EDUCATION/LEGAL: “The Education Department is cutting staff at its Office for Civil Rights as part of a push to reduce Washington’s footprint in education. But critics say the move will blunt the office’s response to issues like sexual assault on college campuses and racial discrimination in public schools.
The department has offered voluntary buyouts overall to 207 employees as part of a broad staff reduction there, officials say. Of those, 45 offers were made in the civil rights office, the most for any unit in the department. The office with the next highest number of departures is Federal Student aid, where 36 employees were offered buyouts.
Department officials say the offers are aimed at employees reaching retirement age. Liz Hill, a department spokeswoman, also said the numbers reflect the fact that the civil rights office is the single largest in the agency, with about one-eighth of the total staff…
Some civil rights advocates are skeptical of the department’s explanation, saying the buyouts are determined by department chiefs who they say are targeting the civil rights office.”
-Michelle Hackman, “Trump Job Cuts at Education Department Worry Civil-Rights Advocates,” The Wall Street Journal online, Dec. 15, 2017 05:30am