Education Department wipes out special ed office in shutdown layoffs, union says

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: USA Today

Oct. 11, 2025, 5:12 p.m. ET


WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Education fired nearly everyone in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in a wave of new layoffs that began Friday, according to the union representing the agency's employees.

Without an official estimate from the agency, it wasn't immediately clear how many people in the division were fired. Yet based on reports from staff and their managers, most employees below the leadership level were part of the workforce reduction, said Rachel Gittleman, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252.

Separately, employees involved in the college access program known as TRIO, which is located in a different office, were also let go, she said.

The firings, which the union has challenged in court, "double down on the harm to K-12 students and schools across the country," Gittleman told USA TODAY.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2025/10/11/education-department-special-ed-office-layoffs-shutdown/86646104007/

[PSPS]

1. LOL. "Shutdown layoffs" - This was coming even without any "shutdown."

[ananda]

2. This is sad beyond words.

Special Ed is SO important, to parents
and kids alike.

I used to sub in special ed classes.

The kids are wonderful, and the support
is critical.

[valleyrogue]

3. Let the lawsuits begin. You NEVER piss off parents of special education students.

NEVER.

The federal laws governing special education are as a direct result of parental lawsuits.

[Botany]

4. I don't even recognize what America is becoming.

This is needless cruelty and it will be a hammer to our economy because with good special
education available then the parents can go to work and the special education student can become
the best they can be.