The U.S. Department of Education began moving core special education and civil rights functions to other federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), according to announcements reported Tuesday. The changes are enabled by new interagency agreements and are framed by officials as not affecting students’ protections. Under the restructuring, HHS would take over Education’s office overseeing special education and employment programs for adults with disabilities, while DOJ’s civil rights division would handle Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) enforcement and related activities, including student privacy enforcement and equity assistance centers’ desegregation support. Advocates and some school leaders are warning the move could erode protections and add burdens during a transition period, with uncertainty remaining over how existing DOJ staffing and workflows will integrate Education-linked cases. The Education Department’s actions come as part of a broader effort by the second Trump administration to dismantle the department and redistribute program oversight across agencies, with the Education Department retaining management of OCR’s statutory functions even as investigations and enforcement move.