Federal Legislation & News
in Special Education
ED Issues Guidance on Parental Rights
A Dear Colleague letter was sent on March 28th by Frank E. Miller, Jr., Acting Director of the Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO), notifying Chief State School Officers and Superintendents of their legal obligations under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA). The SPPO letter lists several areas of concern: parental right to inspect education records, safety of students, annual notification rights, military recruitment, and assurance of compliance. The letter indicates that some school or state policies might conflict with FERPA provisions that permit parents to review their children’s records. It emphasizes that schools creating “Gender Plans” for students must allow parents to inspect or review those documents. Additionally, SPPO guidance advises school administrators not to withhold information from parents if it identifies another student who has made death threats against their child. While parents of both students have the right to see this information, schools must avoid sharing disciplinary details unless directly relevant to both students. Schools may inform parents that measures are being implemented and can take steps to ensure student safety. Finally, the guidance reminds schools to notify parents of their rights and to provide military recruiters with greater access to student information unless parents opt out.
Access the guidance letter here.
House Hearing Focuses on AI in K-12 Classrooms
The House Education and Workforce Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education held a hearing titled, From Chalkboards to Chatbots: The Impact of AI on K-12 Education. Led by Chairman Kevin Kiley (R-CA) and Ranking Member Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) witnesses included Dr. Sid Dorbin, Chair, Department of English, University of Florida; Dr. Julia Rafal-Baer, CEO, ILO Group; Erin Mote, CEO, Innovate EDU/EDSAFE AI Alliance; and, Chris Chism, Superintendent, Pearl Public School District. The discussion focused on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) as witnesses highlighted the power – and pitfalls – AI will have in modern classrooms. The panel agreed that the full effect of AI on K-12 classrooms is unknown and that school leaders and educators are working to develop policies in the use(s) of and investments in AI. “We are already seeing AI widely adopted…The question is not whether students will use AI – that’s already happening. Rather, the question is how schools can support students in using AI responsibly and in unlocking its full potential to advance student achievement,” Chair Kiley said. Rep. Mike Rulli (R-OH) asked about the potential of AI to support students with disabilities and Superintendent Chism noted that AI can provide students with individualized plans far beyond K-12 classrooms that meet their needs. “…I don’t think this stops at K-12 or college. We’re going to see this moving into the business world. Knowledge is going to be something for everybody now, and I think that’s what’s changing in the world of AI,” Chism said. Erin Mote highlighted AI’s potential benefits and challenges to our education system and made policy recommendations to invest in public infrastructure for digital access; support research, development, and data; establish foundational national frameworks for safe and responsible AI; and, support AI literacy programs, for students and educators. The hearing included a few tense moments as Democrats used the platform to discuss the important role of U.S. Department of Education in helping states navigate this new technological terrain and Republicans responded that “AI will likely revolutionize the way students learn, but the federal government doesn’t need to be involved…and…as we work to disempower federal bureaucracies and strengthen families and states, Committee Republicans also stand ready to ensure AI enhances students’ learning experiences and makes American classrooms the best in the world.”
View the hearing and read the testimony here.
ED Requires States to Certify Adherence to Anti-DEI Priorities or Lose Title I funds
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) issued a letter to State Commissioners responsible for K-12 State Education Agencies (SEAs), instructing them to certify compliance with the Administration’s policies regarding diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) as a condition of continuing to receive federal education formula funding available under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. ED warned that Title I funding—aimed at schools serving low-income students—would be withheld unless officials complied with the directive. The memo requires state and local officials to sign and submit a certification letter within 10 days, despite the lack of clarity from the Administration about which programs breach its interpretation of civil rights laws, as well as an ongoing lawsuit challenging the policy’s legal credibility.
Read the certification memo here.
Administration Readies “Recission Package” to Formalize Funding Cuts
The White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has confirmed it is putting together a package of desired spending cuts for Congress, which would codify the steps taken at Agencies to shrink federal spending. Congressional appropriators have confirmed they expect the so-called rescission package, and OMB has voiced confidence that Republicans in Congress will support it. Fiscally conservative Members of Congress, including Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), have argued that obtaining Congress’ approval would legitimize the Administration’s funding freeze mandates, which are being contested in courts nationwide. Additionally, it would support the federal downsizing initiatives led by Elon Musk as part of the new Department of Government Efficiency effort. Currently, the downsizing and funding cuts are happening despite Congress’s recent action to continue funding the federal government through September 30 at the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 level, which does not reflect spending cuts. In addition to the rescission package, OMB is expected to release a slimmed-down FY 2026 budget request in the coming weeks. House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) has expressed his eagerness to receive top-line spending numbers from the White House so the Committee can begin writing its bills. In anticipation of the FY 2026 budget from the President, Cole released a guidance package that informs how every Member may participate in the annual appropriations process by submitting programmatic, language, and Community Project Funding requests. Per the guidance, Community Projects (aka earmarks) will not be allowed in the House Labor-Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies appropriations bill.
Read the House Appropriations Committee guidance here.
COPAA Launches New Resources: Role of Executive & Legislative Branches and More
COPAA has created a new set of resources to educate and inform members about the current proposal to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education and move special education functions to the Department of Health and Human Services.
COPAA Hill Days: May 5-7, 2025 – All are Welcome. Sign Up Today!
Join COPAA on May 5-7, 2025, in Washington, DC, to meet in-person with federal policymakers about legislative priorities impacting students with disabilities. No experience is required, and training will be provided. COPAA will schedule your Hill visits and will assign you to a state/regional team. We invite every COPAA member to join us and put a face and voice to COPAA’s funding and legislative priorities for students with disabilities. Learn more and register here by April 11, 2025.
Why Trump’s move to shift special ed. to HHS Is rattling educators
Education Week
Half a century ago, hundreds of thousands of children with disabilities nationwide either had to attend costly private schools or forgo education altogether. Students with disabilities who were in school were isolated from their peers for most of the school day. And the prospects for a parent securing disability services for their child depended heavily on the state where they lived. But in 1975, Congress mandated that all students with disabilities nationwide receive a “free and appropriate public education” in the “least restrictive environment” under the law now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Those federal rights haven’t changed. But President Donald Trump’s administration in recent months has plunged the federal office tasked with carrying out those policies into an unprecedented period of turmoil and uncertainty, unsettling many current and former staffers, as well as district leaders and advocates for children with disabilities nationwide.
Special education and Trump: What parents and schools need to know
The Hechinger Report
President Donald Trump has pledged to shutter the Department of Education but also promised that students with disabilities will keep getting the services they need. Special education advocates, school district officials, and teachers say mass federal layoffs mean that too few people are left to carry out a complicated law intended to protect some of the nation’s most vulnerable students’ right to an education. The administration laid off nearly half the Education Department’s staff and slashed its civil rights enforcement arm, and Trump says he wants to move special education programs to the Department of Health and Human Services — an agency that announced its own round of mass layoffs in March. The nation’s teachers’ unions, along with the NAACP, two Massachusetts public school districts, and others have sued, challenging the many changes.
(NOTE: COPAA CEO Denise Marshall is quoted in this article.)
Education leaders support Mannion’s bill to protect rights of students with disabilities
CNY Central
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday aimed at dismantling the federal Department of Education, sparking a legislative response from Congressman John Mannion. Mannion introduced a bill to strengthen the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a law enacted 50 years ago to protect students with disabilities. Mannion, representing New York’s 22nd District, said, “Enshrined into law, there must be special education services. The Office of Special Education must be within that department.” He added that moving these services to another department would violate the act and questioned whether another department could provide the necessary expertise and attention. Nicole Capsello, president of the Syracuse Teachers Association and a former special education teacher, expressed concern over the potential impact of Trump’s order.
A Texas student was kneed in the face by a school cop: Her civil rights case is one of thousands that may never be resolved
The 74
After a campus police officer grabbed student Ja’Liyah Celestine by the hair and kneed her in the face, she filed a federal civil rights complaint that alleged persistent racial discrimination against Black teens at her Texas high school. But the complaint, brought by the 18-year-old in late October with the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, may never get investigated. That’s because it’s one of thousands of federal civil rights complaints and investigations against school districts nationally — particularly those alleging sexual misconduct or racism — that advocates say have been left to languish by the Trump administration with little hope for resolution. As the president and Secretary Linda McMahon seek to dismantle the Education Department — with its civil rights office among the hardest hit by layoffs — attorneys say students like Celestine have lost one of their few avenues for relief.
(NOTE: COPAA’s recent lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education is referenced in this article.)
The US right is coming for disabled people. Here’s why that threatens everyone
The Guardian
Twelve days before Donald Trump took office, Charlie Kirk, media personality and rightwing activist, complained on his eponymous show about the presence of American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters at emergency press briefings for the Los Angeles fires. Another rightwing activist, Christopher Rufo, took his cue on X, calling interpreters “wild human gesticulators” who turned briefings into a “farce”. The rightwing theorist and Origins of Woke author Richard Hanania, quote-tweeting Rufo, declared ASL interpretation an “absurdity”. Around this time, Elon Musk was skulking around the platform, campaigning to bring back the R-word. Use of the slur tripled on X after his post. To those with less knowledge of disability history, these attacks might read as gross but ultimately toothless. Activists, though, quickly sounded the alarm: the incoming administration would be coming for disabled people. “To the deaf community, the fight for accessibility is nothing new,” said Sara Miller, a deaf educator and community advocate.
Republicans Keen to Move IDEA to HHS Via Appropriations Bill
On the heels of the President announcing plans to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and move all student loans to the Small Business Administration (SBA) and “special needs education” to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Republican appropriators indicated last week that they would consider any plan the President might send to the Hill. “I’m broadly supportive of what his aims are there, so I’d be happy to sit down and work with him any way I could,” House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) said. Following suit, both Senate Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee Chair Shelley Moore-Capito (R-WV) and House Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee Chairman Robert B. Aderholt (R-AL) said they would be open to moving ED’s functions if that is what the White House seeks. While the discussion makes it sound possible, and it technically is, the reality is that to move funding from one federal account to another (i.e., ED loan accounts to SBA, ED special education functions to HHS), Congress would also need to approve amendments to the statutory laws under which the funds are authorized. In these cases, it would include amending the Higher Education Act and both Part B and Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA); and any eventual vote would also require the Senate to reach the 60-vote threshold. COPAA opposes any effort to eliminate ED and to move vital education programs and funding, including IDEA to HHS. Tell Congress to reject such proposals.
Report Finds Millions of Students Left with No Civil Rights Protections
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee released a report highlighting the impacts of recent firings at the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) on students who rely on OCR to carry out statutory requirements to investigate and protect their civil rights. According to the report, after actions taken by Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to eliminate over 240 positions and close more than half of OCR’s regional offices, more than 46 million students in 27 States and territories have been left without civil rights investigators to investigate their complaints; and, OCR political appointees have not provided any public communications to students or families about the plan to resolve their open cases. Data provided shows that fired staff were working on 6,896 cases, leaving thousands of students in potentially unsafe learning environments—or out of school entirely—and without any clear plan for resolution. Caseloads for remaining investigators are expected to increase by more than 200 percent.
WH Issues Executive Order to Close the Department of Education
Last Thursday, the White House issued an Executive Order (EO) to begin closing the U.S. Department of Education (ED). Characterized as a State’s responsibility, the intention is to return the Department’s main function back to the States for management. Moreover, “Consistent with the Department of Education’s authorities, the Secretary of Education shall ensure that the allocation of any Federal Department of Education funds is subject to rigorous compliance with Federal law and Administration policy.” The Administration has acknowledged that closure of the Department requires an act of Congress. To that end, Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-LA) of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee vowed to work with his colleagues in Congress to carry out the EO. COPAA, along with education, civil rights, and disability advocates have opposed the EO, including the proposal to move special education programs -that are housed by federal statute at ED- to HHS.
Executive Order Aiming to Close Ed Department Paves Way to Offload Special Education
Disability Scoop
President Donald Trump is directing his education secretary to move forward with dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, a step that advocates say would have serious implications for students with disabilities. Trump signed an executive order Thursday calling for Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to take “all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the states.” She is to do so while “ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely,” the order states. President Donald Trump is directing his education secretary to move forward with dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, a step that advocates say would have serious implications for students with disabilities.
“If the secretary moves forward to try to dismantle ED, every child with a disability stands to be harmed when federal funding is separated from key federal requirements, when federal oversight of discrimination in education is obliterated, and when investments in education research, technical assistance/training and data collection and transparency in outcomes for children no longer exist,” said Denise S. Marshall, CEO of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates.