ELISSA NADWORNY, HOST:
Amid the government shutdown, the Trump administration has doubled down on its efforts to shrink the U.S. Education Department. Sweeping layoffs last week essentially gutted several offices, including the one overseeing special education. And now, NPR has learned the office charged with enforcing federal civil rights laws in schools may also have taken a big hit. We're saying may because not long ago, a judge issued a temporary restraining order, pressing pause on those layoffs. We'll have more on that judge's order elsewhere in the show. First, NPR's Cory Turner joins us to talk about what's at stake at the Education Department. Hi, Cory.
CORY TURNER, BYLINE: Hey, Elissa.
NADWORNY: So let's start off with those staff cuts at the Office of Civil Rights, if they're allowed to go through. What do we know?
TURNER: Yeah. We know when the Trump administration came in, OCR, as it's known, had 12 regional enforcement offices across the country, and these were staffed with attorneys who investigated all kinds of allegations that schools were violating students' civil rights. After that first big round of layoffs back in March, the administration closed more than half of those offices.
And then I spoke earlier today with Rachel Gittleman. She is the president of AFGE Local 252. That's a union that represents many Ed Department employees. And she told me that she has spoken with staffers in 4 of the 5 remaining enforcement offices who have also just received reduction in force, or RIF, notices.
RACHEL GITTLEMAN: Based on the March RIF and based on the way that RIFs work, which is that you have to abolish an entire organizational unit, we believe that those offices have all been abolished.
TURNER: Now, Elissa, if Gittleman is right here, that could mean that the Office for Civil Rights would go from 12 regional offices to just one in Kansas City. But I have to be very clear here. I cannot independently verify this, and the Education Department has not responded to my request for clarity.
NADWORNY: Have they said anything publicly?
TURNER: Yeah. So earlier today, Education Secretary Linda McMahon did issue a statement on social media saying in spite of the government shutdown, quote, "millions of American students are still going to school, teachers are getting paid, and schools are operating as normal. It confirms what the president has said - the federal Department of Education is unnecessary."
NADWORNY: What do you make of that statement, Cory? I mean, is she right?
TURNER: Well, I mean, she's right in so far as it has never been the job of the Education Department to pay teachers or run schools.
NADWORNY: Right.
TURNER: But it does a lot of things, as you know, that states and school districts still rely on. It sends more than $30 billion to help schools in low-income communities and to pay for things like special education. Now, in her statement, McMahon also said no education funding would be impacted by the RIF. But I can tell you, based on interviews with more than a dozen Education Department sources, the administration is trying to lay off most of the federal workers in charge of administering that big $30 billion pot of money, who makes sure that money reaches the kids who need it most.
NADWORNY: And so does that mean that this money might not reach those kids?
TURNER: For now, I think McMahon is right, that most of this funding will be unaffected. But many of the department staff I talk to worry about how it will be spent without federal oversight. Becca Walawender was a top official in the Office of Special Education until she was RIFed (ph) back in March.
BECCA WALAWENDER: When you see a pot of money and you also know that no one is looking over your shoulder, it might be really easy to rob Peter to pay Paul - I think the saying goes - and then think, we'll just put it back later.
NADWORNY: But it sounds like this isn't just about the money, either, is it?
TURNER: Yeah, exactly. I spoke the other night with Ed Martin. He's the man who helped write the federal law 50 years ago that guarantees kids with disabilities the right to a free and appropriate public education. And he told me before that law, kids with disabilities were often turned away from schools, which is why there was a bipartisan consensus to step in and for the federal government to not just help pay for special education, but to protect these kids' civil rights. And what we're seeing now is the money is still there, but the staff meant to do that protecting are being laid off.
NADWORNY: NPR education correspondent Cory Turner. Thank you.
TURNER: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
