Trump breaks up Education Department, prompting worries over civil rights

Michael C. Bender and Dana Goldstein

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration announced on June 16 plans to move two major functions of the Education Department to other parts of the government, in the most aggressive moves yet by the White House to dismantle an agency it has pledged to dissolve.

The changes move programmes for disabled students into the Health and Human Services Department and the enforcement of civil rights laws in schools to the Justice Department.

Administration officials said the changes would improve government efficiency and lead to better results for students.

Eliminating the Education Department requires an act of Congress, and disability groups have argued so does moving the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

The office oversees US$15 billion (S$19 billion) a year in funding for students with disabilities and enforces compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

The Education Department will also shift duties for its Office for Civil Rights, which for decades has enforced anti-discrimination laws in schools, to the Justice Department.

In recent years, the largest share of complaints about discrimination in schools have been filed on behalf of disabled students.

The changes appeared to decouple the administration of services for students with disabilities from the enforcement of civil rights protections for those same students.

The changes were expected to be challenged in court immediately as part of a continuing lawsuit that a coalition of Democratic attorneys general first filed in 2025 over the administration’s attempts to dismantle the Education Department.

The American Federation of Government Employees Local 252, which represents about 2,000 current and former Education Department workers, immediately criticised the announcement, describing the moves as part of the Trump administration’s attempt to “unlawfully dismantle the Education Department”.

“This will leave our most vulnerable students and families who have been shut out of our education system without the services they need and without protection when they face discrimination,” said Rachel Gittleman, president of AFGE Local 252.

“This isn’t efficiency; it’s chaos.”

Education Department officials said students, parents and educators would not experience any change in services.

But additional details were not immediately available.

“These agreements align federal responsibilities with the agencies best positioned to support them, strengthening the effectiveness and impact of critical services,” Linda McMahon, the education secretary, said in a statement.

Advocacy groups argued that by moving the offices for special education and civil rights, the Trump administration was effectively weakening oversight. NYTIMES

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.