The majority of staff in the education department handling special education has been laid off, according to multiple reports.
Friday’s total of 466 layoffs across the education department also affected the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, which oversees programs that support millions of children and adults with disabilities nationwide, according to sources speaking to various outlets.
“Despite extensive efforts to minimize impact on employees and programs during the ongoing government shutdown, the continued lapse in funding has made it necessary to implement the RIF [reduction in force],” according to a letter issued to workers that CNN reviewed.
The Guardian has contacted the education department for comment.
One department employee told NPR: “This is decimating the office responsible for safeguarding the rights of infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities.”
Similarly, the National Association of State Directors of Special Education said that if the layoffs were true, “there is significant risk that not only will federal funding lapse, but children with disabilities will be deprived” of free and proper education, K-12 Dive reports.
Chad Rummel, executive director of the Council for Exceptional Children, told the outlet: “The rumored near elimination of the Office for Special Education Programs is absolutely devastating to the education of people with disabilities.
“Eliminating federal capacity to support Idea is harmful to people with disabilities, their families, and the professionals who serve them, and it runs counter to everything our members work toward every day,” Rummel added, referring to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act which ensures a free and appropriate public education to eligible children with disabilities throughout the country.
In March, the education department announced layoffs of 1,300 employees, or nearly 50% of the department’s workforce, which the education secretary, Linda McMahon, described as a “significant step toward restoring the greatness of the United States education system”.
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