POLITICO

Disability advocates alarmed by the Trump administration’s plans for special education say a recent meeting with Education Secretary Linda McMahon did not alleviate what one participant described as “grave concern.” McMahon and Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey huddled with advocates for students with disabilities last week to discuss the future of the agency’s Office of Special Education Programs, Rehabilitation Services Administration, and the Office for Civil Rights. The upshot: The administration still plans to transfer federal responsibilities for special education services to a government agency outside the Education Department, according to the advocates. But not this week, despite rumors that the agency would launch new agreements to transfer more of its programs to other agencies on Christmas Eve. The timing of any decision — and the final destination for programs that support students with disabilities and investigate their civil rights discrimination complaints — is still being determined, advocates said they were told by agency officials.

The department oversees roughly $15 billion in annual spending on programs that support students with disabilities. The prospect of transferring federal programs has raised alarm among advocates who say such a move could undermine the government’s responsibility to guarantee children with disabilities get the education they are legally entitled to receive. “She and the others in the room kept reiterating that they fully supported IDEA, that they fully support students with disabilities, and they don’t intend to cut anything from them,” Denise Marshall, CEO of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, said of McMahon’s message during the meeting. “We, quite frankly, said, ‘While we appreciate those words, your actions don’t match them.’ “That’s what we have grave concern about,” Marshall said. “Because when significant change like this is happening, and the actions don’t match the rhetoric, or the words, or the information, that’s what leads to fear and confusion and chaos. And that’s what we think is happening right now.”

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