Layoffs at federal special education offices during the government shutdown have surprised many disability groups in Wisconsin. On October 10, the administration laid off 466 employees within the U.S. Department of Education, which includes nearly all employees in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. These layoffs and cuts may affect students with disabilities and their education, which has families worried for their children’s future.
Along with many other disability advocates, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel interviewed Joanne Juhnke, one of our advocacy specialists, who spoke about the effects of these layoffs. She says:
“Using children with disabilities as leverage in negotiations is deeply troubling and inappropriate, as they are among the most vulnerable individual. With these (employees) gone, we have lost the essential federal functions around special education altogether. Those positions need to be reinstated immediately.”
Joanne also speaks on how the cuts could limit the federal government’s ability to address schools not following federal special education laws. She says: “All of the laws remain the same, all of the guidance remains the same, but there’s no one at the federal level anymore to enforce it or implement it. A law is only as good as the enforcement mechanism that goes along with it.”