Special Education
Laws & News
Across the States
NH: New Hampshire disability community rallies against federal cuts to special education
New Hampshire Bulletin
Angelina Leo, an Exeter High School senior, said that without the special education services she received throughout her time in school, she wouldn’t even be able to speak. Leo, who has physical and learning disabilities, sees herself as an example of why special education works. She can now read and write. She also has siblings who have benefited from special education. That’s why when she heard about cuts and changes to the federal Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, she was “peeved.” “And then I was scared,” she said Monday at a demonstration in Concord opposing the changes. “Because what does that mean for me going into college, and what does that mean for my younger siblings, some of which need more help than I needed?” Leo said that in elementary school, her teachers told her mother she’d never graduate high school. Now, she’s on pace to graduate and hopes to attend a community college for a few years before going to the University of New Hampshire to study biomedical engineering. She would like to one day create mobility and accessibility devices for people with disabilities.
NY: NY schools say students restrained, put in time out over 20,000 times
Times Union
More than 3,600 New York public school students were physically restrained or isolated in “timeouts” in at least 20,000 incidents last year, including some cases that violated state regulations. That’s according to the New York State Education Department, which has required schools to report these incidents to the state for the first time following a Times Union investigation in 2022 that found widespread use of the controversial behavioral techniques. The newspaper’s reporting revealed that the practices have resulted in injuries and deaths to students and staff across the U.S.
TX: How one state is leading the way for English learners with disabilities
Education Week
Texas officials are making progress toward creating a new bilingual special education teacher certification, which advocates hope will set a national example for states serving students dually identified as English learners and students with disabilities. In 2021, the Texas legislature passed House Bill 2256, mandating the creation of a bilingual special education teacher certificate. After years of development, the state board of education formally adopted the standards for the new certification in September 2025. The exam for the certification is expected to be in practice in 2028. “I think the certification represents a very historic shift in how we prepare teachers to serve emergent bilingual students, especially those kids with disabilities, because it’s not as if it’s two separate populations. It’s the whole child whose language, culture, and learning differences intersect,” said Lizdelia Piñón, an emergent bilingual education associate for the Texas-based advocacy nonprofit Intercultural Development Research Association, or IDRA. Piñón helped develop the certificate’s standards.
ID: Special ed services show up more explicitly in November levy ballot language
ID ED News
Voters will see evidence of the growing special education funding gap on their ballots next month, as seven school districts seek more than $3.3 million in supplemental levy funds to pay for special education. That’s a significant increase from May, when four districts asked for just over $980,000 to cover special education. And those are just the explicit asks. School districts commonly use levy funds to pay staff salaries and benefits, and staffers are often paraeducators who largely serve special education students. The levy asks come at a time when the gap between what the state and federal government reimburse for special education services has grown to an estimated $100 million. Superintendent of Public Instruction Debbie Critchfield has made reducing the gap her top priority for the upcoming legislative session, and asked for $50 million in special education funding in her budget request to the governor.
ME: Federal special education layoffs could hit Maine schools hard, educators warn
Maine Morning Star
Maine special educators — who are already overwhelmed and underfunded — are worried about being able to consistently meet the needs of students amid the changing federal landscape, said Jesse Hargrove, president of the Maine Education Association, which represents most of the state’s teachers. “Part of what we don’t know is how this is going to affect educators? How soon will it affect them?” he said, adding that other impacts from the government shutdown are “compounding the situation.” The pending layoffs and ongoing federal government shutdown, which just entered its fourth week, mean there are fewer people responsible for ensuring special education students are getting the services they need by guaranteeing that states receive funding, training, and technical assistance, according to Sarah Wilkinson, an assistant professor of special education at the University of Southern Maine. In Maine specifically, the teacher preparation program, which receives federal assistance for recruiting and training special educators, is now at risk, she said. Also, federal grants underpin initiatives like the Maine Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports system, which is used by districts to identify and support all students based on their individual needs.
MI: Lipsitt: What cuts to special ed mean for Michigan’s kids (OPINION)
The Detroit News
When a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to lay off hundreds of U.S. Department of Education employees late last week, many celebrated. But for those of us who work directly with Michigan families of students with disabilities, it felt less like a victory and more like a momentary pause in a deepening crisis. Even if the shutdown-era layoffs are halted, the damage has already begun. The Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Office of Special Education & Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), which provide lifelines for students and families seeking accountability, have been hollowed out. Complaints sit unanswered, investigations are stalled, and parents have nowhere to turn when their children are denied services required by federal law.
PA: Federal education cuts worry PA students with disabilities advocates
Elwood City Ledger
Groups that advocate for public schools in Pennsylvania warn that steps to downsize and dismantle the U.S. Department of Education will mean less help for students with disabilities. The Trump administration’s changes could severely curtail services for 373,000 students in Pennsylvania. Margie Wakelin, senior attorney for the Education Law Center, said a federal court has temporarily blocked massive layoffs at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. While the administration insists it will protect programs for students with disabilities, Wakelin said its actions suggest otherwise.
PA: Concerns grow over restraints for Pa. students with disabilities
NBC10 Philadelphia
Holton says she didn’t know the full extent of what happened in the classroom until she got a call from the school district in the spring. “The Special Ed supervisor called me and said that he was restrained 3,193 times,” she said, her voice breaking. That was over the course of four months. “I remember, like, catching my breath and saying, ‘Wait, you mean minutes, minutes?’ and she said, ‘No, times,'” Holton said. The son of school board member James Pepper was in the same classroom. “They were so completely and utterly failed,” Pepper said in an August board meeting. Pepper’s son, who also has autism and is non-verbal, was restrained an estimated 2,933 times, according to an email the district sent Pepper and his wife recapping a phone call about the restraints. In total, the Central Bucks School District reported more than 6,400 restraints for the 2024-25 school year. That’s nearly a quarter of the total number of restraints reported statewide last year. “Six thousand is alarming,” Pennsylvania Department of Education Secretary Carrie Rowe said in an interview with the NBC10 Investigators. “Something has to be going wrong and additional oversight is needed.” Rowe said the state has begun “targeted monitoring” with Central Bucks and are determining “where the gaps are.”
TX: Advocates worry about special education oversight in Texas after recent cuts
Advocates and former education officials are concerned about the future of special education in Texas following a Trump administration decision to cut staff in the special education office of the Department of Education. The firings happened last week amid the government shutdown, but a federal judge has temporarily blocked the layoffs as a court battle between unions and the federal government ensues. Margaret Spellings, the former secretary of education in the George W. Bush administration, said the development is very worrisome for states that rely on federal colleagues to help them comply with federal law and better serve kids with special needs. “I think it’s really sad and disappointing for students all across this country,” Spellings said. She described the Office of Special Education Programs within the DOE as the last line of defense for special education parents. The office helps administer funds to state education agencies and acts as a watchdog for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
CA: Program to help teachers aid students with disabilities loses federal grant
EdSource
A program that trains teachers to support students with disabilities has been hit with the cancellation of $10.5 million in federal grant money from the U.S. Department of Education, the Press Democrat reported. The grant for Partnerships for Effective Practices in Transition and Inclusion — a program run through the Napa County Office of Education on behalf of the state’s Department of Education — began in 2023 and was supposed to last five years. But officials have said that the program went against “the priorities of the current administration.” “It’s very unfortunate. (This was) excellent work all around the state,” Napa County Superintendent of Schools Joshua Schultz said at last week’s board meeting, according to the Press Democrat. “It was canceled explicitly because there was language addressing our work around DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) in the application, which of course was a priority of the funding at the time we applied over three years ago.” More than 100 educators across the state had benefited from the program, according to the Press Democrat.