WASHINGTON, Dec 8 — The US Department of Education has asked hundreds of employees it dismissed earlier this year to temporarily return to work as it struggles with a backlog of school discrimination cases.
An email dated December 5 shows the agency directing a large group of Office for Civil Rights staff to report back later this month, USA Today reported.
The “return to duty” notice acknowledged a growing caseload of civil rights complaints and stressed the need to use every available government resource to address them.
The request covers about 250 workers who have been on administrative leave for months while their March dismissals face legal challenges.
Julie Hartman, the department’s press secretary for legal affairs, said there are still no plans to reinstate those employees permanently.
She said in a statement that the department will continue appealing ongoing disputes over the Reductions in Force but will in the meantime utilise all employees currently being paid by taxpayers.
The move marks the latest development in a protracted saga that has disrupted one of the department’s most important offices, which President Donald Trump has vowed to close.
Students, parents and educators have long depended on the Office for Civil Rights to enforce anti-discrimination laws, particularly for students with disabilities.
The civil rights office has shrunk significantly during the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the department, with hundreds of staff laid off and major regional divisions in Philadelphia and Boston largely shut.
Court documents show that of around 450 people still listed as OCR employees, only about 60 have avoided lay-off notices in the past year, while 250 were terminated in March and another 137 were dismissed during October’s shutdown before their firings were reversed.
