‘Students will suffer harm’: Education Department’s civil rights office gutted by layoffs, closures

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is dedicated to safeguarding students by holding schools and colleges that receive federal funding accountable for addressing antisemitism, islamophobia, racism, and discrimination against students with disabilities.
On Tuesday, around 1,300 Department of Education employees were notified of their layoffs. The civil rights office experienced the highest percentage of staff reductions among all affected programs, losing 243 out of 557 employees, according to an analysis by the non-partisan group Ed Reform Now. Read more here.