Headline Roundup • October 20th, 2025
Office of Special Education Reduced to Three Employees After Layoffs
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The Trump administration laid off 466 Education Department employees, reducing the office that deals with special education to only three workers.
The Details: The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) serves about 8.5 million students nationally through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which allows students with disabilities to request accommodations to ensure their education is of the same quality as their peers.
For Context: The layoffs came as a result of the government shutdown, for which President Donald Trump and other Republicans blame Democrats. “It'll be a lot and it'll be Democrat-oriented because we figure they started this thing. It'll be a lot of people, all because of the Democrats,” Trump said in explanation of the layoffs. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) instead blamed the layoffs on Trump, saying, “They don't have to do it; they want to. They're callously choosing to hurt people.”
How the Media Covered It: The Boston Globe (Left bias) highlighted the state- and local-level impacts of these layoffs, as the office oversees approximately $300 million of federal funding designated for Massachusetts to use under IDEA. It included a statement from the chairperson of Boston Public Schools’ Special Education Parent Advisory Council, which said, “Students with disabilities can’t afford for the federal government to walk away, because rights without enforcement aren’t rights—they are broken promises.” Straight Arrow News (Center) included details about the various programs and services facilitated by OSERS as well as quotes from the president of The Council of Administrators of Special Education. The president of the organization said, “These layoffs will make everyone’s job more difficult and ultimately may mean students do not get the educational services they need to succeed in school.” Daily Mail (Right) covered the Trump administration’s layoffs more broadly, noting that the departments of the Treasury and Health and Human Services were hit the hardest, each losing over 1,000 employees.
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Featured Coverage of this Story
EPA
Donald Trump began his promised mass purge of federal workers Friday, as more than 4,100 people were laid off as the government shutdown rolls on.
The president previewed the pink slips in a press conference in the Oval Office earlier Friday, blaming them and the shutdown on the Democrats.
'It'll be a lot and it'll be Democrat-oriented because we figure they started this thing. It'll be a lot of people, all because of the Democrats,' Trump said.
Getty Images
An office dedicated to special education within the U.S. Department of Education was heavily impacted during mass layoffs issued as the federal government remains shut down for the third week, CNN reported. The office served millions of people who have disabilities nationwide.
The Education Department’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services is mostly empty, with the exception of some top officials, after the White House sent layoff notices. According to court records, Stephen Billy, senior advisor for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said that an estimated 466...
Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff
Announced layoffs threatening to decimate a weakened US Education Department are stoking fears among special education advocates, families, and school leaders over the potential fallout for more than 190,000 students with disabilities in Massachusetts.
The federal cuts, which were announced Oct. 10 amid a government shutdown, would largely eliminate Education Department staff who ensure students receive support from their schools through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the 50-year-old landmark law that guarantees that students with disabilities have a right to a free and appropriate public education.
