As Education Department Slashes Nearly Half Its Staff, Special Ed Worries Mount

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

51% : The U.S. Department of Education building in Washington, D.C. (Anne Meadows/Flickr) The U.S. Department of Education is firing almost 1,400 employees raising questions about how the federal government will uphold its obligations under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and other laws.
50% : "Gutting the Department of Education will send class sizes soaring, cut job training programs, make higher education more expensive and out of reach for middle-class families, take away special education services for students with disabilities, and gut student civil rights protections.
39% : "Secretary McMahon's proposed reduction of an already insufficient staff is nothing more than a gutting of the institution of public education for America's children and their parents.
37% : " Even before the firings, Lipsitt said that complaint processing at the agency had slowed considerably since Trump took office.
36% : Trump has pledged to close the Education Department and McMahon said the workforce reduction is part of what she's dubbed the agency's "final mission.
28% : "Trump and McMahon can't eliminate the Department of Education without an act of Congress but he can suffocate, strangle and cut this department off at the knees," said Marcie Lipsitt, a special education advocate in Michigan who routinely helps families file complaints with the Education Department's civil rights office.

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