Jamie Sellhorn, a 7th and 8th grade special education teacher in Indianapolis, leads a class in July.

WASHINGTON – Families and educators across the country were plunged into a state of uncertainty over the weekend after the federal Education Department laid off practically every staffer in the government's special education division.

Nearly the entire Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, including the Office of Special Education Programs, was let go, according to agency workers and their union.

Employees in the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights, many of whom work to protect students with disabilities from discrimination, were also laid off, the union said. The impacted divisions included offices in the District of Columbia, Seattle and Atlanta.

The Education Department still has not officially confirmed the specifics of the layoffs. Agency spokespeople, many of them furloughed due to the ongoing government shutdown, have not responded to requests for comment.

The cuts, which have been challenged in court, come as part of an effort by the Trump administration to pressure congressional Democrats to end the shutdown, which is approaching its third week with few plausible off-ramps.

The layoffs created widespread trepidation over the future of federal oversight of special education programs, as well as the billions of dollars in funding that states and schools are entitled to receive. In recent days, advocates stressed that multiple layers of supervision of that money are needed to ensure that students with disabilities can access the resources necessary to learn safely and effectively.

For decades, the offices with those responsibilities employed robust teams. They were largely spared from the first round of major Education Department cuts in March.

However, Denise Marshall, CEO of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, a national advocacy group for students with disabilities, said that after this weekend, "You can count them on one hand."

How do the staffing losses impact services for children?

To be clear, no federal civil rights laws have changed. Students with disabilities are still legally entitled to a "free and appropriate public education," a standard created by the half-century-old landmark law known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. Through that law, Congress remains required to pick up the tab for a portion of the average per-pupil cost of special education (spending billions of dollars each year).

The difference after the recent firings is that the people and systems in charge of doing those things have been upended.

"IDEA still exists," wrote Lisa Lightner, a special education advocate and lobbyist, in a Sunday blog post. "But the people who used to help enforce it? Most (if not all, waiting for final count) of them were just laid off. That means fewer eyes watching the states. Less technical assistance. Fewer resources."

"The law didn’t go anywhere," she explained. "But our backup did."

Parents need to take notice, warned Katy Neas, a former high-ranking official in the Education Department's special education division.

"The whole reason we have a federal special education law is because states wouldn't educate students with disabilities," she told USA TODAY. "This is a time when parents have to really saddle up and be ready to be the most aggressive advocate for their child that they've ever been."

What about IEPs, 504 plans?

Parents of students with disabilities – of which there are millions in the U.S. – are often familiar with a couple of key terms.

An Individualized Education Plan, or IEP, is one of them. The other is a Section 504 plan. Both are similar types of blueprints that, at no cost to parents, ensure students with disabilities in K-12 schools get the resources and accommodations they need.

Rest assured, 504 plans and IEPs aren't going away. While they're mandated by federal laws, they're implemented at the local level.

Here's the problem: Not every school follows the law correctly. Sometimes that's because of discrimination; other times, it's because educators don't always understand what special education laws require of them.

Take one example: In Wyoming, when a school was delaying an IEP meeting for a kindergartner who used a wheelchair, the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights stepped in. Without the agency's intervention, that student wouldn't have gone to school, said Catherine Lhamon, who helmed the division for many years.

"Historically, over decades, families have been able to come to the federal government and get relief without hiring an attorney," she told USA TODAY. "These cuts ensure that no family can rely on that."

Still, families should continue to file civil rights complaints with the Education Department if they believe their child is being discriminated against, advocates said. States also have educational agencies with avenues to report alleged civil rights violations.

IDEA funding already disbursed

A huge part of special education is money – specifically, the federal funding streams created by IDEA.

Because of the law, billions of dollars flow each year from the federal government to states, which distribute the money to local school districts. Those dollars pay for all sorts of things, including support for staff salaries, special equipment and student medical services.

The most recent batch of IDEA funding went to states before the recent layoffs, according to the National Association of State Directors of Special Education.

"The money for this coming year should be available," said Audrey Levorse, the association's senior director of government relations. But, she cautioned, "Sometimes glitches happen, sometimes there are questions, and you need someone on the Education Department's end to intervene."

Both the people who originally disbursed the money and those who would traditionally help troubleshoot problems for states and school districts appear to be gone, she said.

It's not clear whether states are immediately prepared to deal with what comes next or what the Education Department's broader plan is going forward. Historically, special education divisions at the state level have been subject to stress and turnover, Levorse said. For years, the Education Department's special education office was different.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon has repeatedly voiced support for IDEA.

"I would like to see even more funding go to the states for that," she told CNN in March.

Zachary Schermele is a congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Education Dept. layoffs threaten special ed system, advocates warn

Reporting by Zachary Schermele, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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