Disability Scoop

The U.S. Department of Education is bringing back hundreds of staffers to tackle a backlog of civil rights cases — including complaints of disability discrimination in schools — after keeping them on administrative leave for most of the year. More than 200 employees of the agency’s Office for Civil Rights were among the nearly 1,400 staffers the Education Department tried to lay off in March, but the status of their jobs has been mired in litigation since then. Now, the workers are being told to return to work as soon as next week.

Denise Marshall, CEO of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, or COPAA, a nonprofit that advocates for the rights of students with disabilities and their families, welcomed the Education Department’s move to reinstate staffers in the civil rights office. “We have stated all along that OCR cannot fulfill its obligations on a skeleton staff,” she said. “The fact they are returning them seems to be an acknowledgement that the firings were ill-advised,” Marshall said. It’s important that families and advocates continue filing complaints with the Office for Civil Rights when alleged discrimination occurs.

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