CW: Discrimination
Felicita Piñón is an eighth grader living with cerebral palsy. In 2024, Felicita wanted to join a cheerleading team at her middle school in Crowley, Texas, but her mother, Liz Piñón, learned that the school wasn’t willing to provide accommodations. She felt like that was discrimination.
Piñón knew that there were other nearby schools where other teenagers who were wheelchair users were part of their cheerleading teams. As thousands of other people did, Piñón filed a complaint with the federal Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). For decades, the agency has been a resource for schools, disabled students, and their families. However, due to budget cuts and layoffs, the OCR is now restructuring itself and dismissing thousands of complaints without investigating them, leaving many to wonder who will enforce federal special education laws when states don’t abide by them.
Though big caseloads aren’t new for OCR, as disability rights advocates have pointed out, they were once at least given some indication that complaints were received and were being reviewed by an agency official. That doesn’t appear to be the case today. People aren’t even notified if cases end up being dismissed.
When Piñón first filed her complaint against OCR in July 2024, she didn’t get to access that link either because, as it turns out, that was done prior to President Donald Trump’s taking over the White House and leading to cuts at the Department of Education. Still, the fact that the complaint got thrown out provided her some valuable info and closure and made her feel comfortable knowing where to go when things don’t work out.
“Even though the department wasn’t perfect, they still provided an extra layer of rights, guidance, and technical assistance for schools and districts,” Piñón said.
For years, OCR was a last resort for parents and other advocates struggling to work out their problems with teachers, principals, school districts, or state agencies. It gave them a way to file complaints that would take these accusations of discrimination and other violations of disability rights directly to the federal government without having to pay legal fees.
OCR is known for being one of the most controversial agencies. This is especially true because of its slowness and its workload. However, OCR has often served as a critical line of accountability for advocates, especially those representing disabled students.
But now that there have been massive changes at the Department of Education, where OCR is located, this role is coming into question. Last month, the Department of Education cut nearly half of its entire workforce, including hundreds of OCR positions. And in March 2025, it permanently closed seven of its twelve regional offices. According to advocacy groups, many parents who previously filed a complaint haven’t heard back from OCR, let alone gotten any kind of resolution.
“We are hearing from parents it is radio silence from OCR,” said Robyn Linscott, director of education and family policy at The Arc of Texas. “They are just waiting to hear anything.”
“We are missing that heavy-handed federal oversight to come in and say, ‘You messed up and here is how we are ordering you to fix it,'” said Colleen Potts, a supervising attorney at Disability Rights Texas.
For parents like Piñón, the issue is whether families will continue to have somewhere to turn when schools fail disabled students. While her OCR complaint did not deliver the outcome she wanted, it provided answers and reassurance that an outside authority reviewed her concerns. As the agency shrinks and more complaints go unanswered, many families are left wondering whether that safeguard will remain in place.
Sources:
DeMatthews, David Edward. “What Civil Rights Enforcement Cuts Mean for Students with Disabilities—Fewer Staff, Closed Offices, Longer Waits.” The Conversation, 25 Sept. 2026, theconversation.com/what-civil-rights-enforcement-cuts-mean-for-students-with-disabilities-fewer-staff-closed-offices-longer-waits-285208.
Mehta, Jonaki. “Federal Civil Rights Data about Students Is Finally Out. It’s Different under Trump.” NPR, 4 Sept. 2026, http://www.npr.org/2026/09/04/nx-s1-5955681/civil-rights-data-schools-trump.