Federal Layoffs Put Head Start, FAFSA, and Civil Rights Investigations at Risk

The U.S. Department of Education has begun laying off more than 450 employees — many of whom oversee special education and civil rights enforcement. 

After the layoffs, a federal judge in San Francisco on Wednesday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from firing government workers. While the judge’s decision has temporarily prevented more cuts to government agencies, other federally funded programs remain at risk.

The recent layoffs at the agency, which happened on Oct. 10, mark the second round this year. The staff reductions came after cuts in March eliminated more than half of the department’s staff. 

The shutdown, which began Oct. 1, is disrupting several areas of the education system, including the Education Department, its Office of Civil Rights, and other locally and federally funded education programs. While some operations remain unaffected at the moment, the longer the shutdown continues, the more is at risk, experts told Capital B.

As the shutdown careens into its third week, there are no signs of the government reopening soon. 

What does the shutdown mean for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid? 

On Thursday, a message on the Department of Education’s homepage said “due to a lapse of appropriations, information on this website may not be monitored or maintained.” 

“Inquiries may not receive a response until appropriations are enacted,” the message continued.

As of now, the pause is not affecting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which opened earlier than the usual Oct. 1 start date this year. However, advocates worry about how the shutdown could affect the government’s ability to keep up with the requests. 

“The longer a shutdown goes on, it does raise some questions about the department’s ability to continue to, you know, stay on top of that,” said Blair Wriston, a senior government affairs manager at EdTrust, an education advocacy group.  

Student loan payments are not affected by the shutdown, and borrowers should continue paying unless they have prior approval. 

New federal grants and applications for the 2026 fiscal year are currently on pause, Wriston said.

What happens to discrimination claims at the Office of Civil Rights? 

The Office of Civil Rights has been a part of the agency since the 1980s. The office is responsible for enforcing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ensures everyone has equal access to high-quality education without discrimination based on age, sex, religion, gender, or race/nationality. 

Wriston said he is concerned about the “mounting” civil rights cases and complaints and wonders what will become of them during the shutdown. 

“The department has significantly fewer staff,” Wriston said. “How the department will be able to effectively process those complaints … it’s a real concern.” 

The office posted a similar message to the Education Department’s homepage, saying that responses to inquiries might be delayed. The department did not respond to Capital B’s request for comment regarding the shutdown. 

Evaluating civil rights complaints can be lengthy. The office evaluates written complaints to determine whether they require further processing, and those that do must be submitted within 180 days after the alleged discrimination. 

If a complaint is not filed on time, the accuser must explain why it wasn’t submitted within 180 days. If it is determined that a law has been violated, then it will proceed with an investigation. 

With the previous layoffs rippling through the federal government, students, lawyers and experts said they are concerned about the potential effects of not having enough staff to evaluate discrimination complaints. Wriston said complaints during the shutdown will be addressed at a slower rate, if at all, due to limited staff. 

How does the shutdown impact local education programs?

The shutdown is already impacting a small cohort of local agencies funded by the federal government. 

Head Start, an early childhood education program for low-income families, relies on $12.2 billion in government funding. Currently, six local Head Start programs did not receive their scheduled funding on Oct. 1, the first day of the shutdown, said Tommy Sheridan, the deputy director of the National Head Start Association. 

“The reality of where we stand right now as it relates to Head Start and the government shutdown is that Head Start is here for children and families, no matter what,” he said. 

Sheridan said the program has remained resilient for the past 60 years, but that it cannot rely on resilience alone. 

​​”The mission of Head Start, of being that foundation for success, of being that launch pad for future leaders in every corner of this country, that mission shouldn’t be collateral damage in Washington’s political stalemate,” he said, adding: “And that’s what’s happening right now.”

As the shutdown continues, Sheridan said, Head Start is approaching the point where several local programs will have to consider closing their doors due to a lack of funds. He said that some of the programs may have to close as early as Oct. 20, and the shutdown could impact nearly 6,500 children. 

From 2021 to 2022, the program served more than 800,000 children from birth to age 5 as well as pregnant women, according to Head Start’s website. Nearly a third of the children it serves are Black. 

By Nov. 1, an additional 134 local programs across 41 states and Puerto Rico — currently serving 58,627 children — “will face the same cliff” and close, according to a statement from the organization.

Head Start not only provides education to low-income families, but it also gives meals, health screenings and other services. 

“For many children in communities across the country, this is the place where they get nutritious meals,” Sheridan said. “This is where they get health screenings, where they get early intervention for developmental delays. Those services can’t wait.”

Sheridan said Head Start does not rely on just federal funding; it also depends on funding from communities. He said each local Head Start program looks different — some receive state and local funding as well as donations from the community. 

How has the Department of Education changed under the Trump administration? 

The Trump administration threatened mass layoffs for federal workers earlier this year. Now, federal workers are being furloughed and working without pay. Black people make up nearly 20% of the federal workforce but 13% of the overall U.S. population. 

Before President Donald Trump’s inauguration, there were more than 4,100 employees at the Department of Education, the agency said in March. After the March terminations, the staff was reduced to roughly 2,183 workers. 

On Oct. 10, according to court filings, 466 agency workers were laid off.

Every year, Congress must pass a budget legislation for the upcoming fiscal year. When Democrats and Republicans couldn’t agree this time, it resulted in the first government shutdown in six years and the 22nd in the past half-century.

Most federally funded programs will have funding through the end of the year, Wriston said. While programs like food stamps, Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs are not currently affected, their future depends on the duration of the shutdown and what actions Congress takes to resolve the shutdown. 

“Unfortunately, resilience alone is not going to fund the government,” Sheridan said. “We do urge Congress to take action and make sure that they can come to some sort of an agreement to avoid this.”

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