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.