The Trump administration is bringing back dozens of Education Department staffers who were slated to be laid off, saying their help is needed to tackle a of discrimination complaints from students and families.
The staffers had been on administrative leave while the department faced lawsuits challenging , which investigates possible discrimination in the nation鈥檚 schools and colleges. But in a Friday letter, department officials ordered the workers back to duty starting Dec. 15 to help clear civil rights cases.
A department spokesperson confirmed the move, saying the government still hoped to lay off the staffers to shrink the size of the department.
鈥淭he Department will continue to appeal the persistent and unceasing litigation disputes concerning the Reductions in Force, but in the meantime, it will utilize all employees currently being compensated by American taxpayers,鈥� Julie Hartman said in a statement.
In the letter to employees, obtained by The Associated Press, officials said the department needs 鈥渁ll OCR staff to prioritize OCR鈥檚 existing complaint caseload.鈥� The office handles everything from complaints about possible violations of disability rights to racial discrimination.
More than 200 workers from the office for civil rights were targeted in mass layoffs at the department, but the firings have been tied up in legal battles since March. An appeals court cleared the way for the cuts in September, but they鈥檙e again on hold because of . In all, the Education Department workforce has shrunk from 4,100 when President Donald Trump took office to roughly half that size now, as the president vows to wind down the agency.
The department did not say how many workers are returning to duty. Some who have been on administrative leave for months have since left.
The had a backlog of about 20,000 discrimination cases when Trump took office in January. Since then, with a significantly reduced workforce, the backlog has grown to more than 25,000, using department data.
Trump officials have defended the layoffs even as complaints pile up, saying the office wasn鈥檛 operating efficiently, even at full staff.
The office for civil rights enforces many of the nation鈥檚 laws about civil rights in education, including those barring discrimination based on disability, sex, race, and religion. It investigates complaints from students across the country and has the power to cut funding to schools and colleges that violate the law, though most cases are resolved in voluntary agreements.
Some former staffers have said there鈥檚 no way the office can address the current backlog under the staffing levels left after the layoffs. Families who have filed discrimination complaints against their schools say they have noticed the department鈥檚 staffing shortages, with some waiting months and hearing nothing.
