Disability Scoop The U.S. Department of Education is bringing back hundreds of staffers to tackle a backlog of civil rights cases — including complaints of disability discrimination in schools — after keeping them on administrative leave for most of the year. More...
Federal
As Justice Department priorities shift, concerns about protection of students’ civil rights escalate
Hechinger Report Within the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is a small office devoted to educational issues, including seclusion, as well as desegregation and racial harassment. The division intentionally chooses cases with potential for high impact and...
How one lawyer helped reshape special education at the Supreme Court
Education Week A new documentary is shining fresh attention on a major special education ruling the U.S. Supreme Court decided last term, spotlighting the lawyer who not only won that case but has played a role in several landmark victories for students with...
COPAA and Partners Express Major Concerns with Federal Dyslexia Bill
COPAA and partners in the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) have sent a letter to Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Representative Erin Houchin (R-IN) to raise concerns and express opposition to the 21st Century Dyslexia Act (S.3010/H.R. 5769) as...
Comments Requested on New Federal Education Tax Credit
The Treasury Department (Treasury) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have released a formal query seeking public comments regarding the implementation of a new individual tax credit created under HR 1, which became law in July. Beginning January 1, 2027, taxpayers in...
Issue Brief Outlines Trans Student Rights
Titled "Get the Facts: Students’ Rights are Unconditional," Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE) has published a new issue brief in response to state and federal bills being proposed that run counter to trans student rights. This brief shifts the conversation about...
A landmark special education law is 50. Some fear for its future
NPR Fifty years ago, just after Thanksgiving of 1975, President Gerald Ford signed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, the landmark law that created special education as it exists today, and guaranteed all children with disabilities the right to a "free...
IDEA turns 50 — And so did I. Only one of us is aging gracefully.
CT Examiner This year, on November 29th, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act—our nation’s promise to children with disabilities—turned 50. I also turned 50 in November. Unlike the IDEA, though, I did not require Congressional reauthorization to get here,...
Federal special education staff may get their jobs back. But for how long?
NPR The Trump administration has fired, or tried to fire, many of the federal staff at the U.S. Department of Education who manage and enforce federal disability law, though Education Secretary Linda McMahon has said federal funding for special education is not at...
