FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 21, 2025

Education, Civil Rights, and Disability Organizations Oppose Trump Administration’s Unconstitutional Attacks on the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Office for Civil Rights

Advocates reiterate calls to reverse layoffs of Department of Education employees

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration’s termination of 466 U.S. Department of Education (The Department) employees is an illegal attempt to create political leverage during the ongoing government shutdown and will prevent the responsible and efficient operation of essential programs that support millions of students and families. These firings, currently stayed by a federal court, come on top of prior unlawful firings that already resulted in roughly half of the Department of Education’s workforce being eliminated earlier this year. 

Cuts to the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) are pernicious, particularly given the Department’s responsibility for ensuring the most vulnerable students — like those living in concentrated poverty, rural areas, experiencing homelessness, or living in foster care — have equal access to a quality education and the same opportunities as other children to thrive and learn. OESE conducts oversight and implementation of a host of programs, including enforcement of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the major K-12 education law. Impacted programs from these layoffs include Title I; the McKinney-Vento Act’s Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY); Full-Service Community Schools; Promise Neighborhoods; Statewide Family Engagement Centers; 21st Century Community Learning Centers; Disaster Recovery Unit; Congressionally Funded Community Projects; Charter Schools Grants; Magnet Schools Assistance; English Language Acquisition; Indian Education grants; Migrant Education grants; School Infrastructure Programs; State Assessment grants; Rural Education; Impact Aid; and many more.

Decimating the staff at OESE will have real-world consequences for public schools, educators, and the millions of students and families they serve. 

First, the disbursement of critical federal education funding for next year could be severely threatened. Title I funding and other formula grants could face significant disruptions, resulting in the loss of essential academic support and programming for millions of students and communities across the country. Ninety-five percent of school districts in the country receive and rely on Title I funding, the single largest federal investment in K-12 education. Additionally, OESE’s capacity to operate grant competitions and award hundreds of millions of dollars in funding could be hindered, threatening funding that districts and schools rely on to reduce chronic absenteeism, recruit and retain high-quality teachers, address early literacy challenges, and more. States and districts will also lose access to the technical assistance and support that OESE provides to ensure federal funding is spent effectively and in compliance with the law. 

Furthermore, essential oversight and enforcement operations of OESE would be virtually nonexistent. Recent results from the Nation’s Report Card demonstrate the significant academic challenges currently facing students, and OESE monitors how states are using federal funds to improve academic outcomes for students. OESE also manages essential data collections, like the Consolidated State Performance Reports, which provide insight into implementation of ESEA programs, the degree to which states are meeting accountability and performance goals, and informs program improvement. Without OESE, there will be no oversight to ensure states and districts are adequately serving our nation’s students. 

In addition to the deep cuts to OESE, we are equally concerned regarding the attacks on the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), given the Department’s charge to advance civil rights protections for students of color, women and girls, LGBTQ+ students, pregnant and parenting students, and students with disabilities, as well as desegregating schools. OCR — which has already undergone devastating staff cuts earlier this year — saw further layoffs with these recent actions, including the elimination of staff tasked with developing and writing the guidance that districts and schools rely on to remain legally compliant with federal civil rights law, as well as the reported dismantling of regional offices in Washington, Atlanta, and Seattle. As schools face dwindling resources and weakened oversight to ensure all students have their needs met, these attacks on OCR will leave families across the country without any protection when their child’s civil rights are violated. 

Gutting these offices and programs is calamitous to millions of students, families, educators, administrators, school staff, and the communities they serve. It is wildly shortsighted to shortchange the development of the next generation of Americans to make political points in a shutdown dispute over healthcare — to say nothing of the illegality and immorality of the sudden firing of public servants without cause. 

The undersigned organizations urge the administration to reverse course immediately and restore staffing and transparency at the U.S. Department of Education, and urge Congress to embody its role as an equal branch of government and act to prevent these firings from taking effect and protect programs they created for the benefit of America’s children.

National Organizations:

AACTE (American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education)

All4Ed

American Association of People with Disabilities

American Association of University Women (AAUW)

Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC

Autistic Self Advocacy Network

Brown’s Promise

Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)

Center for Strong Public Schools

Children’s Defense Fund

Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues

Coalition on Human Needs

Diverse Charter Schools Coalition

EdTrust

Education Law Center

Education Reform Now

Education Through Music

Educational Theatre Association

Educational Theatre Association (EdTA)

Educators for Excellence

Feierabend Association for Music Education

Feminist Majority Foundation

JazzSLAM

Legal Defense Fund

Music Will

National Action Network

National Art Education Association

National Association for Media Arts Education

National Association for Music Education

National Center for Learning Disabilities

National Center for Youth Law

National Coalition on School Diversity

National Concerts

National Council of Jewish Women

National Dance Education Organization

National Education Association

National Newcomer Network

National Parents Union

National Women’s Law Center

New Harmony Line

Poverty & Race Research Action Council

The Arc of the United States

The Center for Learner Equity

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning

The Rhythm and Blues Preservation Society

UnidosUS

State Organization:

Arts Education in Maryland Schools

Arts Every Day, Inc.

Arts Ed NJ

Children’s Defense Fund’s Southern Regional Office

Children’s Defense Fund – Texas

Children’s Defense Fund-California

Children’s Defense Fund-New York

Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio

Families In Schools

Kids First Chicago

League of Education Voters

Maryland Alliance for Racial Equity in Education

Maryland Art Education Association

Maryland Dance Education Association

Maryland Theatre Education Association

Missouri Alliance for Arts Education

Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative