By Lateefah S. Williams, Esq.
One of the most dramatic proposals in recent history is President Trump’s renewed push to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education. On February 12, 2025, he announced his desire to shut down the department “immediately,” calling it a “big con job” that wastes taxpayer dollars while failing to improve U.S. education rankings. This characterization is not true, but his administration believes education should be handled at the state level and federal oversight should be reduced or eliminated, so this is the narrative his administration is using to convince the American people that shutting down the U.S. Department of Education is in their interest.
To pave the way for this proposal, the administration is considering an executive order transferring many of the department’s responsibilities to several other federal agencies. But the full elimination of the Department of Education still requires congressional approval-something likely to be hard fought against by many lawmakers and advocacy groups.
As part of this push, the administration has already started cutting funding. On February 11, 2025, The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is headed by Elon Musk, has recently cancelled nearly $1 billion in federal education contracts. Among these cuts:
$101 million in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs
Major funding for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), which tracks student progress and oversees national assessments
Critics argue, of course, that the funding cut to IES would likely disadvantage students with disabilities by severely curtailing research into effective ways to educate them.
Read more about Trump’s plan to abolish the U.S. Department of Education here.
Slowdown in Civil Rights Enforcement
In addition to budget cuts, the administration has also weakened civil rights enforcement in education. The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) within the U.S. Department of Education, which investigates complaints of discrimination, including special education law violations, has been greatly slowed down by the current administration.
This means that waiting times and investigations are getting even longer for families who count on OCR to hold schools accountable for failing to provide adequate special education services.
What This Means for Families
For example, if a child with an IEP is missing therapy or is not given accommodations that were promised, their family could normally file a complaint with OCR, prompting them to investigate. In this new era, these complaints have started getting delayed or worse, dismissed totally.
Every day a child with a disability does not receive service problems him or her academically. A child who does not receive early intervention with reading problems languishes for years. A student with autism who does not get behavioral therapy will experience disruptions in his or her classroom, which could lead to excessive discipline or dismissal.
Reduced Investigation, Less Protection
Aside from the delays, even fewer cases are getting investigated. Rather than launching full-scale investigations into systemic issues, such as schools suspending students with disabilities at higher rates, many complaints are simply being dismissed without any action.
Accordingly, schools may feel less pressure to comply with special education laws. Some districts might cut corners on services if they think the feds aren’t going to enforce the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) stringently and thereby delay evaluations or even deny accommodations altogether.
Learn more about how civil rights enforcement is slowing down.
Who Is Going to Be Affected the Most?
While students with disabilities will all be negatively impacted by these policies, some groups are likely to hurt more than others.
Low-income students: Wealthier families often employ private lawyers or therapists to make up for the shortcomings of public schools due to shortages in funding. Low-income families, which tend to rely on free public special education services, may find themselves with no options.
Students of color with disabilities: Numerous studies show that students of color have been disproportionately suspended or otherwise disciplined for behaviors related to their disabilities. Without strong federal oversight, these disparities may continue to grow larger.
Students with complex needs: Cutting services will impact the most school-aged children who require increased funding needs: one-on-one aides, assistive technology, or intensive therapy.
Next Steps in Special Education
There is a future with more changes in the laws concerning these protections for special education that takes on a huge potential. In case the Department of Education is downsized, there might be a risk of millions of students with disabilities losing access to vital assistance and protections under the law.
Therefore, it is even more imperative to know what is happening and act upon that. If these losses are taken from people with disabilities, it could mean that there would remain millions of people deprived of assistance.
