Trump admin to remove special education, civil rights offices from Department of Education

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The U.S. Department of Education will announce its plans to move special education services and civil rights out of the agency, according to The Washington Post. The move — expected to be announced Tuesday — is a part of the Trump administration’s larger plan to dismantle the federal Education Department.

Under this plan, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, which oversees the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), will move to the Department of Health and Human Services, while the Office for Civil Rights will move to the Justice Department.

The Post’s cited three anonymous officials who were briefed on the plan. There has been no official statement from department spokespeople or U.S. Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon.

The Education Department was created by Congress and cannot be closed without congressional approval — which has not happened. Rather than closing the department altogether, the Trump administration has begun moving operations and staff to other federal agencies, including the Labor Department. This is a part of the Trump administration’s promise to close the department and “return education to the states.”

Disability rights advocacy groups have lobbied against this move, fearing that it could mean less federal oversight for students with disabilities.

The Office for Civil Rights, which handles discrimination complaints on the basis of disability, race, gender, nationality and age, has also been decimated under the Trump administration.

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