Tell ED: Reverse course, do NOT move special education to HHS, do NOT move education civil rights complaints to Justice.

The Administration continues to take unlawful steps to dismantle ED by shifting the functions of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and to move most activities related to complaints of discrimination at the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to the Department of Justice (DOJ). This means that all special education programs authorized under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504) will no longer be directly overseen by the Secretary of Education and key functions that ED is required to oversee will move to agencies not required by law to direct and administer them.

Congress must take legislative action to prevent the unjust separation of special education from general education programs and to preserve the integrity of OCR.  Without Congressional action, the Administration is adding bureaucratic layers for states and schools (who must now communicate with FOUR federal agencies to receive critical funding and conduct K-16 education programs) and creating more confusion that jeopardizes every child’s right to a free appropriate education -which schools are required to provide.

All these actions unnecessarily complicate and delay access to the civil and education rights protections that ED is obligated by statute to fulfill.

Please tell ED to reverse course. ED must fulfill all obligations under IDEA and other education and civil rights laws.