Federal Legislation & News
in Special Education
ED to States: ESEA Funds for School Year 2025-2026 On Hold
In a blow to state and local school budgets, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) has sent an unsigned email to states announcing that certain funding for the school year 2025-2026 will not be issued on July 1. ED noted that “Decisions have not been made concerning submissions and awards for this upcoming academic year,” and specified that four programs -authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and funded by Congress via Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations- will not be funded. The programs are Title I-C for migrant education ($375 million); Title II-A for professional development ($2.2 billion); Title III-A for English-learner services ($890 million); Title IV-A for academic enrichment ($1.3 billion); and Title IV-B for before and after-school programs ($1.4 billion). While this hold on ESEA funds does not directly impact access to funds to provide special education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), it does impact every district’s ability to hire trained personnel, provide professional learning to educators and specialized support personnel, and give services to qualifying students with disabilities who also qualify as English Learners and/or migrant students, and more. COPAA and partners do not agree with ED’s withholding any K-12 funds appropriated by Congress and have urged Secretary McMahon to issue all Fiscal Year 2025 funds to states and districts as part of the comments submitted to ED in June. The Learning Policy Institute has provided a state-by-state look at the impact of ED’s decision to withhold ESEA funds.
Senate HELP Committee Advances Top Ed Nominees
Last week, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee voted along party lines, 12-11, to advance several nominees for key leadership positions at the U.S. Department of Education (ED), the Department of Labor, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Among the ED nominees are Penny Schwinn, nominated for Deputy Secretary of Education, and Kimberly Richey, nominated for Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights. Schwinn, a former educator, has held senior education roles in Tennessee, Texas, and Delaware. Richey brings a legal background and has served in leadership positions within the state education departments of Oklahoma, Virginia, and Florida. She also previously served as Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights during the Trump Administration’s first term. The nominations now move to the full Senate for a final vote, with the date yet to be scheduled.
How would Trump’s FY 26 budget plan reshape special education?
K-12 Dive
A White House plan to consolidate pockets of special education funding in fiscal year 2026 has critics concerned that vital programs will be cut or loosely absorbed into remaining special education allocations. Supporters, however, see the budget restructure not just as an opportunity to maintain spending levels for federal special education grants, but to simplify and effectively distribute the money that educates and supports the nation’s 8.4 million infants, toddlers, children, and young adults with disabilities. Overall, the FY 26 budget proposal that was released in stages in April and May provides level funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act at $15.5 billion. However, the Trump administration said it wants to consolidate some grants that serve different purposes so states and districts have more spending flexibility. Those opposed to the plan say this design would remove guaranteed funding for certain programs because it would be each state’s decision to fund those. Specifically, the budget plan would consolidate the smaller IDEA, Part B preschool grants to states and IDEA, Part D funding for technical assistance and teacher preparation into the larger Part B, school-age program.
OPINION: NAEP data is critical for students with disabilities. It must not disappear
The 74
In February, NCLD was alarmed to learn that the National Center for Education Statistics, the primary agency responsible for administering NAEP, had been reduced to a staff of three. Both administering the test and disaggregating and reporting the resulting data are critical work requiring expertise and staffing that are now at a skeletal level. Though Education Secretary Linda McMahon has stated that NAEP is safe and will be given as planned in 2026, we have many questions and concerns about its future and the ability of researchers in the field — disability advocates in particular — to use the data as we do now. The president’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2026 proposes a 29% cut to funding for NAEP, which only adds to our concerns about the test’s administration next year.
These states suspend disabled kids the most
The 74
In a powerful story and state-by-state data analysis this week, my colleague Amanda Geduld offers disturbing new insight into the degree to which children with disabilities are disproportionately subjected to school suspensions, sometimes for minor infractions. Disciplinary actions against children with disabilities aren’t just a matter of their behaviors, Amanda found. They’re also greatly affected by where the student lives. Amanda digs into Carter’s repeated school suspensions, which his mom said could have been avoided had the local schools provided adequate special education services that federal law demands. His case highlights a trend: No state suspends children with disabilities more often than South Carolina.
Trump admin is withholding over $6 billion in school grants
NPR
On Monday, the Trump administration notified states that it was withholding over $6 billion in previously approved federal education grants to schools. The announcement came a day before the July 1 deadline when those funds have traditionally been dispersed, and will likely impact school districts’ plans for the fall. In messages sent to state education officials, the U.S. Education Department said, “Given the change in Administrations, the Department is reviewing the FY 2025 funding for the [Title I-C, II-A, III-A, IV-A, IV-B] grant program(s), and decisions have not yet been made concerning submissions and awards for this upcoming year.” The message – which was shared with NPR by multiple sources, including The School Superintendents Association (AASA) – said grant money would not go out “prior to completing that review.” “This is definitely unprecedented to my knowledge,” said Tara Thomas, government affairs manager at AASA. “Districts really need to be able to rely on stable funding so that they’re able to responsibly plan and budget, and actions like this are incredibly disruptive to school districts across the country.”
THIS WEEK: Tell the Senate to Support Children with Disabilities, REJECT the Budget Reconciliation Bill
Thank you to those COPAA members who have shared your stories about why Medicaid matters and the harms it will cause to you/your family if Congress’s proposed [deep] cuts are made to Medicaid through budget reconciliation. Your voice is making a difference, as some moderate Senate Republicans are listening as they learn more about the harmful impacts these cuts would have on their constituents. We must keep up the momentum!
Background: Republicans are seeking to extend the 2017 business tax credits and other provisions totaling more than $1.5 trillion through a budget reconciliation bill. The budget reconciliation process is separate from the annual appropriations process Congress uses to fund IDEA annually and is only available when a Party (e.g., Republicans) controls both the White House and Congress. The partisan reconciliation bill is a top priority of the Republicans and is expected to be sent to President Trump for signing in early July.
Under budget reconciliation rules, Congress must find ‘pay fors’ to extend any tax credits or alter revenue-related items in the federal budget. The ‘pay fors’ proposed by the House in HR 1 and some Senate Republicans includes more than $800 billion in cuts to Medicaid and $350 million in cuts to student loans while at the same time proposing a new $4 billion/yr (with no expiration) for a federally funded school voucher mechanism that will not protect access to IDEA rights. In short, the deep cuts to Medicaid and the voucher provision will harm students with disabilities.
THIS WEEK, the Senate is expected to debate and vote on its budget reconciliation bill. PLEASE TELL your Senators to support and protect children with disabilities and REJECT the current budget reconciliation bill.
U.S. Department of Education releases its 2025 IDEA state determinations
The U.S. Department of Education released its 2025 IDEA determinations for each state and territory. To read more, here is the announcement from ED with links to individual state determination letters: 2025 Determination Letters on State Implementation of IDEA – Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. To dig deeper, check out analysis from the Advocacy Institute, which found that fewer states were rated as “meets requirements” compared to the previous year: Blog Archive » How the States Stack Up: 2025 IDEA State Determinations
Some states reexamine school discipline as Trump order paves go-ahead
The Highland County Press
In the wake of President Donald Trump’s executive order aiming to reinstate “common sense” school discipline, more states may follow and expand the authority of teachers and school officials to deal with disruptive students. The order, signed in April, repeals prior federal guidance that encouraged schools to address racial disparities in discipline, arguing that such policies promoted “discriminatory equity ideology” and compromised school safety by pressuring administrators to underreport serious student misconduct. In some states, new legislation is already trending toward giving teachers more authority to address student misbehavior. In West Virginia, for example, a new law creates a structured process for responding to violent, threatening, or disruptive behavior among students in grades K-6. Under the law, a student exhibiting such behavior can be immediately removed from class, evaluated by counselors or behavioral specialists, and placed on an individualized behavior plan
COPAA Submits Amicus Brief to the Sixth Circuit Regarding the Right of Individuals with Disabilities to Sue State Departments of Education under Title II of the ADA
Last week, COPAA submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Y.A. v. Hamtramck Public Schools in support of the plaintiffs-appellants’ Petition for Rehearing En Banc, which is a request that all of the Sixth Circuit judges reconsider the case, vacate the decision of the smaller panel of Sixth Circuit judges that previously heard and decided the case, and affirm the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
You can read the amicus brief here.
In this case, a group of parents of children with disabilities sued their public school district and the Michigan Department of Education for violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
If the Sixth Circuit grants the families’ Petition for Rehearing En Banc, the full appellate court will reconsider the case and could change the court’s earlier decision that the Michigan Department of Education cannot be sued for alleged violations of Title II of the ADA.
The State of Michigan had moved to dismiss the parents’ claims against it before the federal district court, which denied the State’s motion. With respect to the parents’ ADA Title II claim, the district court held that the ADA abrogated states’ sovereign immunity under the Fourteenth Amendment, meaning that states can be sued under Title II of the ADA. Michigan filed an interlocutory appeal with the Sixth Circuit, where the panel reversed the district court’s decision.
COPAA and its fellow amici argue that the case should be reconsidered by the full Sixth Circuit because state education agencies do not have immunity from suits brought pursuant to Title II of the ADA, as a state’s obligations under the IDEA create a “service” or “program” under Title II, thereby triggering the state’s liability for ADA violations. As the amicus brief explained further, all other federal circuit courts of appeals that have considered this question have held that “Congress validly abrogated sovereign immunity for [ADA] Title II public education discrimination claims, consistently holding that the documented history of disability discrimination in educational settings provides sufficient constitutional foundation for congressional action under the Fourteenth Amendment.”
COPAA Legal Director Selene Almazan wrote the amicus brief. Amicus Cochairs Alexis Casillas, Ellen Saideman and Catherine Merino Reisman assisted. COPAA’s fellow amici are Disability Rights Michigan, Disability Rights Ohio, Disability Rights Tennessee, Erwin Chemerinsky, and Michigan Disability Rights Coalition.
An additional amicus brief in support of the families’ Petition for Rehearing En Banc was submitted by Abdnour Weiker, MI AECRES, Kentucky Protection & Advocacy, Law for Baby Boomers, and Autism Alliance of Michigan. You can read that amicus brief here.
Senate Committees Release Portions of Reconciliation Bill
As COPAA members know, in May, the House of Representatives passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (HR 1) -to advance Republican spending priorities through the budget reconciliation process- and this month Senate committees are vetting various pieces (that may differ from the HR 1) so the Senate version both conforms to Senate rules that govern the budget reconciliation process and addresses Senators’ priorities and concerns related to some parts of HR 1. Specifically, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee unveiled their proposal, last week, which rejects some of the most harmful higher education provisions that were included in HR 1 –including the reduced access to Pell grants that would have impacted students with disabilities as well as the requirement for lenders to utilize ‘risk sharing’ which could have exposed disabled borrowers to bias and discrimination. Unfortunately, the Senate Finance Committee bill continues to include massive cuts to Medicaid, which harms access to IDEA Part C services for infants/toddlers with disabilities as well as school-based services for eligible K-12 students with disabilities, as well as long-term services and supports. The Finance Committee bill also includes the education tax credit (aka school voucher) provision, at $4 billion annually, with no expiration date. Due to these provisions, COPAA will continue to urge the Senate to reject the partisan budget reconciliation package. In terms of process, before the President can receive the final bill for signing, Senators still need to vote on the full reconciliation package and either conference their version with the House [prior to that vote] or, amend the House version with the Senate version and send it back to the House for final approval.
COPAA Opposes Department of Energy Proposal to Gut 504 Accessibility Regulations
COPAA has filed public comments in response to a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) notice of proposed rulemaking that proposes to eliminate requirements for accessibility of buildings] under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. While COPAA does not typically comment on policy matters at the DOE, the comments were warranted given the flagrant use of a policy tool known as a “direct final rule” -which bypasses requirements under the Administrative Procedures Act- as well as the intention of the rule to gut federal 504 accessibility requirements.
ED Announces New Round of Political Appointees
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has appointed Lindsey Burke, Ph.D. as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Programs. Burke spent 17 years at the Heritage Foundation, most recently serving as Director of the Center for Education Policy where she led th organization’s work on preschool, K–12, and higher eeducation policy and research. Burke was the major author of the education section of Project 2025 . In addition to Burke, ED has announced six additional appointments: Jeffrey Andrade – Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Planning, and Innovation, Office of Postsecondary Education; Christopher J. McCaghren – Deputy Assistant Secretary for Higher Education Programs, Office of Postsecondary Education; Nicholas “Nick” Moore – Deputy Assistant Secretary for Career, Technical, and Adult Education; Jason Delisle – Chief Economist and Senior Adviser, Office of the Under Secretary; Casey K. Sacks, Ph.D. – Senior Policy Advisor, Workforce and AI; and Meir Katz – Senior Advisor, Office for Civil Rights.
Advocates Seek to Protect Children with Disabilities from Federal Cuts
Nonprofit Quarterly
In March, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 14242 seeking to eliminate the US Department of Education. That order has since been blocked by a preliminary injunction issued on May 22 by US District Judge Myong J. Joun of Boston, but advocates for students with disabilities remain concerned. Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s efforts to axe the department and cut funding continue. Judge Joun’s injunction called for the laid-off employees to be reinstated, but so far that has not happened. However, on June 12, the Federal News Network reported that staff who have been laid off were receiving inquiries from department management asking if they’re still available to work, suggesting that a move to reinstate at least some of the employees may be underway.
Last Week Before the Ninth Circuit: Oral Argument for the Right of Students with Disabilities to a Full School Day
On June 6, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard oral arguments in J.N. v. Oregon Department of Education , a case in which several advocacy organizations—including COPAA—have sought to end the State of Oregon’s longstanding systematic failures that have effectively denied students with disabilities the right to a full day of school. This case was first brought in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon in 2019 as a federal class action lawsuit on behalf of students with disabilities being subjected to shortened school days; COPAA is also a plaintiff. The plaintiffs are represented by the National Center for Youth Law, Disability Rights Oregon, COPAA, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, and McDermott Will & Emery LLP. COPAA Legal Director Selene Almazan is one of the attorneys on the case.
Richard D. Salgado of McDermott Will & Emery LLP in Dallas, Texas, argued the case before the Ninth Circuit. You can watch the recording of last week’s oral argument here.
Despite hundreds of students with disabilities in Oregon still being subjected to discrimination and shortened school days, the federal district court dismissed the case as moot in 2024, citing the passage of an Oregon state law that only partially addressed the problem of shortened school days for children with disabilities across the state. While the new law and new policies adopted by the Oregon Department of Education reflect positive steps, they do not remedy the systematic failures that led to the lawsuit. Because many students with disabilities in the state are still experiencing the harm of shortened school days and there is still much relief that can be granted by the district court, COPAA and its fellow plaintiffs argued on appeal that this case is not moot and that the Ninth Circuit should reverse the federal district court’s decision and remand the case for further proceedings.
You can read the briefs submitted to the Ninth Circuit by the plaintiffs and amici:
Opening Brief of Plaintiffs-Appellants
Plaintiffs-Appellants’ Reply Brief
Amicus Brief in Support of Plaintiffs-Appellants by the American Civil Liberties Union