Department of Education Condemned for Ending Support for Students with Disabilities

Jackson, Miss. – Several Mississippi groups have joined a broad coalition of national, state, and local disability, civil rights, and education organizations in sounding the alarm over sweeping layoffs at the U.S. Department of Education. Disability Rights Mississippi, the Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities, and Families as Allies condemn cuts that have gutted the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), threatening decades of progress in protecting students with disabilities. These wholesale terminations place fundamental education laws in peril and place millions of children with disabilities at risk who receive services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and Title IV of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.

 These layoffs circumvent the will of Congress and dismantle 50 years of precedent upholding rights for students with disabilities. Without personnel to oversee these laws, the Department cannot provide essential leadership, oversight, guidance, or support to states and schools, jeopardizing students’ access to a free, appropriate public education and hampering the ability of states and localities to serve all students. Additionally, terminations in the Rehabilitation Services Administration also threaten the vocational rehabilitation system that helps youth and adults with disabilities become employed.This year marks the 50th anniversary of IDEA, a law that has enjoyed strong bipartisan support for five decades. Rather than celebrating progress, we face a crisis: the dismantling of the very infrastructure Congress created to ensure children with disabilities could reach their full potential, potentially catapulting them back to a time of segregation and refusal to provide educational opportunities.

Disability Rights Mississippi, the Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities, and Families as Allies have joined a broad coalition of national organizations to urge the Administration to reverse course immediately and restore staffing and transparency at the U.S. Department of Education–and call on Congress to do the same. Strong federal leadership is not optional—it’s a moral and legal obligation for children with disabilities in Mississippi and across our country.

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