WINTER HAVEN — The reorganization included the closure of seven of the Office for Civil Rights' 12 regional offices. The White House vowed to stop \"equity\" investigations in areas such as school discipline, and the administration proposed ending data collection on racial disparities in school discipline. The National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation have removed projects referencing terms including \"race\" and \"gender.\" The administration canceled roughly $900 million in funding for research at the Institute of Education Sciences.

Donald Trump described autism as one of "the most alarming public health developments in history." Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called autism a \"tragedy\" that \"destroys families\" in April 2025. HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard stated in an email that Kennedy's statements emphasized the need for increased research into environmental factors contributing to the rise in autism diagnoses.

Camille Proctor, founder and executive director of The Color of Autism Foundation, offered a different perspective on the administration's approach. \"This administration is taking us backwards,\" Proctor said. She stated that the federal autism panel lacks prominent scientists and Black members and has fewer autistic self-advocates than before. A study by the State University of New York at Albany's Institute for Social and Health Equity found that race, gender, and socioeconomic gaps in autism identification persist among fourth graders from 2003 to 2022.

Timeline

In March 2025, Donald Trump signed an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education. In April 2025, a Senate committee report from Senator Bernie Sanders concluded that the Office for Civil Rights had reached a 12-year-low in resolutions to discrimination complaints. The Senate committee report also stated in April 2025 that the Office for Civil Rights had a backlog of nearly 12,000 civil rights cases. Also in April 2025, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called autism a \"tragedy\" that \"destroys families.\"

Why It Matters

The dismantling of the Department of Education and the transfer of its functions represent a shift in how the federal government handles civil rights enforcement and special education. Moving the Office for Civil Rights to the Department of Justice and special-education oversight to the Department of Health and Human Services consolidates authority while reducing the number of regional offices available to process complaints. With a backlog of nearly 12,000 cases and a 12-year low in resolutions, the capacity to address allegations of discrimination faces structural changes.

The administration's proposal to end data collection on racial disparities in school discipline has raised concerns among civil rights advocates, who argue that such data is essential for identifying and addressing systemic inequities in education. Without this information, monitoring patterns of discrimination and enforcing civil rights protections becomes significantly more difficult. The elimination of these data collection efforts coincides with the closure of regional offices that previously conducted on-the-ground investigations and compliance reviews. Critics warn that the combined effect of reduced staffing, diminished data access, and agency reorganization may weaken federal oversight of civil rights in schools across the United States.