Accompanied by the many shifts happening across America with President Trump in office, one of the biggest changes was the executive decision to shut down functions of the Department of Education (DOE). The Department of Education’s job is to implement laws that provide education funding to states and oversee education-related aspects of civil rights laws. Programs overseen by the department typically account for about 10% of direct support for elementary and secondary education and less than 25% of revenues at public colleges and universities. The cuts could make it harder for disabled students and their families to access help, especially in some of Oregon’s communities. The goal of the shutdown was to expand school choice, which would allow students and families to use public money to select private or religious schools. 

In March of 2025, President Trump signed an executive order directed toward the dismantling of the Department of Education. Even though the DOE isn’t fully shut down, the order was targeted at the Secretary of Education to take the steps necessary to shut the department down permanently. In line with this order, the department has started to lay off a large portion of its staff and made budget cuts. Students with disabilities are most affected by the shutdown. Layoffs in the special education office threaten the federal government’s ability to fulfill its legal requirement to ensure students with disabilities receive a free and appropriate public education. This has led to fewer resources, less support staff, and fewer services available to students with disabilities. Students with disabilities have also lost legal protections, have higher chances of educational loss, and have limits on their future opportunities. 

According to Mrs. Nagel, who works in the Special Education classroom, there has not been a direct effect on the school, but “the budget is tight.” She expressed that, “Special Ed students used to make food baskets for those in need, but now, food banks are limited.” As a result of the cessation of funds, food banks and other funding have been shut down. This has been the most noticeable change since the shutdown, along with the thousands of people losing their jobs around the country. 

With the budget cuts, there won’t be enough staff to give special ed kids the resources they need. When asked about this change, Mr.Cunningham, the Resource Methods teacher and Special Ed chair at Barlow, explained, “Special Ed is already getting bigger, so it’s overwhelming.” If the shutdown grows into something more, there will be less money to pay staff, and kids with disabilities will lose the resources they need and deserve. 

By firing almost every employee who supports special education in the ED, advocates say, “The administration is turning their backs to the 7.5 million children who have disabilities,” according to NEA News. Along with nearly every employee in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services being laid off, a wide range of programs, including those that support students with disabilities through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and grants for low-income students, haven’t been able to function because of the loss of funding. There is no telling what will happen to the Special Ed classroom at Barlow in later years, but for now, it is expressed by Mr. Cunningham that, “We (teachers) just want to see Special Ed get what they need.”