Quotes
The Office for Civil Rights will continue to investigate complaints and vigorously enforce federal civil rights laws,
Biedermann said
This administration may claim to be stopping waste and fraud, but it is clear that their only mission is to take away the necessary services, resources, and funding that students and their families need,
James, New York's attorney general and a vocal Trump critic, said in a statement on ThursdayPresident Trump was elected with a mandate from the American public to return education authority to the states,
Biedermann told Fox News DigitalThe lay-offs are an effective dismantling of the Department,
the state AGs wrote
[The ... The] Department's authority to administer [Reductions in Force] does not override Congress's exclusive authority to abolish executive agencies or to discontinue their functions,
they addedThe effective gutting of the Department of Education will result in a wide range of devastating harms for Plaintiff States and their residents that could be neither prevented nor mitigated,
the lawsuit, filed in Massachusetts federal court on Thursday, said
Here, where Congress has created the Department of Education, the Executive and his agencies cannot incapacitate it, absent Congressional action that directs them to do so,
the lawsuit saidShe is not permitted to eliminate or disrupt functions required by statute, nor can she transfer the department's responsibilities to another agency outside of its statutory authorization."
However, it noted
All of these kinds of things you need the department to do and help with,
Ms. Gross said
The move to gut this office and leave only a shell means the federal government has turned its back on civil rights in schools,
said Catherine E. Lhamon, who led the office as assistant secretary for civil rights in both the Obama and Biden administrationsI was really trying to help, and now I can’t even talk to them, and I’m so sorry,
the investigator said
We’ll see how it all works out,
Mr. Trump said of the layoffs while speaking to reporters at the White HouseWe are confident that the dedicated staff of O.C.R. will deliver on its statutory responsibilities,
she saidThis outrageous effort to leave students behind and deprive them of a quality education is reckless and illegal. Today I am taking action to stop the madness and protect our schools and the students who depend on them,
James said
The provision of education to students with disabilities is complex,
said Denise Marshall, CEO of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc., which represents families of children with special needs in schools
That’s hundreds of investigators who no longer work for OCR, and whose expertise that OCR has benefited from over all these years that the nation is now losing,
said Catherine Lhamon, who led the Office for Civil Rights during the Obama and Biden administrationsIt is going to be, I think, a horrific impact for students trying to get information about opportunities to go to college, or trade school or just take classes, and find out whatever Pell grant money is that they’re eligible for,
said one current department employee, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid retaliationWhat kind of harm does that mean for their grades, for their mental well-being, and how is that going to impact their educational outcomes, which are now not being tracked anymore,
said Coleman, who also served as a shop steward, referring to layoffs at the department’s Institute of Education SciencesThere are 50 other departments of education in the United States of America,
said Tiffany Justice, co-founder of Moms for Liberty, a conservative activist group in an interview last weekWe’re keeping the best people,
Trump said