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President Trump has targeted the Department of Education with layoffs since the start of his

second term.

But the administration's latest

cuts during the government shutdown attempted to wipe out the department's office of special

education and rehabilitation services. That's the office that among other things administers the

individuals with disabilities education act, or IDEA. It supports millions of children with disabilities

around the country. Friday's cuts not only gut at the staff of that office, it slashed the

offices for civil rights in elementary and secondary education. The Department of Education

was just one of the agencies to receive rifts or reduction in force notices last week.

Employees were told their jobs would be over on December 9th.

But then a federal judge put a halt to the shutdown layoffs by the administration,

siding with federal worker unions who said the riffs weren't handled properly.

So now the future of special education programming remains up in the air,

with teachers, parents, and advocates planning for the worst.

I'm Jen White.

We're listening to the 1A podcast.

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