Education Department Reorganizes Civil Rights, Special Education Offices

The Trump administration has initiated interagency agreements that will relocate the Office for Civil Rights and the office overseeing special education from the Department of Education to other federal agencies. These agreements, described as administrative arrangements rather than changes in law, allow for the sharing of personnel, expertise, and operational support between federal bodies. While interagency agreements have been a long-standing practice for decades to facilitate collaboration and leverage specialized knowledge, the scale and visibility of these particular moves have drawn significant attention. Traditionally, education programs have been administered directly within the Department of Education.

Lindsay Fryer, president of Lodestone DC and former staffer on the House and Senate education committees, explained that these agreements shift substantial day-to-day work on specific education programs to other agencies. However, the formal legal authority for these programs remains with the Department of Education. Fryer emphasized that because these are administrative changes, a future administration could reverse them. The move raises questions about the practical implications for political control and program oversight within the Education Department when operational functions are transferred elsewhere.

The Every Student Succeeds Act, a landmark piece of legislation, was a point of negotiation where Fryer played a lead role. The current reassignments are distinct from statutory changes, meaning they do not alter the laws governing these educational programs. Instead, they represent a restructuring of how certain responsibilities are managed and executed across different branches of the federal government. The administration's use of these agreements for significant portions of work related to civil rights and special education is a departure from prior practices, leading to discussions about the long-term impact on the administration and enforcement of federal education policy.