All4Ed CEO Dr. Amy Loyd Statement Condemning Transfer of Special Education and Civil Rights Functions to Other Agencies
Date: Tuesday, June 16, 2026
Contact: Enrique A. Chaurand
Email: echaurand@all4ed.org
Washington, D.C. – All4Ed CEO Dr. Amy Loyd issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of Education’s Announcement to move functions for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services and Office for Civil Rights to other government agencies:
“The Trump administration’s decision to move the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to the Department of Justice threatens the very safeguards designed to protect students’ rights and expand opportunity.
“Let’s be clear about what’s already happened before these new agreements. The Department fired half of OCR’s staff and closed seven of its twelve regional offices. According to the Government Accountability Office, between March and September of 2025, OCR received over 9,000 discrimination complaints. However, roughly 90 percent of the complaints were resolved by dismissal, not investigation. Further, OCR reached just 112 resolution agreements in all of 2025, the fewest in more than a decade. Under this administration, OCR reached zero resolutions related to sexual harassment, sexual violence, or racial harassment. Now we’re handing what remains of civil rights enforcement capacity to agencies with their own missions, their own cuts, and no track record running education systems.
“I’m also troubled that moving special education to HHS treats it like a medical problem. It’s not. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is an education civil rights law. Students with disabilities don’t just need medical care. They need schools that see their full potential, pathways that lead somewhere real, and a federal government that enforces the law when districts fall short. And thirty-seven states and territories already need assistance meeting IDEA’s requirements. More bureaucratic handoffs will not close that gap.
“Claims that these interagency agreements will streamline services or reduce administrative burdens do not change the reality that this approach sidesteps congressional authority and weakens the federal commitment to education. This is just the latest attempt to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education and bypass the role Congress established for it.
“Education is a national responsibility. Students and families deserve confidence that their rights will be protected and that the federal government will uphold its obligation to ensure every child has access to a quality public education. We should strengthen the Department of Education’s ability to fulfill its mission, not find new ways to destroy it.”
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