Overview

• A Justice Department filing says 466 Education Department employees received reduction‑in‑force notices, roughly one‑fifth of the agency’s already shrunken workforce.
• Multiple department sources report the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services was effectively emptied below top leadership, with the union also citing cuts to civil rights and other grant‑management teams.
• OSERS administers IDEA, which distributes about $15 billion and enforces services for roughly 7.5 million students with disabilities, raising concerns about monitoring and help for families.
• The administration says statutorily required programs will continue and has discussed moving some responsibilities to HHS, but no transfer has been completed.
• Unions have sued to block the shutdown‑era layoffs; staff who received notices remain employed until around Dec. 9, and advocates note this year’s IDEA funds were disbursed even as troubleshooting capacity may be diminished.