Education Department Layoffs Impact Special Education, Civil Rights Functions

The 466 employees recently laid off in the already shrinking Department of Education were responsible for processing grants for special needs students and investigating discrimination and harassment complaints in schools.

The School Superintendents Association, an advocacy group, stated that most staffers in the Office of Special Education and the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education were terminated. Those two offices oversee $44 billion in discretionary funding that schools use for staff, services, and equipment to serve millions of students with disabilities.