The Collapse of O.S.E.R.S: The Initial Stages of a Civil Rights Crisis
During the 2025 federal government shutdown, the Trump administration chose to nearly eliminate the entirety of the federal staff responsible for the educational rights of children with disabilities. Although they stated their reasoning having relations to giving states more power there seems to be an ulterior motive and enough grounds to believe IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) is being violated. This has left many public services scrambling to be able to provide adequate and enough services to the communities that rely on them. While the government shutdown was happening the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) was nearly wiped out but still had to uphold their responsibility in overseeing billions in federal funding, uphold individual civil rights and ensure that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was upheld.
The media failed to broadcast this decision and its impacts for the 7.5 million students who rely on special education services varying from speech therapy to assistive technology, especially individualized education programs (IEP’s). Families have to experience numerous unanswered calls, heavily delayed guidance and services and a growing fear of their children not receiving the services they are legally entitled to. Education, state agencies and disability advocates pleaded and warned that this federal decision has put OSERS and its recipients at risk.
95% of OSERS Staff Cut
The layoffs that happened in October were not routine or done to adjust to the current administration, but caused the department to almost completely collapse. According to the reporting done by NPR, the Trump Administration eliminated nearly every staff member within OSERS, which also includes the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA). Those who remained were top officials, and supporting staff were not nearly enough to oversee and manage approximately $15 billion in federal funding for special education. While simultaneously, these same staff members managed 7.5 million children with disabilities. The number of cuts made is unsettling; the NEA revealed 121 OSERS employees were terminated during the government shutdown, leaving merely 14 employees to manage the entire nation's special education department.
The department employees oversaw the annual state IDEA plans, analyzing data, conducting investigations when violations were reported, providing technical assistance, and responding to thousands of calls from families seeking guidance. These responsibilities are no longer shared between 121 individuals but instead were burdened on 14 employees who had no way of refusing. Even with the department desperately trying to uphold its effectiveness, the federal government's actions have made it almost impossible for them to properly enforce the IDEA. The current number of employees at OSERS and other offices is so low that it is no longer within their abilities to complete basic tasks. The immediate impact was not just felt by the employees, but also by families and state agencies. States were left with no federal guidance on when and how to implement the requirements established by IDEA. Families who were in the process of establishing an IEP, ranging from different complexities, were all impacted by the sudden silence from OSERS. The current state of OSERS staffing is also creating legal uncertainty. These requirements set by IDEA state that the federal government must monitor state compliance and ensure that funds are allocated appropriately. When they chose to eliminate 95% of the staffing responsible for these duties, the current administration risks violating the law that they are required to enforce.
Is IDEA Being Broken by the Federal Government?
The Individuals with Disabilities Educational Act was passed 50 years ago, and it was and still remains one of the most significant civil rights legislation in American history. It was established after a long history of millions of children being denied the right to proper public education. IDEA was established to change that and prevent further discrimination. It guarantees that every child has the right to free public education and that having a disability shouldn’t be grounds to deny someone that right. Although IDEA has made great changes and has allowed millions of children to get the education they need, the dismantling of OSERS that occurred will most likely cause this discrimination to return. IDEA not being enforced by the federal government or a lack of monitoring in states could potentially cause exclusion or possible prevention of students from getting the education that they deserve. The now limited federal oversight not only will eventually threaten what IDEA has set in place, but will go against Congress’s constitutional authority, which ensures that the federal laws are followed. The Trump Administration, as previously mentioned, stated that the overall goal of this sudden change was to give the states more control over the education they want to provide, but it is clear they are ignoring previous incidents where states have failed to meet IDEA requirements when under federal government oversight. This occurred previously in 2017, when federal officials had to intervene and investigate Texas as they imposed an illegal cap on the number of students who would receive special education services.
Is There An Ulterior Motive?
When the dismantling of OSERS occurred, the Trump administration repeatedly stated that it was due to the broader goal of giving the state more control, but there was still another aspect to this decision. Although the shutdown was loudly opposed, it could be argued that the administration took it as an opportunity to accelerate the agenda that they have been promoting, and in this case, would be limiting the pushback on design by terminating thousands of federal employees across multiple departments, and in this case, that also involved OSERS. The attempted dismantling of OSERS confirms that the administration is moving forward with their plans for Project 2025, which is to completely eradicate the Department of Education and allocate their responsibilities onto other agencies or hand it over to their states.
Controversially, the administration intends to relocate the oversight of special education from the Department of Education to the Department of Health and Human Services. This relocation would not benefit OSERS and would further decline the ability for them to provide the necessary services due to the lack of knowledge to focus on education, which OSERS requires, since HHS is a health-focused agency and not an education one; it is centered around medical care and social services. This would cause a risk in the time of services the special education department could provide by prioritizing treatment over inclusion when they should be done simultaneously. It is also questionable in its legality, as IDEA explicitly sets OSERS within the Department of Education. This relocation would need congressional authorization, and if enacted, could be argued to be executive overreach. If this were to be done with the approach of Congress it would undermine their constitutional authority to oversee federal agencies and their ability to enforce federal law.
The near extinction of OSERS is not just an issue regarding the perimeters or limitations of the federal government, but could possibly lead to a civil rights crisis. The consequences of this decision are clear and continuing to grow with delay of services, stalled investigations, and growing uncertainty. The Trump administration is jeopardizing the educational rights of millions of children and undermining congressional authority. The promise that IDEA set forth is clear that every child, regardless of their disability, has the right to free public education. That promise is currently at risk without a functioning agency to uphold it and is now threatening the rights of disabled children.
References
Bateman, David. “Special Education to the Department of Health and Human Services?” SPED LAW BLOG, March 28, 2025.
Center for American Progress (CAP). “The Trump Administration’s Recent Special Education Layoffs Will Have Major Long-Term Impacts on Disabled Children and Students.” American Progress, 4 Nov. 2025.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). “Trump Administration Threatens Support for Children With Disabilities.” CBPP, 21 Oct. 2025.
National Education Association (NEA). “Education Department Guts Special Education Staff Amid Government Shutdown.” NEA Today, 21 Oct. 2025.
NPR. “Amid Shutdown, Trump Administration Guts Department Overseeing Special Education.” NPR, 13 Oct. 2025.
Office of Special Education Programs, 20 U.S.C. § 1402 (2023)
Understood.org. “What the Special Education Layoffs Mean for Your Child’s IEP and School Services.” Understood, 14 Nov. 2025.