Efforts to gut the U.S. Department of Education’s special education office and move the program to another agency are already causing “immediate harm” to students with disabilities, advocates warn.
Nearly a month after the Education Department moved to lay off nearly every staffer in its Office of Special Education Programs, some of the nation’s most prominent disability and special education groups say that the message from the Trump administration is clear.
“Given the recent actions of the administration, the only conclusion that we can draw is that this administration doesn’t believe in educating children with disabilities,” said Chad Rummel, executive director of the Council for Exceptional Children, or CEC.
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In addition to the layoffs in the special education office, which a judge has blocked, Rummel cited sweeping cuts at the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, the cancellation of millions of dollars in grants issued under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the agency’s efforts to move special education oversight to another federal agency.
“Our world is on fire,” Rummel said. “There’s not gonna be another red flag. We’re there.”
The comments came on a call with reporters this week organized by CEC as well as the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, the National Center for Learning Disabilities, The Arc of the United States and The Center for Learner Equity.
At the moment, advocates believe that fewer than 10 staffers are left to do the work that was handled by more than 100 people at the Office of Special Education Programs and they said that nothing is getting done. It’s unclear how many people remain at the Office for Civil Rights, which handles complaints of disability discrimination.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon has repeatedly indicated that it is her mission to put herself out of a job by closing the Education Department and she said last month that the ongoing government shutdown is evidence that the agency is unneeded.
“Millions of American students are still going to school, teachers are getting paid, and schools are operating as normal,” McMahon said in a statement. “It confirms what the president has said: the federal Department of Education is unnecessary, and we should return education to the states.”
But, disability advocates say that states are ill-equipped to administer special education without the institutional knowledge, technical assistance and oversight of the federal government.
“This isn’t about handing power to states. It’s about walking away my responsibility to children, and hoping that no one notices,” said Jacqueline Rodriguez, CEO of the National Center for Learning Disabilities. “States have always held the reins, but history shows what happens when they’re left to steer them alone. Millions of students with disabilities were left simply behind.”
Already, the changes taking place in Washington are trickling down to the classroom, advocates warned.
“In one state, parents seeking IEPs are being told their children will instead be placed on Section 504 plans in an apparent move to steer families towards services with different rights that are commonly perceived as less regulated,” said Jennifer Coco, interim executive director of The Center for Learner Equity. “In other states, we’re hearing disturbing whispers that some local education officials are asking which aspects of the IDEA they can stop implementing now if no one is there in D.C. to carry out the traditional oversight functions.”
Some programs, including those supporting individuals who are deafblind nationwide, have been defunded and experts in the field have been laid off.
“All families of children with disabilities are worried right now,” said Lanya Elsa, a Washington state parent of two sons who are deafblind. “The very people who once helped families like mine find light in the dark, both literally and figuratively, are gone. Their absence isn’t just a staffing change, but it puts everything that we’ve worked for at risk. This reality has left families terrified, because when expertise and oversight disappear, opportunity disappears with it and my kids deserve better.”
Sixty national organizations recently wrote to lawmakers in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives urging them to hold oversight hearings on what they say are violations of IDEA and the Rehabilitation Act, which specify that the secretary of education is responsible for ensuring that states follow the requirements of the laws. And, thousands of people participated in a nationwide call organized by advocacy groups this week.
“The administration’s words about supporting children with disabilities … fall on their hollow because their actions do not match that and they’re yanking the supports that many families rely on as lifelines away,” said Denise Marshall, CEO of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, a nonprofit that advocates for the rights of students with disabilities and their families. “We will continue to fight that. Our kids deserve better from their elected officials and this administration.”
