How kids with disabilities will be impacted by Medicaid, Education Department cuts

by kids1stadvocac | May 13, 2025 | Federal

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...

Trump’s dismantling of Education Department gives states ‘green light’ to pursue voucher programs

by kids1stadvocac | May 13, 2025 | Federal

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...

Not One Generation Removed, Disability Advocates Fear Return to a Dark Era

by kids1stadvocac | May 6, 2025 | Federal

The 74 A generation ago, people with disabilities were rarely in the room when their welfare was under discussion. Decisions about their care and education were made almost entirely by non-disabled people, who typically addressed them not as individuals who aspired to...

Bills in Congress detail path to closing the Education Department

by kids1stadvocac | Apr 22, 2025 | Federal

K-12 Dive Several Republican-led bills introduced in Congress this year propose how to divide up the U.S. Department of Education’s responsibilities among other federal agencies — and thereby carry out President Donald Trump’s plan to eliminate the 45-year-old agency....

MI: Hundreds of Michigan families’ civil rights cases impacted by federal cuts

by kids1stadvocac | Apr 15, 2025 | State

Chalkbeat There was a time George Finley Jr. was on the honor roll. After the seventh grader started having epileptic seizures a couple of years ago, he experienced memory loss. Now, he’s far behind where he should be academically. The Detroit Public Schools Community...