Courtney Yadoo, an attorney with NYLAG’s Special Education Unit, spoke with Gothamist education reporter Jessica Gould about what federal education cuts could mean for already-stalled discrimination cases, and what that means for students with disabilities and their families:
High-profile investigations into New York City’s dysfunctional school bus system, segregation in traditional public schools and charter school admissions practices are now stuck in limbo after the federal education department shuttered the local office of civil rights, attorneys said.
Last month, the federal education department slashed its workforce nearly 50% — down to 2,183 — as part of President Donald Trump’s orders to facilitate eliminating the federal agency entirely and returning power to the states. Cuts included the elimination of the New York City-based branch of the civil rights division, which investigates allegations of discrimination based on disability, race and gender.
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Courtney Yadoo, an attorney with New York Legal Assistance Group, which is also representing some of the plaintiffs in the school bus case, has another client with a complaint against a charter school, alleging the charter school denied the student admission once administrators learned of his learning disability.
Yadoo said she’s concerned about delays as well as a loss of specialized knowledge about New York City’s complex education landscape. “The New York OCR regional office did have expertise about the school districts in their jurisdiction,” she said.
Read the full piece published in Gothamist on April 3, 2025.
