Federal Legislation & News
in Special Education
NJ: Mom advocating for special ed kids was arrested at N.J. meeting — then the city backed down
Yahoo News
A Jersey City mother who was escorted from a school board meeting in handcuffs and charged with defiant trespass was cleared of wrongdoing in court earlier this week. Jersey City Municipal Court Judge Cynthia Jackson dismissed the charge against the parent, the mother of a special education student, on Tuesday after the prosecutor said the city would not proceed with the case, according to the Jersey City Times. The mother was handcuffed and arrested in May after she allegedly shouted from the audience and refused to voluntarily leave the school board meeting. The arrest prompted criticism from several officials in Jersey City, including at least three city council members and two school board members. “The government attempted to shut down her point of view by arresting her and attempting to chill not only her speech, but the speech of others,” Leo J. Hurley, one of the mother’s two attorneys, told NJ.com on Wednesday…
Senate Bills Intend to Amend Education Laws, Including IDEA
Following the successful vote on S. 5046 — to prevent the move of four education offices and their programs outside of the Department of Education, including the Office for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee continued to discuss and favorably report several bills that seek to amend federal education laws. Two bills are supported by COPAA. The first is the Respond, Innovate, Succeed, and Empower Act (RISE Act), (S.3589), which passed unanimously, 22-0. RISE would amend the Higher Education Act to allow students with disabilities who matriculate in postsecondary education to use a valid Individualized Education Program (IEP) or Section 504 Plan as documentation when seeking accommodations. The second is the Reading Excellence and Achievement for Development (READ) Act (S. 4689), which passed by a vote of 20-2. The bill amends the Comprehensive Literacy State Development Program in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) by updating schools’ access to literacy grants, mandating early reading screenings [where grants apply], expanding teacher training, and supporting students at risk for dyslexia.
Unfortunately, the 21st Century Dyslexia Act (S. 3010) passed 12–10 with support from Senator John Hickenlooper (D-CO) alongside Republicans, despite notable opposition raised by Ranking Member Sanders (I-VT), Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) who, in support of COPAA and the entire disability community, filed two unvoted amendments to strike the bill entirely. For years, COPAA and others have raised significant concerns about the legislation and, despite extensive outreach, have been rebuffed by the bill’s author, Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-LA), in efforts to negotiate a better bill. If enacted, the dyslexia bill will create a new category in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for dyslexia and will place a new definition of dyslexia in the law that mandates IQ achievement discrepancy [and IQ testing] to determine the existence of dyslexia—a practice Congress rejected in 2004. During the discussion, Murphy highlighted national and state-level opposition: “No one I’ve met or spoken to wants this. In fact, my home state and 9 other states prohibit the use of IQ testing to identify dyslexia, 24 states permit IQ testing but do not require it, 10 states permit but discourage it, and 10 states do not allow districts to use it. So, Connecticut would have to change the law and use this method, a method which we got rid of federally in 2004.” Following the vote, COPAA signed a statement led by the National Center for Learning Disabilities, highlighting broad and deep opposition to the bill. HELP also considered a handful of additional bills; however, with no major education legislation moving through the Senate, the future of any of the education bills passed last week is unknown.
COPAA-Endorsed Bipartisan Bill Moves Through Senate Committee
Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-LA) gaveled in last Thursday’s Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee markup with laser-focused determination: to advance his 21st Century Dyslexia Act and honor his pledge to Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) by bringing to a vote a measure prohibiting the transfer of key U.S. Department of Education (ED) offices to other federal agencies. The Committee accomplished both goals. In a 13–9 vote, lawmakers advanced S. 5046, a bipartisan bill preventing the transfer of four critical divisions—the Office of Indian Education, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), and the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE)— to other Federal agencies. Republican Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) joined a unified Democratic bloc to secure the bill’s passage out of committee. “This bill is straightforward,” Collins said. “It keeps important landmark education programs at the Department of Education, where Congress specifically put them and where they belong.” Under the leadership of Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the bill was successfully amended to require the Secretary of Education to provide Congress with a cost analysis of each interagency agreement (IAA) and to submit quarterly reports to the Senate HELP and Appropriations Committees. In noting why this was necessary, Murray said, “Secretary McMahon is duplicating the work her Department was already [doing] by asking other agencies to do it instead and claiming somehow this makes government ‘more efficient.’ Fine. Prove it.” Murray also offered an amendment to prohibit the transfer of any ED office and one to prohibit the move of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to the Department of Justice; however, both were shot down by Republicans, including Collins, who spoke in favor of OCR’s planned move. While HELP Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-LA) did not vote in favor of the bipartisan bill, he did discuss his alternative bill, the Special Education Administration Protection Act (S. 5038), which would prevent ED from moving OSERS to the Health and Human Services agency but would have allowed OSERS to be moved to another agency. Given the evident support for the bipartisan bill, Cassidy did not call S. 5038 forward. Following the vote on S. 5046, Denise Marshall, COPAA CEO, issued a short statement to congratulate the HELP Committee and urge COPAA members — whose Senator voted in favor — to thank them:
“Thank you to every COPAA member who urged Congress to stop illegal transfers of education programs outside the Department of Education. Thanks to your efforts, the Senate HELP Committee passed S. 5046. The bill protects offices overseeing elementary, secondary, special, vocational rehabilitation, Indian, and postsecondary education from transfer to other federal agencies. Specifically, it prevents the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) from moving to Health and Human Services (HHS) or any other agency. We especially thank the Senators who led the bill negotiations that led to agreement: Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). If you live in the listed states your Senator voted for the bill. Please take a moment to thank your Senator for supporting every child with a disability and their family. AK(Murkowski), CO (Hickenlooper), CT (Murphy), DE (Blunt-Rochester), MA (Markey), MD (Alsobrooks), ME (Collins), NH (Hassan), NJ (Kim), VA (Kaine), VT (Sanders), WA (Murray), WI (Baldwin)”
75% of educators expect student behavior to be a challenge this year. What Else?
Education Week
As educators prepare for a new school year, concerns about students’ behavior, achievement, and well-being are top of mind, even as schools and districts face ongoing challenges from financial uncertainty and political headwinds. The EdWeek Research Center surveyed more than 1,000 teachers and school and district administrators about major challenges they expect to face in the 2026-27 school year. Given a list of 27 options, the largest proportion of respondents, 75%, identified student behavior as a major concern, followed closely by student engagement at 70%. The top five most common responses to the survey question, administered from April 29 to June 22, related directly to students. The sixth most common answer was budget uncertainty, which 42% of respondents expect to be a major concern. The finding comes as declining enrollment, strained state budgets, inflation, and threats to federal funding have led many districts to make tough budgeting calls—including layoffs and school closures—and brace for continued uncertainty…
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Note: Special education ranked 7th among 27 concerns noted by educators.
Senate Commerce Committee to Mark-Up Children’s Online Safety Bills
Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX) has announced the mark-up of several children’s online safety bills in the Senate Commerce Committee next week. The bills included in the notice are: the SCREEN Act (S.737) sponsored by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT); the Kids Online Safety Act (S. 1748), championed by Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT); the Youth AI Privacy Act (S. 4199), sponsored by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA); the CHATBOT Act (S.4407) sponsored by Cruz and Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI); and the Children’s Artificial Intelligence Toy Safety Act (S.5171), sponsored by Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).
Read the bills and view the mark-up here.
Education Bills Move Through Senate Committee, McMahon Responds
Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-LA) gaveled in Thursday’s Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee markup with laser-focused determination: to advance his 21st Century Dyslexia Act and honor his pledge to Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) by bringing to a vote a measure prohibiting the transfer of key U.S. Department of Education (ED) offices to other federal agencies. The Committee accomplished both goals. In a 13–9 vote, lawmakers advanced S. 5046, a bipartisan bill preventing the transfer of four critical divisions—the Office of Indian Education, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), and the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE)— to other Federal agencies. Republican Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) joined a unified Democratic bloc to secure the bill’s passage out of committee. “This bill is straightforward,” Collins said. “It keeps important landmark education programs at the Department of Education where Congress specifically put them and where they belong.” Under the leadership of Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the bill was successfully amended to include a requirement for the Secretary of Education to provide a cost analysis of each interagency agreement (IAA) to Congress and to provide quarterly reports to the Senate HELP and Appropriations Committees. In noting why this was necessary, Murray said, “Secretary McMahon is duplicating the work her Department was already [doing] by asking other agencies to do it instead and claiming somehow this makes government ‘more efficient.’ Fine. Prove it.” Murray also offered an amendment to prohibit the transfer of any ED office, and one to prohibit the move of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to Justice; however, both were shot down by Republicans, including Collins who spoke in favor of OCR’s planned move. While HELP Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-LA) did not vote in favor of the bipartisan bill, he did discuss his alternative bill, the Special Education Administration Protection Act (S. 5038), which would prevent ED from moving OSERS to the Health and Human Services agency. Given the evident support for the bipartisan bill, Cassidy did not call S. 5038 forward. Following the favorable vote, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and other cabinet members sent a joint letter to congressional leadership defending the Administration’s IAAs that transfer core education functions to other federal departments.
The Committee proceeded to discuss and favorably report several bills that seek to amend federal education laws including the Respond, Innovate, Succeed, and Empower Act (RISE) Act (S.3589) which passed unanimously, 22-0. RISE would amend the Higher Education Act to allow students with disabilities who matriculate into postsecondary education to use a valid Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or Section 504 Plan for documentation when seeking accommodations. HELP also passed the Reading Excellence and Achievement for Development (READ) Act (S. 4689) by a vote of 20-2. The bill amends the Comprehensive Literacy State Development Program in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) by updating schools’ access to literacy grants, mandating early reading screenings [where grants apply], and expanding teacher training and supports students at risk for dyslexia. Although the 21st Century Dyslexia Act (S. 3010) passed 12–10 with support from Senator John Hickenlooper (D CO) alongside Republicans, it faced notable opposition. Ranking Member Sanders (I-VT) spoke against the bill in his opening remarks and Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) filed two unvoted amendments to strike the bill entirely, echoing the disability community’s concerns over creating a separate IDEA category for dyslexia and mandating IQ testing—a practice Congress rejected in 2004. Murphy highlighted national and state-level opposition: “No one I’ve met or spoken to wants this. In fact, my home state and 9 other states prohibit the use of IQ testing to identify dyslexia, 24 states permit IQ testing but do not require it, 10 states permit but discourage it, and 10 states do not allow districts to use it. So, Connecticut would have to change the law and use this method, a method which we got rid of federally in 2004.” Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) also spoke against the bill. HELP also considered a handful of additional bills, however, with no major education legislation moving through the Senate, the future of the bills is unknown.
View the mark-up here.
Read Secretary McMahon’s letter here.
Senate Funding Bill Could Alter Key Rule on Federal Grants
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has indicated that plans are taking shape for a round of votes next week before the Senate departs for the August recess. Top priority is taking up the short-term funding bill (aka continuing resolution) passed by the House earlier this month that would fund the federal government into December. Appropriations Chairperson Susan Collins (R-ME) said text for the continuing resolution (CR) could be unveiled as early as this afternoon with a possible vote on Monday. The Senate CR may differ from the House as several Senators, including Chair Collins, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and all Senate Democrats want to attach language that would block the Administration from finalizing a plan to put political appointees in charge of approving grants. “I have made very clear that I oppose the new [OMB] rule,” Collins told reporters. “So, I hope we’ll take advantage of this opportunity to delay it. But that’s up to the leadership.” Thune told reporters, “There are a handful of issues under consideration, and I’m hoping that both sides can come together and figure the last couple of remaining issues out.” Thune must also determine how to proceed on the $95 billion budget reconciliation measure passed by the House. The next step is for the Senate to issue instructions to several committees, initiating a politically charged process that could take weeks or months. Senate leadership knows this delay will upset the President, who wants the budget bill passed immediately.
Senate Committee to Consider Bipartisan Bill Protecting Special Education
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee has scheduled a markup for Thursday, July 30 to vote on an unprecedented bipartisan agreement that prohibits the transfer of certain offices and functions of the Department of Education (ED) to other Federal agencies. The primary bill under consideration, S. 5046, was negotiated by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Tim Kaine (D-VA) and explicitly prohibits the Administration from transferring four ED offices—the Office of Indian Education, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), and the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE)—out of ED. Concurrently, HELP Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-LA) announced his own proposal, the Special Education Administration Protection Act (S. 5038), which would prevent the executive branch from moving OSERS into the Department of Health and Human Services, while leaving open the possibility of transferring the office to alternative agencies. Alongside these bills, HELP will also mark-up the Respond, Innovate, Succeed, and Empower Act (RISE) Act (HR.3939/S.3589), the Reading Excellence and Achievement for Development (READ) Act (S. 4689), the 21st Century Dyslexia Act (HR 5769/S.3010), the College Transparency Act (S.2511), and several other bills.
House Sends Budget Bills to Senate and Departs for August Recess
Last week, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) led the House through two votes that tee up federal funding discussions after the August recess. The first is passage of a short-term continuing resolution (CR) that will extend federal appropriations funding -for all federal agencies- at current funding levels through December 4, 2026. In a 220–205 vote—with 6 Democrats joining 213 Republicans—the House approved a stopgap funding measure to avert a federal shutdown before the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Calling it a “clean CR,” House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) said the bill’s passage “prevents a partisan shutdown fight in September.” The second bill -which passed 216-214 with three House Republicans voting against it- is a third budget reconciliation package worth $95 billion that would provide funding for the Pentagon, agriculture aid, and for states to adopt new voting restrictions. While a budget reconciliation bill technically can be fast-tracked through the Senate with a simple majority vote, this measure is already being criticized because it does not include any spending offsets. Both bills now proceed to the Senate. In the case of the CR, it is required to meet a 60-vote threshold to pass and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said he will bring it to a vote in the coming two weeks. Regarding the budget blueprint, he noted that he’ll “hold reconciliation” as a backup to help the Senate work out the appropriations deal first.
86 House Dems Demand Halt to OSERS and OCR Move to HHS and DOJ
Eighty-six House Democrats sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education (ED) urging a halt to its planned transfer of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to the Department of Justice (DOJ). The lawmakers argued that only Congress can approve such a reorganization, warned that the transfers would weaken critical services and civil rights enforcement, and contended that the receiving agencies are not equipped to administer these programs effectively.
New Report Details Rapid Increase in Use of School Vouchers
The Children’s Equity Project (CEP) has published The Data and Policy Landscapes of Education Vouchers: Inequitable Opportunity and the Unprecedented Shift in Public Education Dollars. The report examines the evolution and current state of education voucher programs, beginning with an overview of the voucher policy landscape and the history of vouchers in the United States. It explores concerns about access and equity, the diversion of resources from public schools, and challenges associated with voucher systems. The report also examines issues related to private school capacity and admissions discretion, transparency and accountability, civil rights protections, and the unique impacts of vouchers on rural communities.
COPAA and Partners Demand Information and Transparency from the Department of Education
As millions of students prepare to return to school, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) still hasn’t explained how it will protect students’ civil rights and special education rights after announcing plans to transfer major responsibilities to other federal agencies. Last week, the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL), the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (LCCRUL), and the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) demanded transparency and advanced a sweeping legal effort to force transparency from the Department. On Friday, NCYL filed two lawsuits in federal court in response to the Department’s repeated failure to comply with the Freedom of Information Act’s (FOIA) statutory deadlines for responding to public records requests.
The first lawsuit, filed jointly with COPAA, seeks records about the Office for Civil Rights’ processing of disability discrimination complaints amid growing concerns about staffing reductions and enforcement capacity. The second lawsuit, filed by NCYL, seeks records responsive to four separate FOIA requests concerning the Department’s handling of civil rights complaints, the release of the Civil Rights Data Collection for 2023-24, and communications with outside organizations regarding federal education.
“Students with disabilities deserve an equitable, discrimination-free education. When discrimination based on disability occurs, there must be a process to investigate and address it,” said Selene Almazan, Legal Director at COPAA. “Students and families also deserve accountability, which depends entirely on the transparency FOIA guarantees. The Department’s inaction on these requests directly blocks that transparency, and this cannot stand.”
Read the full press release here.
NCLD Leads Lawsuit to Protect Special Education Research Funding
Protect Democracy and Jacobson Lawyers Group have filed a lawsuit on behalf of the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD), the Massachusetts Teachers Association, and other organizations challenging actions by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Department of Education, and senior federal officials for withholding hundreds of millions of dollars appropriated by Congress for education research, data collection, technical assistance, and program evaluation. The plaintiffs argue that the Constitution gives Congress—not the executive branch—the authority to determine federal spending and that delaying or withholding these funds unlawfully undermines programs administered through the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). According to the lawsuit, the funding delays reduce the research, evidence, and technical support available to states, school districts, educators, and families, ultimately affecting equitable access for students with disabilities. The suit alleges violations of federal appropriations law, the Antideficiency Act, and the Constitutional separation of powers, and seeks to compel the release and obligation of the appropriated funds as required by law.
House Committee Advances Bills to Move Education Programs to Other Agencies, Special Education and Civil Rights Offices Not Included
Last week, the House Education and the Workforce Committee held a markup to amend and vote on the “Less Bureaucracy, Better Education” legislative package. The package consists of 10 bills to permanently move certain K-12, higher education, adult education, and career and technical education programs from the Department of Education (ED) to other agencies. The bill package aims to make permanent some of the Interagency Agreements (IAA) that have been announced and have begun to be implemented over the last year. In addition to moving programs, the bills state that those moves cannot be used to increase the total number of full-time staff in the affected agencies beyond the staffing levels in place when the bill becomes law. Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) characterized the bills as the “first step” of closing ED. Lawmakers clashed on party lines about the bills and their underlying purpose, with Republicans asserting that shuttering ED is necessary because educational attainment has not improved since the Department was established, the move will lessen bureaucracy and will “return education to the states.” Democrats countered by asserting that the bills provide cover to ED, as the IAAs conflict with education statutes and other federal laws. Over the course of six hours, the Republican bills prevailed and Democratic amendments failed as Committee members disagreed on everything from fundamental principles of the IAAs to the necessary staffing levels required to implement education programs and more. The only Member to cross party lines was Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-CA), who sided with Democrats and opposed moving K-12 education programs to the Department of Labor, and, on a preemptive amendment offered by Rep. John Mannion (D-NY) to prevent the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) from being transferred to any other agency. However, Kiley’s opposition wasn’t enough to give Democrats a win. Note, neither the planned move of OSERS to Health and Human Services, nor the move of the Office for Civil Rights to Justice were part of the 10-bill package. Ultimately, all 10 bills were approved with Republican-only support. Next steps for the package in the House remain unclear. When asked by the press about the viability of the bills in the Senate, Senate Appropriations Vice Chairman Patty Murray (D-WA) said, “So let me be crystal clear: under NO circumstances will I let these bills pass the Senate.”
Autism Society Publishes Guide for Educators, Parents, and Students
The Autism Society, in conjunction with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), has published Beyond Acceptance: Autism Inclusion and Equity, a guide for educators, parents, and students. The guide provides a history of autism in educational settings, explains the multifactorial nature of autism, and distinguishes between a medical diagnosis and an educational determination. The publication also includes autism-related specifics on the application of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, educational strategies, and cultural support.