MN: School leaders push back on $250M in special education cuts

by kids1stadvocac | Oct 20, 2026 | State

KSTP.com 5 Eyewitness News Special education and school leaders say Minnesota shouldn’t cut $250 million in special education funding, a cut that’s scheduled to kick in automatically next year. If lawmakers won’t, or can’t, repeal the cut, a special Blue Ribbon Task...

NE: Special education, services for Nebraskans with disabilities targeted in hypothetical education department cuts

by kids1stadvocac | Oct 20, 2026 | State

Nebraska Public Media Cuts to services for students and adults with disabilities — along with a large reduction in school aid funding — are among hypothetical proposed changes in the Nebraska Department of Education’s budget for the next two fiscal years. The...

Comment by Oct. 6: Tell HHS to Withdraw Head Start Changes that Harm Access to Preschool for Children with Disabilities

by kids1stadvocac | Sep 29, 2026 | Federal

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed significant changes to the Head Start Performance Standards (Head Start) that COPAA opposes. If HHS proceeds as planned, the new regulations will completely eliminate current Head Start Performance...

What civil rights enforcement cuts mean for students with disabilities – fewer staff, closed offices, longer waits

by kids1stadvocac | Sep 29, 2026 | Federal

The Conversation Felicita Piñón weighed just 1 pound at birth. She was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy that requires her to use a power wheelchair, and she also has learning and emotional challenges. Yet despite these obstacles, Felicita, now an eighth-grade...

TX: ‘A hot mess’: HISD families brace for new school year under special education overhaul

by kids1stadvocac | Aug 11, 2026 | State

Yahoo! News Three days before Houston ISD’s new school year begins, some families say they’re still confused about which school their child will attend after the district’s special education overhaul. In July, the Texas Education Agency ordered HISD...