Since President Donald Trump took office in January, the U.S. Department of Education’s workforce has been reduced by nearly 50 percent according to CAP analysis of the department’s reported headcount. About 58 percent of staff have received layoff notices or accepted resignation offers this year, but after multiple reductions in force and reinstatements, the total reduction by the Trump administration sits around 48 percent. In March, the Trump administration slashed the department’s workforce as a part of its “final mission” aiming to ultimately close the department’s doors. Now, the Trump administration is further limiting its ability to serve students and families across the country by firing an additional 465 staff members, including those in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), and Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
A federal judge has temporarily blocked the administration from moving forward with this reduction in force, noting that it is not following legal requirements and is unlawfully targeting staff and programs based on their perceived political alignment. However, the administration is expected to appeal the decision. If the Trump administration ultimately moves forward with this reduction, the offices that support the education of roughly 50 million K-12 students by enforcing civil rights laws and overseeing funding distribution for Title I schools, special education, rural schools, and more will be left with little to no staff. This will impede the accurate and timely distribution of funds, technical assistance to schools, and oversight of programs.
Ultimately, the Trump administration is doing this at the expense of children. Firing federal employees who ensure K-12 education funding and support are delivered to states and districts jeopardizes students’ equal access to education across the country.
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Cuts to the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education
The Office of Elementary and Secondary Education is the main office overseeing federal pre-K-12 programs within the Department of Education, responsible for helping states and districts improve academic achievement and supporting equal access for all students. Specifically, the OESE enforces the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and oversees many programs, including Title I funding for high-poverty schools, rural education achievement programs, programs that support mental health services, educator development programs, and programs that support migrant and homeless students.
Last year, the OESE employed roughly 300 employees to oversee the implementation of the 88 programs it manages. Following the most recent actions of the Trump administration, though, all staff will be laid off aside from a few directors, raising concerns about how these programs will be managed effectively. With little to no staff, the office will be unable to properly enforce federal K-12 education law; accurately distribute funding intended to support schools and provide equal access to the most vulnerable students in a timely manner; review grant applications; and provide technical assistance to states and districts. For students, educators, and families, this would mean interruptions to and the potential loss of educational opportunities and supports, including after-school programs, literacy programs, and access to school-based mental health services.
For states, this would mean more waiting and confusion as they try to navigate a chaotic diminishing federal support for public education.
Cuts to the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, which houses both the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), is integral to the Department of Education fulfilling its mandate to ensure educational and economic access and opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Yet the Trump administration’s recent personnel cuts affected 121 positions, leaving only a handful of employees to manage the service of programs vital to millions of Americans.
OSEP oversees the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the landmark special education law that was established 50 years ago to ensure protections and promote inclusive education for the 7.5 million students with disabilities. The office’s core functions include administering funding, providing technical assistance, overseeing special education data collection, reporting outcomes to Congress and the public, conducting state monitoring visits, and ensuring protections for students with disabilities. The loss of OSEP employees jeopardizes IDEA funding distribution and severely weakens the necessary oversight that tracks how these funds are used. It also creates a critical void in state monitoring and the effective legal interpretation of IDEA, a role OSEP has historically fulfilled by issuing guidance to state educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) when they fail to meet the requirements of the law. Following these cuts, the administration also announced that it is exploring moving special education programs to a different agency—likely the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which notably does not hold expertise on the educational needs of children with disabilities. Without OSEP’s monitoring and authoritative interpretation of the law, students are at risk of delayed or absent critical services such as speech, occupational, and physical therapies and assistive technology.
Meanwhile, the RSA ensures that individuals with disabilities have access to targeted services to prepare them for employment and independence. This includes vocational rehabilitation, which ensures the coordination of services such as career counseling, job coaching, and financial aid to high school students with disabilities to support their postsecondary transition. Reduction of RSA staff will weaken technical assistance and oversight provided to states, compromising their ability to ensure that high school students and individuals with disabilities receive vocational training and skills needed to secure good-paying jobs and live independently.
Staffing cuts at the Department of Education: By the numbers
465
Number of Department of Education staffers who received layoff notices this month
50M
Number of public K-12 students who will be affected by this reduction in staff and support
7.5M
Number of students with disabilities in the United States, who will be uniquely affected by OSERS staffing reductions
23K
Number of civil rights complaints received last year; now, the OCR will have 80 percent less staff to handle new cases
Cuts to the Office for Civil Rights
A critical resource to families, the Office for Civil Rights enforces federal civil rights laws in schools across the country. The Department of Education is required by law to maintain the OCR to ensure equal access to education and uphold students’ civil rights. Every year, the office receives thousands of complaints of discrimination and opens investigations to help students and families find resolution. Prior to Trump’s inauguration, the OCR employed more than 600 people across 12 regional offices. And last year, the office fielded the highest number of civil rights complaints in the agency’s history, 22,687, with the majority falling under disability or sex-based discrimination. Yet in March, the Trump administration decimated the office, firing nearly half of the staff and closing seven of the 12 regional offices.
Now, it’s reported that staff in at least three of the five remaining regional offices received the recent notices of termination and only 120 people will be left to manage caseloads and ensure the protection of students’ civil rights—a more than 80 percent total reduction in staff from the start of this year according to CAP analysis. Caseloads were already unsustainable at roughly 42 cases per staff attorney, which then skyrocketed to 115 cases following the staff cuts in March and are now sure to dramatically increase again. Concerns around the Trump administration’s management of these cases have risen after a monthlong freeze on investigations and the sudden dismissal of thousands of cases earlier this year.
Thousands of students report facing discrimination at school every year. The dramatic cuts to the OCR put students at higher risk and threaten equal access to education moving forward. Students and families will face longer wait times to receive any assistance or case resolution, leaving them on their own—without federal protections mandated by law.
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Conclusion
The Trump administration’s recent staffing cuts at the Department of Education greatly threaten equal access to education for all. While a federal judge has temporarily halted these layoffs, the issue is ongoing and a final decision has yet to be made. If the administration continues to pursue cuts at the Department of Education, programs that promote academic achievement, close gaps for the most vulnerable students, support students with disabilities, and protect students’ civil rights will be weakened. To effectively serve America’s children and families and ensure a strong education system in the United States, the administration must abandon its approach and instead fully staff and fund the department.
The authors would like to thank Greta Bedekovics, Madeline Shepherd, Mia Ives-Rublee, Jared Bass, and Bobby Kogan of the Center for American Progress for their valuable contributions to this article. The authors would also like to thank Madison Weiss for her thorough fact-checking.