On Friday, October 10, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education underwent a dramatic and controversial transformation. In a move that stunned educators, advocates, and families nationwide, nearly all staff members in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS)—the federal division responsible for overseeing and funding services for students with disabilities—were laid off. The reductions, which came as part of a sweeping Reduction in Force (RIF) during the ongoing federal government shutdown, have left many questioning the future of special education oversight in the United States.
The mass firings were first reported by ABC News and USA TODAY, both of which cited union officials and department insiders who described the scale of the cuts as unprecedented. According to court filings from the Justice Department, approximately 466 employees—about 20% of the Education Department’s remaining workforce—lost their jobs as the shutdown entered its second week. The layoffs hit OSERS and its sub-agencies, the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), especially hard. By Sunday, the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) reported that only the two most senior OSEP staff and a single RSA staffer remained to manage the department’s vast responsibilities.
“The rumored near elimination of the Office for Special Education Programs is absolutely devastating to the education of people with disabilities,” Chad Rummel, executive director of the Council for Exceptional Children, wrote in an email to USA TODAY. Rummel emphasized that OSEP’s oversight, technical assistance, and accountability are critical for implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a law that serves more than 8.4 million infants, children, and young adults. “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,” he stated.
Rachel Gittleman, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 252, echoed these concerns, telling ABC News, “The RIF of OSERS and OESE doubles down on the harm to K-12 students and schools across the country.” She noted that the Office for Civil Rights had already been weakened by previous layoffs earlier in the year, compounding the impact on vulnerable students and educators. The union has since filed a lawsuit challenging the firings, arguing that the cuts threaten the department’s ability to fulfill its legal obligations under IDEA.
Indeed, the consequences of these layoffs reach far beyond the walls of the Department of Education. “If this RIF notice is carried out, the Department of Education can no longer administer IDEA,” a senior education official told ABC News. “I have no staff to put the money out and to monitor the states.” The official warned that families of children with disabilities could lose access to crucial support and advocacy, as the federal agency responsible for distributing IDEA’s $15 billion in funding is now severely understaffed. “There is a risk that the money to educate their children will not be given to the state, and that their access to support and advocacy for their children with special needs will no longer continue because there is no staff available to administer IDEA,” the source added.
The layoffs are part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to pressure congressional Democrats to end the government shutdown, which began on October 1, 2025. According to USA TODAY, nearly 90% of the Education Department’s workforce was furloughed during the shutdown, and the agency had already been operating at about half its size compared to the start of the Trump administration, when it employed roughly 4,000 people. The administration’s stated goal is to reduce federal bureaucracy and shift more authority to states and school districts—a vision that, critics argue, leaves the federal role in special education dangerously diminished.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon, for her part, has repeatedly insisted that the department will continue to fully fund all Congress-mandated programs, including IDEA. In a memo cited by USA TODAY, she said, “I would like to see even more funding go to the states for that.” She also assured Congress that federal funding for special education activities would be protected, and that Title I and IDEA grants would still be distributed. However, many in the field remain skeptical that these promises can be kept with such a skeletal staff. The department has paused new grant-making activities, technical assistance, and Office for Civil Rights investigations during the shutdown.
Amid the chaos, President Trump and Secretary McMahon have floated the idea of transferring oversight of special education programs, including IDEA, from the Department of Education to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), now led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. However, as ABC News and USA TODAY both reported, such a transfer would require congressional approval, and no formal plan has been released. “That’s like taking a surgeon and telling them you’re now a brick layer or telling a brick layer you’re now a surgeon: it’s just so absurd,” a department leader told ABC News, highlighting the specialized expertise required to administer IDEA effectively. Meanwhile, HHS itself is facing its own wave of layoffs, with court documents showing that between 1,100 and 1,200 employees there were expected to receive RIF notices on the same day.
The uncertainty has left state and local education agencies, as well as families, in a precarious position. Myrna Mandlawitz, policy and legislative consultant for the Council of Administrators of Special Education, told USA TODAY that the reductions put an “extreme burden on states and locals that are already really stretched.” She added, “IDEA is implemented collectively by local, state and federal agencies. The federal staff reductions take away one very vital piece of the partnership. It’s just hard to understand how it can possibly function.” Glenna Wright-Gallo, who served as assistant secretary in the office from 2023 to 2025, explained, “The system is designed to happen at the school level, with oversight from the district, with oversight from the state, and then with oversight from the federal level. Now we’re losing that checks and balances system.”
The timing of the layoffs has only added to the sense of loss and grief within the special education community. Morale at OSEP was already low before the RIFs, according to former director Larry Wexler, who told USA TODAY, “If the mood could be described as despondent, it would be such an improvement over what it is. These people are shattered.” The department was also mourning the recent death of long-time OSEP official Gregg Corr, whose memorial was held in Washington, D.C. on October 11, 2025. Corr, who retired in December 2024 after 38 years at OSEP, had said, “These experiences have been deeply inspiring and have strengthened my belief in the importance of the work we do. Hearing firsthand from families about the impact of our efforts has been both humbling and motivating.”
As the shutdown drags on and the fate of federal special education programs hangs in the balance, parents, advocates, and state officials are left to pick up the pieces. Whether the Department of Education can regain its capacity to support millions of students with disabilities—or whether this moment marks a turning point in federal education policy—remains to be seen. For now, the nation’s most vulnerable students and their families are watching, waiting, and hoping that the system built to protect them will not be dismantled for good.
