Overview

• The U.S. Department of Education has laid off over 1,300 employees, reducing its workforce to approximately 2,200, with additional buyouts accepted by 572 staffers.
• The Office for Civil Rights, responsible for investigating discrimination complaints, lost nearly half its staff and faces a backlog of over 20,000 cases, many involving students with disabilities.
• The Institute of Education Sciences, which conducts research on educational outcomes, has been significantly downsized, threatening its ability to provide critical data and analysis.
• Key federal programs like Title I funding, special education resources, and financial aid for low-income students are legally protected but may face administrative challenges due to reduced staffing.
• Critics, including union leaders and education experts, warn that the cuts jeopardize oversight, enforcement, and support for vulnerable students, while the Trump administration defends the move as reducing bureaucratic inefficiency.