NEWS: Sanders Releases New Report Detailing How Trump’s Education Layoffs Abandoned Students Facing Violence, Harassment and Discrimination

WASHINGTON, April 28 — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), today released a new report finding that the Trump administration’s widespread efforts to lay off workers and shutter regional offices at the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) left students facing discrimination or harassment throughout the country without the help they are entitled to under federal law. As a result, Trump’s Education Department has been the least productive in over a decade — reaching in 2025 the lowest number of resolution agreements in 12 years and, shockingly, reaching zero resolution agreements for students facing serious traumatic incidents including sexual harassment, sexual violence, seclusion, restraint, racial harassment and discriminatory school discipline. Resolution agreements are legally binding commitments between OCR and schools to remedy violations of students’ civil rights, monitored for years after a complaint is filed. A resolution agreement means OCR identified a problem and required a school to fix it — not just for the student who came forward, but for every student who comes after them. Despite receiving the same budget as the prior year and facing nearly 12,000 pending civil rights cases, Education Secretary Linda McMahon’s OCR provided relief to students and families through resolution agreements in just 1% of pending cases. “Every child in America should be able to go to school safely and be treated with dignity. Unfortunately, this report makes clear that the Trump administration’s illegal efforts to dismantle the Education Department have been a disaster for students and families across this country,” Sanders said. “When a child with a disability is denied the education they are entitled to, when a student faces racial or sexual harassment — they turn to the Office for Civil Rights for help. Yet the Trump administration has decimated this office. As a result, tens of thousands of students facing discrimination have been left with no recourse. That is beyond unacceptable.” The Trump administration has undertaken unprecedented efforts to gut the Office for Civil Rights, the agency responsible for protecting students from discrimination based on race, sex, disability, color, national origin and age. In March 2025, the administration attempted to lay off nearly half of OCR’s workforce — costing taxpayers up to $38 million while investigators were barred from doing their jobs. The administration proposed a second round of layoffs during the 2025 shutdown before reversing course and reinstating staff. Yet Sanders’ report details that much of the damage done to students facing discrimination or harassment cannot be reversed. This report finds that since Trump and McMahon illegally fired half the staff at OCR and paid civil rights investigators not to work, the agency has: Reached zero resolution agreements involving sexual harassment, sexual violence, seclusion or restraint, racial harassment, or discriminatory school discipline — despite more than 2,700 pending cases. Reached 78% fewer resolution agreements overall compared to the previous year, and the lowest rate in more than a decade . Failed to secure any resolution agreements protecting girls and women facing sexual harassment or sexual violence . Reached nearly 79% fewer disability resolution agreements for students with disabilities , which make up the largest share of cases. Reached 91% fewer resolution agreements than during Trump’s first term in 2017. Reached zero resolution agreements in 15 states and Puerto Rico. Read the report here .