How are you fighting for disabled kids in schools?
March 12, 2025 7:53 PM Subscribe
How are you fighting for your IEP / 504 / Title I kid right now, amidst the intentional dismantling of the Dept of Education? How do we secure our kids' rights, nationwide?
While abled kids in K-12 schools are served by localities and states, the Department of Education implements IDEA which serves disabled kids, mandates their services, as well as Title I which protects children in poverty and the schools that serve them (as well as many other things).
All of these programs are being gutted; while protections still theoretically exist in law it means nothing if their implementation is being dropped.
This is a nationwide problem. As a parent of a disabled kid in public school, my question for others (esp parents of disabled schoolchildren) is: what are you doing about it? How do we get a national movement going to secure our disabled kids' rights? I don't want to reinvent the wheel. Who are the disability rights orgs specifically fighting for disabled kids in K-12 schools?
While abled kids in K-12 schools are served by localities and states, the Department of Education implements IDEA which serves disabled kids, mandates their services, as well as Title I which protects children in poverty and the schools that serve them (as well as many other things).
All of these programs are being gutted; while protections still theoretically exist in law it means nothing if their implementation is being dropped.
This is a nationwide problem. As a parent of a disabled kid in public school, my question for others (esp parents of disabled schoolchildren) is: what are you doing about it? How do we get a national movement going to secure our disabled kids' rights? I don't want to reinvent the wheel. Who are the disability rights orgs specifically fighting for disabled kids in K-12 schools?
Maybe try your local parent support program? The Arc seems to be the one for Washington State.
posted by metahawk at 8:11 PM on March 12 [2 favorites]
posted by metahawk at 8:11 PM on March 12 [2 favorites]
Look up Denise S. Marshall, CEO of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) and see is she is posting anything nationally. Most of what I was seeing on Autism Self Advocacy Network is about Medicaid, but that may evolve now that action is being taken.
There is talk of Education’s Disability oversight of services going back under HHS, which used to house Education before it became a separate department, and OCR getting shifted to DOJ.
It’s still terrible and I hope you find your people.
posted by childofTethys at 8:45 PM on March 12 [1 favorite]
There is talk of Education’s Disability oversight of services going back under HHS, which used to house Education before it became a separate department, and OCR getting shifted to DOJ.
It’s still terrible and I hope you find your people.
posted by childofTethys at 8:45 PM on March 12 [1 favorite]
Take to the streets and protest. Go on strike against the changes. Unseat their candidates everywhere at every level of government.
posted by parmanparman at 1:50 AM on March 13 [1 favorite]
posted by parmanparman at 1:50 AM on March 13 [1 favorite]
Long time special educator and administrator here with what I've been able to learn so far and this is specific to DoE K-12 special education, nothing else.
DON'T WORRY. While there is uncertainty, only a small part affects K-12 programming. The sky is falling narrative is a smokescreen to get people riled up.
Federal money is supposed to cover 40% of special ed programming, and they have not met that number in 50 years. Not even close. It's important for people to know that while the IDEA is the engine that drives special education, that engine frequently shuts off, loses parts and stops working.
In essence, the DoE doesn't have a whole lot to do with actual K-12 education. They really don't. The Office of Civil Rights has a LOT more power with Section 504 and Title 2, which is suing schools for violating student rights. And as an educator, I have seen more Section 504 legal battles than IDEA battles. Section 504 is what really protects kids.
States can and do have specific rights for all students, and generally those rights guide local programming. All states have Departments of Education, and they guide curriculum, best practices, teacher training and more. The states have far more control right now over K-12 education than the DoE.
People getting riled up about our special educated students losing programming are likely addressing a red herring.
But of course cutting the DoE will change some things and most of these do not affect K-12 programming.
Yes, there are concerns about Head Start and preschool support and obviously other areas. There are clear concerns about kid's health everywhere, but as far as the DoE goes, they don't actually do much for K-12 sped support. They do not offer curriculum, training, best practices, etc.
The DoE spends A LOT of money on the testing industry; from determining what tests need to be administered, interpreting the data and then making recommendations for different testing. Remember, we spend a fortune on assessments and literally nothing changes in schools. The DoE does not create new curriculum or guidelines or anything. They analyze data, suggest kids don't know math, and come up with tests.
If I were a K-12 parent, I would do a few things, but these are things we already suggest families do:
get to know how your child's work is modified and learn about their disability. I've seen wonderful changes when guardians took a fun parent focused class on ADHD and learned strategies that helped them understand their kids weren't willful jerks; they just processed things differently. So get to know their disability and how it affects them. Specifically, ask the schools to provide this resource.
If your child receives special services (OT, PT, etc.) ask the provider to share a menu of support for home.
Partner with teachers. Don't worry about befriending admins who are paper pushers with no real power. It's no exaggeration that teachers are tired and quitting in droves (I literally changed jobs once this year).
Help the teachers. Ask how can you help? What can you and the others take off their plate? Even a coffee run means a lot.
A happy teacher is a better teacher.
I am advising parents to put the time into supporting the schools and specifically learning how to support their child's disability.
posted by berkshiredogs at 3:07 AM on March 13 [16 favorites]
DON'T WORRY. While there is uncertainty, only a small part affects K-12 programming. The sky is falling narrative is a smokescreen to get people riled up.
Federal money is supposed to cover 40% of special ed programming, and they have not met that number in 50 years. Not even close. It's important for people to know that while the IDEA is the engine that drives special education, that engine frequently shuts off, loses parts and stops working.
In essence, the DoE doesn't have a whole lot to do with actual K-12 education. They really don't. The Office of Civil Rights has a LOT more power with Section 504 and Title 2, which is suing schools for violating student rights. And as an educator, I have seen more Section 504 legal battles than IDEA battles. Section 504 is what really protects kids.
States can and do have specific rights for all students, and generally those rights guide local programming. All states have Departments of Education, and they guide curriculum, best practices, teacher training and more. The states have far more control right now over K-12 education than the DoE.
People getting riled up about our special educated students losing programming are likely addressing a red herring.
But of course cutting the DoE will change some things and most of these do not affect K-12 programming.
Yes, there are concerns about Head Start and preschool support and obviously other areas. There are clear concerns about kid's health everywhere, but as far as the DoE goes, they don't actually do much for K-12 sped support. They do not offer curriculum, training, best practices, etc.
The DoE spends A LOT of money on the testing industry; from determining what tests need to be administered, interpreting the data and then making recommendations for different testing. Remember, we spend a fortune on assessments and literally nothing changes in schools. The DoE does not create new curriculum or guidelines or anything. They analyze data, suggest kids don't know math, and come up with tests.
If I were a K-12 parent, I would do a few things, but these are things we already suggest families do:
get to know how your child's work is modified and learn about their disability. I've seen wonderful changes when guardians took a fun parent focused class on ADHD and learned strategies that helped them understand their kids weren't willful jerks; they just processed things differently. So get to know their disability and how it affects them. Specifically, ask the schools to provide this resource.
If your child receives special services (OT, PT, etc.) ask the provider to share a menu of support for home.
Partner with teachers. Don't worry about befriending admins who are paper pushers with no real power. It's no exaggeration that teachers are tired and quitting in droves (I literally changed jobs once this year).
Help the teachers. Ask how can you help? What can you and the others take off their plate? Even a coffee run means a lot.
A happy teacher is a better teacher.
I am advising parents to put the time into supporting the schools and specifically learning how to support their child's disability.
posted by berkshiredogs at 3:07 AM on March 13 [16 favorites]
With respect, I completely disagree with berkshiredogs on the impacts of the Trump administration on children with disability, but I don't want this to be a derail.
Here is a place you can start: https://www.disability-rights-watch.com that both tracks the latest issues, but also has recommended immediate actions you can take.
Good luck, we are all counting on you.
posted by Toddles at 7:04 AM on March 13 [4 favorites]
Here is a place you can start: https://www.disability-rights-watch.com that both tracks the latest issues, but also has recommended immediate actions you can take.
Good luck, we are all counting on you.
posted by Toddles at 7:04 AM on March 13 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: > The Office of Civil Rights has a LOT more power with Section 504 and Title 2,
But the Office of Civil Rights is a part of the Dept of Education. And it is the part that is getting cut!
posted by splitpeasoup at 9:22 AM on March 13 [6 favorites]
But the Office of Civil Rights is a part of the Dept of Education. And it is the part that is getting cut!
posted by splitpeasoup at 9:22 AM on March 13 [6 favorites]
As the parent of a deaf child and as someone involved in state-level educational law and policy, I am also going to respectfully disagree with berkshiredogs. Splitpeasoup, you are right to worry.
While the dismantling of the DOE will have no immediate effect on state level processes, Federal oversight is now effectively gone. Your day-to-day experience won't change right away, but...
1) Without federal oversight, money that should be disbursed to appropriate programs has a greater chance of getting diverted by state lawmakers and district admins. This is actually Linda McMahon's long-term policy goal—starve state education by weakening oversight so taxpayer funds gets channeled to private pockets via vouchers and other means.
2) Current DOE departments that control policy and funding are going to be moved under HHS. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the head of HHS. If you think that a eugenicist megalomaniac like Kennedy won't use this opportunity to impose his views on the states in whatever way he can, well, just because DOE in the past hasn't been very interventionist in the states doesn't mean a thing.
3) New state and local laws will be passed that undercut IDEA and there will be nobody at the federal level available to challenge them. Rather than a sudden catastrophe, the changes at the national level create the conditions for further erosion at the state level.
As berkshiredogs notes, 99% of what goes on in schools is determined by district policy and state law, and IDEA has never been robustly implemented or enforced. But now there's nobody at the wheel—the idea that the Trump DOJ will defend kids with disabilities is laughable, and it's no coincidence that a group of red states has challenged 504 as unconstitutional.
What you can do: first, find the orgs that represent your child's disability, preferably the ones led by adults with that disability (so Autistic Self Advocacy Network rather than Autism Speaks, National Association of the Deaf rather than AG Bell, etc.) and follow their action alerts and donate money. Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund and Disability Rights Watch are both good "all-purpose" orgs for this.
Second, get contact info of other parents of kids with disabilities. Start communicating with them. You are now your own organization. You don't need a name and you don't need to file a letter of incorporation (it's better if you don't.) Most politics is done by small groups—If you get five parents to call an office or show up to a town hall in person, you can make a politician shit their pants. This is how that book banning bullshit works.
You may need to be the tentpole that holds up your local niche—parenting under these conditions sucks and many won't have the time or energy to organize, but YOU can organize. And your little organization becomes the cell of whatever larger orgs like DREDF you are in contact with.
If you want to MeMail me I am happy to fill you in on what I'm doing at the local and national levels.
posted by Playdoughnails at 9:46 AM on March 13 [19 favorites]
While the dismantling of the DOE will have no immediate effect on state level processes, Federal oversight is now effectively gone. Your day-to-day experience won't change right away, but...
1) Without federal oversight, money that should be disbursed to appropriate programs has a greater chance of getting diverted by state lawmakers and district admins. This is actually Linda McMahon's long-term policy goal—starve state education by weakening oversight so taxpayer funds gets channeled to private pockets via vouchers and other means.
2) Current DOE departments that control policy and funding are going to be moved under HHS. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the head of HHS. If you think that a eugenicist megalomaniac like Kennedy won't use this opportunity to impose his views on the states in whatever way he can, well, just because DOE in the past hasn't been very interventionist in the states doesn't mean a thing.
3) New state and local laws will be passed that undercut IDEA and there will be nobody at the federal level available to challenge them. Rather than a sudden catastrophe, the changes at the national level create the conditions for further erosion at the state level.
As berkshiredogs notes, 99% of what goes on in schools is determined by district policy and state law, and IDEA has never been robustly implemented or enforced. But now there's nobody at the wheel—the idea that the Trump DOJ will defend kids with disabilities is laughable, and it's no coincidence that a group of red states has challenged 504 as unconstitutional.
What you can do: first, find the orgs that represent your child's disability, preferably the ones led by adults with that disability (so Autistic Self Advocacy Network rather than Autism Speaks, National Association of the Deaf rather than AG Bell, etc.) and follow their action alerts and donate money. Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund and Disability Rights Watch are both good "all-purpose" orgs for this.
Second, get contact info of other parents of kids with disabilities. Start communicating with them. You are now your own organization. You don't need a name and you don't need to file a letter of incorporation (it's better if you don't.) Most politics is done by small groups—If you get five parents to call an office or show up to a town hall in person, you can make a politician shit their pants. This is how that book banning bullshit works.
You may need to be the tentpole that holds up your local niche—parenting under these conditions sucks and many won't have the time or energy to organize, but YOU can organize. And your little organization becomes the cell of whatever larger orgs like DREDF you are in contact with.
If you want to MeMail me I am happy to fill you in on what I'm doing at the local and national levels.
posted by Playdoughnails at 9:46 AM on March 13 [19 favorites]
Trump will succeed or fail with his plans for the Department of Education. Probably somewhere in between.
The useful national movement is to push Congress to maximize the amount of federal funding that will no longer goes to or through the Department of Education to go the states, ideally earmarked for at least some broadly similar set of purposes. Lots of Republicans in Congress are happier with federal funding than they are with federal management.
The local movement is to push your Legislature and School Board to adopt state and local versions of the federal regulations and programs you like which are going away or will no longer be enforced, to devote any increased federal funding to those new local programs and regulations, and to raise taxes to fund them to the extent there aren't federal dollars.
posted by MattD at 10:16 AM on March 13 [1 favorite]
The useful national movement is to push Congress to maximize the amount of federal funding that will no longer goes to or through the Department of Education to go the states, ideally earmarked for at least some broadly similar set of purposes. Lots of Republicans in Congress are happier with federal funding than they are with federal management.
The local movement is to push your Legislature and School Board to adopt state and local versions of the federal regulations and programs you like which are going away or will no longer be enforced, to devote any increased federal funding to those new local programs and regulations, and to raise taxes to fund them to the extent there aren't federal dollars.
posted by MattD at 10:16 AM on March 13 [1 favorite]
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posted by splitpeasoup at 7:59 PM on March 12