“For now, the department will continue to distribute money to schools to provide educational support for students with disabilities, though McMahon has suggested this function could move to the Department of Health and Human Services.
The Education Department also oversees investigations into schools and universities alleged to have violated disability rights law, along with other civil rights violations such as discrimination involving sex, race and shared ancestry.
Those responsibilities will remain with the department for now, although McMahon has suggested sending them to the Department of Justice.
In any case, since the mass layoffs in March, the Office for Civil Rights has operated under a significantly reduced footprint. The department’s civil rights branch lost about half of its staff. The cuts raised questions about whether the office would be able to shrink a backlog of complaints from students who allege they have experienced discrimination on the basis of race, sex or disability status.
The department’s own data has shown a decline in resolving civil rights cases, while new complaints from families have increased.”
The Education Department is dismantling. Here’s what that means