Big cuts at the Education Department's civil rights office will affect vulnerable students

NEW YORK - March 15, 2025 - PRLog -- Erica Frankenberg, Penn State, Maithreyi Gopalan, University of Oregon, DME Music News

The U.S. Department of Education cut its workforce by nearly 50% on March 11, 2025, when it laid off about 1,315 employees. The move follows several recent directives targeting the Cabinet-level agency.

Within the department, the Office for Civil Rights – which already experienced layoffs in February – was especially hard hit by cuts.

The details remain unclear, but reports suggest that staffs at six of the 12 regional OCR offices were laid off. Because of the office's role in enforcing civil rights laws in schools and universities, the cuts will affect students across the country.

As education policy scholars who study how laws and policies shape educational inequities, we believe the Office for Civil Rights has played an important role in facilitating equitable education for all students.

The latest cuts further compound funding and staffing shortages that have plagued the office. The full effects of these changes on the most vulnerable public school students will likely be felt for many years.

Few Staff Members

The Education Department, already the smallest Cabinet-level agency before the recent layoffs, distributed roughly US$242 billion to students, K-12 schools and universities in the 2024 fiscal year.

About $160 billion of that money went to student aid for higher education. The department's discretionary budget was just under $80 billion, a sliver compared with other agencies.

By comparison, the Department of Health and Human Services received nearly $2.9 trillion in fiscal year 2024.

Within the Education Department, the Office for Civil Rights had a $140 million budget for fiscal year 2024, less than 0.2% of discretionary funding, which requires annual congressional approval.

It has lacked financial support to effectively carry out its duties. For example, amid complaints filed by students and their families, the OCR has not had an increase in staff. That leaves thousands of complaints unresolved.

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https://theconversation.com/big-cuts-at-the-education-departments-civil-rights-office-will-affect-vulnerable-students-for-years-to-come-249716