On February 3rd, Department of Education spokesperson Madison Biedermann told AP that DOGE — President Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency, headed by a new department led by Elon Musk in charge of cutting unnecessary expenses and regulations — had been to the Department of Education to discuss Trump’s agenda towards removal of the department. President Trump has vowed to close the Department of Education since the beginning of his 2024 campaign. “I say it all the time, I’m dying to get back to do this. We will ultimately eliminate the federal Department of Education,” he pledged at a Wisconsin rally in September of 2024. President Trump’s campaign cites morality as his reason for the closure, suggesting that public school has become overbearing, “indoctrinating” the children with anti-American ideologies. Later, on February 4th, news outlets reported that President Trump’s hopes of dismantling the department might have become official plans. Many have speculated about the true intentions behind the plan, but the significance of the Department of Education in the academics and lives of American students, especially students with disabilities, is certain.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act — or the IDEA — enacted in 1990 ensures all students regardless of ability status have the right to a public education in the United States. The IDEA grants children with disabilities “a free, appropriate public education” and “ensures special education and related services”. Prior to IDEA, students with disabilities weren’t guaranteed admittance into public schools, and they weren’t always provided with the necessary resources to achieve their full potential. Through IDEA, funding is allocated towards these resources via formula grants, which go directly to the state to support special education and early intervention services, and discretionary grants, which go to state education agencies, higher education facilities, research, non-profits, technological development, and otherwise useful beneficiaries. The funding from these grants provides money necessary to pay for teachers, carers, therapists, psychologists, physical therapists, learning materials, and medical equipment. Special education classrooms utilize these resources not only to establish the student’s academic success, but also to simulate real life situations and develop choice-making and social skills, as well as receiving physical and medical care depending on the student’s needs. Students are outfitted with Individual Education Plans (IEPs), which are strictly-monitored plans that coordinate the student’s highly individualized education needs. Others are given 504 plans, derived from Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and designed to offer more flexible support. These plans are crucial to the development of these children, who may otherwise not have access to any of this support. According to the Feldman Law Group, by the time a child with a disability is 17, parents have spent an average of $407,000 on necessary resources. There is a significant overlap between disability and poverty, and many families supporting a child with a disability live below the poverty line. Without the grants provided by the IDEA, many families simply cannot afford to provide these crucial services for their children. The Department of Education is fully responsible for the regulation and implementation of IEP and 504 plans in schools.
The impact that special education services have on the quality of life of students is immeasurable. Ryleigh Bomil, a special education support professional at Stony Brook Middle School in Westford, MA, spoke about her students and the importance of receiving the care and support implemented by the IDEA in their lives. “The program(s) we offer to our students make differences for every student involved,” said Bomil. “We have students come in not knowing how to talk or use a communication device, and at the end of the year they are fluent with their communication devices and also with a variety of words vocally. We’ve also had students come in with severe psychological and emotional struggles, and they leave with proper coping skills and a new outlook.” Bomil went on to explain that she worries about her students’ successes without the classroom’s support protected by the Department of Education. “Without public school, it would be significantly harder for my students, and any other special education students, to get the help they need. I work with students of all different social and economic [backgrounds] and these students are able to receive programs that may not be accessible to them otherwise, whether it be a financial issue or possible discrimination issue. In our classroom and school, students are offered a variety of different tools… they also get access to speech pathologists, school counselors, a nurse who has a full understanding of how to care for their needs, and more.”
Students like Bomil’s aren’t rare. According to the Department of Education, more than 8 million students nationwide are supported by special education services (2023). Each one of these students are individuals who rely on the protection of the DOE for equal access to their education. “It was just awful,” said Ashley Harvey, a Worcester State University student, referring to her education prior to having access to a 504 Plan. “My hearing declined during COVID times… When we started returning to school and doing hybrid, and then doing fully in person, I had such a hard time because we were all wearing masks, so that muffles the sound even worse, and that was before I had my hearing aid as well. So I was just really struggling through it… Whenever I think of not having accommodations, I just think of that time and just how difficult [it was] and how much anxiety and fatigue it gave me by the end of the day.” Harvey’s accommodations, such as sitting at the front of the classroom and using subtitles, allowed her to access the classroom as well as her peers could. “The first time I heard it, it was just so incredibly devastating to know that people like my little 10th grade self are going to just continue to suffer and not be able to learn,” Harvey said, on learning of President Trump’s plans for the future of the DOE. “When you don’t have accommodations when you need them, it just makes it so much harder than it has to be… If you’ll take it away in schools, what’s next?”
The Americans with Disabilities Act, or the ADA, is responsible for the architectural accessibility of public properties. Per the ADA, schools need to be accessible for students with impaired mobility requiring ramps, handicapped parking spots, elevators, braille placards, flashing fire alarms, and wheelchair-accessible bathroom stalls. The ADA is a matter of civil rights, but when it comes to its presence in public schools, the Department of Education oversees its implementation. Without the ADA, students with disabilities may not be able to physically enter their schools.
Without the oversight of the Department of Education, states would be responsible for the regulation of these elements of education for disabled students. While it is true that the IDEA and the ADA would go on as individual pieces of legislature without the Department of Education, the safeguarding of the policies provided by the DOE would be eliminated. Leaving the responsibility of implementing accessibility up to the states is a risk. While some states such as New Jersey and Massachusetts are remarked as being among the best for special education due to their implementation of additional healthcare and social services, states like Arkansas and Alabama are remarked as among the worst, as they restrict funding for special education to the bare minimum, and require cases for additional funding to be “atypical”.
The Department of Education already federally regulates the accessibility standards as outlined in the IDEA, ADA, and Rehabilitation Act Section 504, and yet there is still a large imbalance in quality between states. Even with the protections of the DOE, students with disabilities still face discrimination and harassment. “Everybody who has accommodations has at one point or another dealt with a teacher or professor who is being difficult with that, who doesn’t want to comply,” Harvey explained. “When you have laws like the ADA and [the Department of Education’s] reinforcements, they have to abide by your accommodations because that’s providing equal access. When you don’t have those legal protections, or the funding for it, that’s just gone.” Harvey’s concerns are echoed by thousands across the country, who are now left fearing for their rights. As Bomil said, “Without programs like these, we would be denying a child of their education, which is not acceptable in any right.”
