# The uncertain future of special education in the United States

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/hyperfocus-with-rae-jacobson-7037869/the-uncertain-future-of-special-education-in-the-united-states
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/hyperfocus-with-rae-jacobson-7037869/the-uncertain-future-of-special-education-in-the-united-states.md
Podcast: [Hyperfocus with Rae Jacobson](https://stenobird.com/podcast/hyperfocus-with-rae-jacobson-7037869)
Published: 2025-11-06T05:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.understood.org/en/podcasts/hyperfocus/federal-special-education-layoffs
Audio file: https://mgln.ai/e/1245/afp-935247-injected.calisto.simplecastaudio.com/413aead8-30e8-4194-b1de-a79e272c9a2b/episodes/1bc9ddbb-617f-4a3c-a4c3-c8d473ddd844/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=413aead8-30e8-4194-b1de-a79e272c9a2b&awEpisodeId=1bc9ddbb-617f-4a3c-a4c3-c8d473ddd844&feed=rovQkSeI
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/hyperfocus-with-rae-jacobson-7037869/episodes/the-uncertain-future-of-special-education-in-the-united-states
Duration seconds: 2235

## Resource

Last month, the Trump administration laid off over 460 people in the U.S. Department of Education. It included nearly everyone in the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), which enforces federal special education laws. A federal judge has temporarily halted the layoffs, but it’s unclear what will happen next. For people who work in or rely on special education services — including 7.5 million kids — the chaos and worry have already begun. So on this week’s Hyperfocus, we wanted to talk to smart people who could give us some perspective on what’s happening. What could it mean for families and for schools? And what does it say about how the administration views neurodivergent people in general? Our guests are Meghan Whittaker, a former chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Education, and Julian Saavedra, an assistant principal.

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## Transcript

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