Trump takes special education, civil rights oversight away from Education Department

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The Trump administration on Tuesday announced that special education and civil rights oversight would no longer be helmed by the Department of Education.

Instead, the Department of Justice (DOJ) will now handle civil rights enforcement and student privacy protection while the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) takes over special education initiatives for students with disabilities.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon said diverting responsibilities to HHS will help students with disabilities “achieve greater independence, key life skills, and meaningful employment” while other tasks assigned to the DOJ will “ensure stronger, more coordinated civil rights enforcement and robust protections for student privacy.”

The shift also follows President Trump’s campaign promise to dismantle the Department of Education in an effort to decrease federal control over schools and return authority to states.

The president signed an executive order earlier this year, where he directed McMahon to take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to states and local communities.

However, the department’s official closure would require an act of Congress; McMahon has helmed efforts to reduce the size of staff and close 7 of their 12 regional offices.

In March, she laid off 1,315 staffers in a reduction in force measure that was taken after hundreds of others were already put on leave or took buyout options. Some were called back to work but most did not return.

DOJ has faced a similar downsize with 75 percent of attorneys from the Civil Rights Division departing, according to Justice Connection.

Critics have raised concern with the reshuffle at the Education Department, alleging underserved students will face challenges.

“As is too often the case, traditionally underserved students — including students with disabilities, Black and Latino students, multilingual learners, students from low-income backgrounds, and students in rural communities — will bear the greatest burden created by this reckless decision, to which the disability and civil rights communities have already been vehemently opposed,”  EdTrust, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, told The Associated Press.

Some say that DOJs efforts to crack down on antisemitism at college campuses by revoking federal funds and enlisting demands for the reinstatement of government grants raise concerns about fair oversight of cases involving reports of discrimination.

Others have raised concerns with HHS responsibilities, which will be overseen by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who repeatedly promoted skepticism about psychiatric medication for students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depression during his confirmation hearing while alleging that children with the neurodevelopmental condition should be “re-parented” in a testimony before lawmakers in April.

Still, officials at the Department of Education say that the new oversight efforts announced on Tuesday are “designed to reduce federal bureaucracy and improve the efficient delivery of federally funded programs and activities to better support students and families.”

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Department of Education

Department of Health and Human Services

DOJ

Donald Trump

executive order

Linda McMahon

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Trump administration

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