's not clear how long they'll be back.
As NPR has reported, the Office for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) inside the U.S. Department of Education is the central nervous system for programs that support students with disabilities. It not only offers guidance to families but also oversees state compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
OSERS can't do its job without staff, and, according to a new Education Department filing, the office lost 121 of its 135 employees in the October reduction-in-force. That matters because, while Wednesday's funding agreement will return those workers to "employment status" as of Sept. 30, there appears to be little protecting them after Jan. 30, when that provision expires.
"We are concerned special education will cease to exist," says Jacqueline Rodriguez, CEO of the National Center for Learning Disabilities.
The Education Department did not answer specific questions from NPR about whether workers who were cut in October would be allowed to resume their work, as opposed to being put on administrative leave, or if the department would try to fire them again after the deal expires.
The department offered only this statement: "The Department has brought back staff that were impacted by the Schumer Shutdown. The Department will follow all applicable laws."
If OSERS stays a shadow of its former self, Rodriguez says, "the only conclusion that we can draw is that it is an intentional dismantling of the entire system of special education."
The Office for Civil Rights has also seen big cuts
Another Education Department office that supports students with disabilities was also decimated by the October cuts.
Families often turn to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) when they fear their child has been illegally denied special education services. But the Education Department's recent court filing shows the extent of the administration's efforts to gut that office:
OCR lost 299 staffers after the March reduction-in-force but, because of a lawsuit, most (247) remain on temporary, paid administrative leave. Another 137 were cut in the October reduction-in-force, which has been paused by a federal judge. Under the new government funding agreement, those 137 staffers should be reinstated, at least until Jan. 30.
By the department's own numbers, that means just 62 staffers of OCR's current 446 employees have not received RIF notices. That's roughly 10% of the office's 600-plus headcount in January, when the second Trump administration began.
OCR and OSERS are both mandated by federal law.
"I've got to say, I'm just shocked that they can destroy an entire unit of an organization that's created by statute," said R. Shep Melnick, a professor of American politics at Boston College who has been writing about OCR for decades.
If the office is not returned to previous staffing levels, with at least enough attorneys to field and investigate individual discrimination complaints from families, Melnick says OCR "will have to reinvent itself. And I fear it's going to reinvent itself in a way that it will just be a political arm of the administration."
In spite of these staff cuts, the administration has aggressively used OCR to enforce its new interpretations of civil rights laws, going after school districts and colleges that continue to provide protections for transgender students or embrace diversity, equity and inclusion.
Copyright 2025 NPR
