Federal Legislation & News
in Special Education
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COPAA Members on Capitol Hill
Last week, 70 COPAA members from 20 states conducted 75 hill visits to make recommendations to the 119th Congress. With overwhelmingly positive reviews, advocates reported that their visits were both impactful and timely as Congress finalizes the budget reconciliation bill, determines funding levels for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)/other education programs, and contemplates proposals that may impact which agency houses IDEA and supports children with disabilities in the long run. During COPAA Hill Days, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and the Senate Democratic Caucus hosted Abandoning America’s Promise: The Real Cost of Dismantling the Department of Education where COPAA member Diane Willcutts testified -and took questions from ten U.S. Senators- about the critically important role of the Office of Special Education and the Office for Civil Rights. (See below). Overall, COPAA Hill Days was an enormous success. If you want to engage with COPAA in its advocacy with the U.S. Congress, please take five minutes and send emails to your Senators and Representative about the urgent matters under debate today!
Senate Democrats Hosts Forum on Administration’s Education Activities
On Tuesday, May 6, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, hosted a forum on the Administration’s proposal and current activities focused on dismantling the Department of Education (ED). Attended by ten Senate Democrats, the forum was described as “the first in a series” to “expose and create more awareness about the devastating consequences for students, families, educators, and schools.” The event featured testimony from Rhode Island’s Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Angélica Infante-Green, President and CEO of The Education Trust Denise Forte, parent advocate and member of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates Diane Willcutts, and Tasha Berkhalter, an Army veteran who was defrauded by ITT Tech. The forum highlighted the historical context and current role of ED, which was described by Forte as having four critical pillars. Willcutts and Infante-Green highlighted the need for ED to continue to function and provide guidance through Dear Colleague Letters and provide technical assistance to states and districts whose oversight, according to Infante-Green, “helps keep honest states honest and helps those who waiver do better.” Willcutts gave examples of the important roles of the Office of Special Education and the Office for Civil Rights in helping students with disabilities and families directly when “one phone call from ED helped a district change its position…so a child [at home due to epilepsy] could take the bus and return safely to school.” Murray concluded by reaffirming that abolishing ED is “deeply unpopular” with the public and asserted that Senate Democrats “will not stand idly by as [the Administration] jeopardizes the rights, opportunities, access, and funding for all our schools and millions of students.”
COPAA Opposes House Budget Bills that Jeopardize IDEA Rights, Cut Medicaid
This week the House Ways & Means Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee have proposed budget reconciliation bills that include provisions harmful to children with disabilities. Specifically, the House Ways & Means bill would add $20 billion in funding for a tax mechanism that would provide tax credits to individuals who donate to “a scholarship granting organization” and then access up to $5000 annually through a voucher to use for tuition, curriculum, books, online education, and more. Families making more than three times the local median income do not qualify. While language was added to reference students with disabilities and accessing “equitable services” -as allowed under current law to ensure public school districts reserve some IDEA funding for parentally placed children in private schools- the bill does not add any new protections. Similarly, the House Energy and Commerce bill would cut Medicaid by more than $800 billion.
“The House budget bills deliver a double blow to children with disabilities by prioritizing a flawed voucher scheme and by cutting funding essential to providing services to children with disabilities,” said Denise Marshall, COPAA CEO. “On its own, the voucher proposal is a bait and switch because we know families who use vouchers can lose their IDEA rights; accountability suffers; and costs go up. Rather than prioritizing IDEA funding to benefit the 8 million children with disabilities (ages 0-21) served by early intervention and schools, the House has proposed a $20 billion boon to private schools that is paid for by massive cuts to Medicaid. Together, these proposals jeopardize access to all IDEA protections, including the screenings, interventions, therapies and services, assistive technology, and more that children and youth with disabilities need.”
COPAA is the author of School Choice Series Choice & Vouchers—Implications for Students with Disabilities, whose findings demonstrated that while some families can benefit from voucher programs, what is also true is that most voucher programs cut the IDEA-eligible child off from IDEA rights and cause loss of services and supports. The report also highlights the severe consequences families can face, such as financial strain; being pushed out by private or religious schools when children are deemed too challenging to educate; and there is often no accountability for student outcomes equal to state accountability systems.
How kids with disabilities will be impacted by Medicaid, Education Department cuts
19th News
Jolene Baxter’s daughter, Marlee, has overcome immense challenges in her first eight years of life. Marlee, who was born with a heart defect, has undergone four open-heart surgeries — suffering a stroke after the third. The stroke affected Marlee’s cognitive abilities — she’s in the second grade, but she cannot read yet. A mainstream class with neurotypical students felt overwhelming, so Marlee mostly attends classes with kids who also have disabilities. Her care includes physical, occupational, and speech therapies. For years, Baxter has relied on Medicaid to cover Marlee’s medical expenses while advocating for her daughter’s right to an equal education. Medicaid, which covers therapies, surgeries, and medication for Marlee — and disability protections under the Department of Education have been a critical safety net for Baxter, a single mom in Oklahoma City. Now, Baxter fears that proposed cuts to Medicaid and those already underway at the Department of Education, which President Donald Trump has effectively gutted, will have a disastrous impact on her daughter.
Trump’s dismantling of Education Department gives states ‘green light’ to pursue voucher programs
NBC News
A growing number of red states have expanded their school voucher programs in recent years, a trend that is likely to only spike further amid a push led by President Donald Trump’s administration to return education “back to the states.” Conservative education activists have long lauded such programs as a way to give greater control to parents and families. However, public education advocates warn that the expansion of these voucher programs presents further risk to the broader school system as it faces peril from Trump’s dismantling of the Department of Education. “Many states came into this administration with a track record of trying to privatize education, and I think they see this move to dismantle and defund the Department of Ed and President Trump’s support of school privatization as a green light to be more expansive in their approach moving forward,” said Hilary Wething, an economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute who closely studies the impact of voucher programs on public education. Just last week, Texas enacted a statewide private school voucher program, becoming the 16th state to offer some form of a universal school choice program.