Federal Legislation & News
in Special Education
COPAA Hill Days: May 5-7, 2025 – All are Welcome. Sign Up Today!
Join COPAA on May 5-7, 2025, in Washington, DC, to meet in-person with federal policymakers about legislative priorities impacting students with disabilities. No experience is required, and training will be provided. COPAA will schedule your Hill visits and will assign you to a state/regional team. We invite every COPAA member to join us and put a face and voice to COPAA’s funding and legislative priorities for students with disabilities. Learn more and register here by April 11, 2025.
Why Trump’s move to shift special ed. to HHS Is rattling educators
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.
Special education and Trump: What parents and schools need to know
The Hechinger Report
President Donald Trump has pledged to shutter the Department of Education but also promised that students with disabilities will keep getting the services they need. Special education advocates, school district officials, and teachers say mass federal layoffs mean that too few people are left to carry out a complicated law intended to protect some of the nation’s most vulnerable students’ right to an education. The administration laid off nearly half the Education Department’s staff and slashed its civil rights enforcement arm, and Trump says he wants to move special education programs to the Department of Health and Human Services — an agency that announced its own round of mass layoffs in March. The nation’s teachers’ unions, along with the NAACP, two Massachusetts public school districts, and others have sued, challenging the many changes.
(NOTE: COPAA CEO Denise Marshall is quoted in this article.)
Education leaders support Mannion’s bill to protect rights of students with disabilities
CNY Central
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday aimed at dismantling the federal Department of Education, sparking a legislative response from Congressman John Mannion. Mannion introduced a bill to strengthen the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a law enacted 50 years ago to protect students with disabilities. Mannion, representing New York’s 22nd District, said, “Enshrined into law, there must be special education services. The Office of Special Education must be within that department.” He added that moving these services to another department would violate the act and questioned whether another department could provide the necessary expertise and attention. Nicole Capsello, president of the Syracuse Teachers Association and a former special education teacher, expressed concern over the potential impact of Trump’s order.
A Texas student was kneed in the face by a school cop: Her civil rights case is one of thousands that may never be resolved
The 74
After a campus police officer grabbed student Ja’Liyah Celestine by the hair and kneed her in the face, she filed a federal civil rights complaint that alleged persistent racial discrimination against Black teens at her Texas high school. But the complaint, brought by the 18-year-old in late October with the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, may never get investigated. That’s because it’s one of thousands of federal civil rights complaints and investigations against school districts nationally — particularly those alleging sexual misconduct or racism — that advocates say have been left to languish by the Trump administration with little hope for resolution. As the president and Secretary Linda McMahon seek to dismantle the Education Department — with its civil rights office among the hardest hit by layoffs — attorneys say students like Celestine have lost one of their few avenues for relief.
(NOTE: COPAA’s recent lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education is referenced in this article.)
The US right is coming for disabled people. Here’s why that threatens everyone
The Guardian
Twelve days before Donald Trump took office, Charlie Kirk, media personality and rightwing activist, complained on his eponymous show about the presence of American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters at emergency press briefings for the Los Angeles fires. Another rightwing activist, Christopher Rufo, took his cue on X, calling interpreters “wild human gesticulators” who turned briefings into a “farce”. The rightwing theorist and Origins of Woke author Richard Hanania, quote-tweeting Rufo, declared ASL interpretation an “absurdity”. Around this time, Elon Musk was skulking around the platform, campaigning to bring back the R-word. Use of the slur tripled on X after his post. To those with less knowledge of disability history, these attacks might read as gross but ultimately toothless. Activists, though, quickly sounded the alarm: the incoming administration would be coming for disabled people. “To the deaf community, the fight for accessibility is nothing new,” said Sara Miller, a deaf educator and community advocate.
Republicans Keen to Move IDEA to HHS Via Appropriations Bill
On the heels of the President announcing plans to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and move all student loans to the Small Business Administration (SBA) and “special needs education” to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Republican appropriators indicated last week that they would consider any plan the President might send to the Hill. “I’m broadly supportive of what his aims are there, so I’d be happy to sit down and work with him any way I could,” House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) said. Following suit, both Senate Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee Chair Shelley Moore-Capito (R-WV) and House Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee Chairman Robert B. Aderholt (R-AL) said they would be open to moving ED’s functions if that is what the White House seeks. While the discussion makes it sound possible, and it technically is, the reality is that to move funding from one federal account to another (i.e., ED loan accounts to SBA, ED special education functions to HHS), Congress would also need to approve amendments to the statutory laws under which the funds are authorized. In these cases, it would include amending the Higher Education Act and both Part B and Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA); and any eventual vote would also require the Senate to reach the 60-vote threshold. COPAA opposes any effort to eliminate ED and to move vital education programs and funding, including IDEA to HHS. Tell Congress to reject such proposals.
Report Finds Millions of Students Left with No Civil Rights Protections
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee released a report highlighting the impacts of recent firings at the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) on students who rely on OCR to carry out statutory requirements to investigate and protect their civil rights. According to the report, after actions taken by Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to eliminate over 240 positions and close more than half of OCR’s regional offices, more than 46 million students in 27 States and territories have been left without civil rights investigators to investigate their complaints; and, OCR political appointees have not provided any public communications to students or families about the plan to resolve their open cases. Data provided shows that fired staff were working on 6,896 cases, leaving thousands of students in potentially unsafe learning environments—or out of school entirely—and without any clear plan for resolution. Caseloads for remaining investigators are expected to increase by more than 200 percent.
WH Issues Executive Order to Close the Department of Education
Last Thursday, the White House issued an Executive Order (EO) to begin closing the U.S. Department of Education (ED). Characterized as a State’s responsibility, the intention is to return the Department’s main function back to the States for management. Moreover, “Consistent with the Department of Education’s authorities, the Secretary of Education shall ensure that the allocation of any Federal Department of Education funds is subject to rigorous compliance with Federal law and Administration policy.” The Administration has acknowledged that closure of the Department requires an act of Congress. To that end, Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-LA) of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee vowed to work with his colleagues in Congress to carry out the EO. COPAA, along with education, civil rights, and disability advocates have opposed the EO, including the proposal to move special education programs -that are housed by federal statute at ED- to HHS.
Executive Order Aiming to Close Ed Department Paves Way to Offload Special Education
Disability Scoop (Note: limited free articles)
President Donald Trump is directing his education secretary to move forward with dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, a step that advocates say would have serious implications for students with disabilities. Trump signed an executive order Thursday calling for Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to take “all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the states.” She is to do so while “ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely,” the order states. President Donald Trump is directing his education secretary to move forward with dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, a step that advocates say would have serious implications for students with disabilities.
“If the secretary moves forward to try to dismantle ED, every child with a disability stands to be harmed when federal funding is separated from key federal requirements, when federal oversight of discrimination in education is obliterated, and when investments in education research, technical assistance/training and data collection and transparency in outcomes for children no longer exist,” said Denise S. Marshall, CEO of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates.
Trump declares change to federal oversight for students with disabilities
Chalkbeat
A big change for kids with disabilities is underway, Trump says. Critics say it’s against the law. President Donald Trump made a brief announcement Friday morning of a policy that could upend how the nation serves its 7.5 million students with disabilities. Offering virtually no details, Trump said he’d decided that the Department of Health and Human Services would handle students’ “special needs” instead of the Education Department. “Rather complex,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “I think that will work out very well.” But many legal experts and advocates for children with disabilities say the president does not have the authority to move funding or oversight of special education to another agency. That would require an act of Congress, they say.
Denise Marshall, the CEO of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, said that her members oppose moving special education to Health and Human Services. “That department does not have the expertise or the knowledge, not only about what the law requires but about best practices, about what works, and about ensuring that students with disabilities learn to read and write and do math and graduate at higher percentages,” she said.
What to know about the future of special education without the Education Department
Here & Now
A special education leader under the George W. Bush administration says the dismantling of the Department of Education will impact students with disabilities. Stephanie Smith Lee now serves as policy and advocacy co-director at the National Down Syndrome Congress, a nonprofit organization that helps families understand what’s at stake for a federal law that Congress established in 1975. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act has helped people like Lee’s late daughter, Laura, go to college. “I and other parents have experienced challenges with the schools and other things, but we went from a situation where, when Laura was born, we were encouraged to institutionalize her – to her going to college,” Lee said. “So, in 50 years, we’ve gone from institutionalization to an institute of higher education.”
Trump-voting states have more to lose if Education Department dismantled
Axios
President Trump’s campaign promise to dismantle the Department of Education could prove more costly for red states than blue. Why it matters: Funding for public schools primarily falls to local and state governments, but federal funds work to fill the gaps. States that voted for Trump last November, on average, use more federal funding in their education apportions than states that voted for former Vice President Harris. “That dependence is, in large part, because they’re just lower wealth states, and they don’t have the same capacity to step in and make up that difference,” Kevin Welner, the director of the National Education Policy Center, told Axios. State of play: Average federal spending in the 2021-22 school year was 17% in Trump-voting states compared to 11% in states that voted for Harris.
NCYL and COPAA File Federal Lawsuit Against ED for Failing to Investigate Civil Rights Complaints
The National Center for Youth Law (NCYL) and the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) filed a federal lawsuit yesterday on behalf of students and families across the country that seeks to reverse the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights’ (OCR) recent decision to effectively stop investigating civil rights complaints.
“Failing to investigate civil rights complaints is a betrayal of students and families across the country, all of whom deserve justice,” said Shakti Belway, NCYL’s Executive Director. “To abandon thousands of claims, while our schools are seeing increased bullying, harassment, and discrimination, not only goes against the very mission of the Department of Education, it sends a chilling message that schools don’t need to foster an environment in which every student is safe and welcome. This only undermines student safety, while emboldening those who may not have students’ best interests at heart.”
The lawsuit was filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C., on behalf of two parents who have pending claims with the OCR as well as the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA). It asks the judge to order OCR to continue conducting civil rights investigations, as required by law, and for OCR to provide periodic updates to the court about its efforts to process and investigate civil rights complaints.
“Secretary McMahon and the Department must be held accountable for harmful actions taken to obstruct families’ access to OCR’s complaint investigation process when discrimination is alleged on the basis of race, sex and the intersection with disability,” stated COPAA’s legal director and co-counsel, Selene Almazan. “It is intolerable that the Administration has taken actions against a backdrop of unveiled hostility towards students of color, LGBTQI+ students and whose race and gender intersect with disability. These nefarious moves jeopardize student safety and may block their access to education programs in schools where they have a right to learn and thrive.”
The lawsuit details how OCR is perverting its core function of supporting all students who face discrimination and/or harassment by pausing investigations into discrimination on the basis of race and sex and intersectional discrimination; incapacitating OCR by gutting its staff; and obstructing families’ access to OCR’s complaint and investigation process. The suit comes in the same week Secretary McMahon laid off hundreds of OCR staff, and provided no information or apparent plan for how student and family rights will be protected. The combination of these actions affect children and disrupt the entire ecosystem designed to provide the evidence base, technical assistance and enforcement needed to assure every child learns. As explained in the lawsuit, OCR’s actions violate the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause and the federal Administrative Procedure Act.
As a result of OCR’s actions, students and families are now denied the basic opportunity to have their discrimination claims heard and investigated. Families with pending complaints have been left in the dark as requests for information or status updates about their cases aren’t answered. OCR has barred its employees from communicating with students, families and schools, meaning that all currently scheduled meetings and mediations have been canceled. This is happening at a time when OCR is receiving an unprecedented number of discrimination complaints each year. Students and families rely on OCR when their local schools or districts are unhelpful or are the perpetrators of discrimination.
COPAA opposes the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education (ED)
COPAA opposes the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education (ED). Doing so poses a serious threat to public education. As advocates, we know that these unprecedented actions will result in devastating and irreversible harm to our students, communities, and country, both in the short and long term. Without federal safeguards, students with disabilities, students of color, students from low-income backgrounds, and other underserved student populations will face increased disparities in access to a high-quality education. The following resources are from our colleagues at EdTrust.
ED provides $85 billion in crucial education investments, serving over 50 million K-12 students and more than 15 million college students nationwide. It also administers more than $100 billion annually in Pell Grants and student loans to support postsecondary access and success. Draconian cuts to federal funding and staff put all students at risk.
EdTrust has developed an advocacy toolkit with a series of resources, including:
- The #SaveOurStudents landing page – This advocacy hub has example actions, sample messaging, social media posts, and guidance on publicly discussing this issue and links out to other resources.
- The #SaveOurStudents media toolkit – This toolkit includes guides for writing press releases, letters to the editor, blogs, and op-eds and engaging media effectively.
- A series of state 1 pagers outlining the specific impact of federal funding on your state’s education system and what’s at stake for your state by losing federal education aid. The webpage also includes an interactive data tool with state-level funding data.