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...
Federal
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...
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...
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....
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...
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...
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 -...
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...
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...