McMahon's education plan breaks the law and denies students' rights | Opinion

When U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon claimed in USA TODAY that the recent government shutdown showed “how little the Department of Education will be missed,” she overlooked the damage done to the nation’s students, especially those with disabilities, who learn and think differently.

For students with disabilities, the impacts of the shutdown were real and immediate:

• Civil rights investigations were paused or delayed.
• Grant reviews and awards stalled.
• Technical assistance to states – including 18 states with new special education directors – halted at a critical moment.

These are not disposable bureaucratic tasks, as McMahon claimed. They are federal responsibilities that ensure students receive what the law promises.

McMahon's telling admission

In March, the Education Department chief stated in a televised interview that she could not recall what the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) stands for. That moment matters.

IDEA is the cornerstone federal law protecting more than 7 million students with disabilities, which is 15% of all K–12 students. The idea that such a law can be shuffled to another agency, or that states can fully manage it alone, misunderstands both its complexity and its purpose.

McMahon’s argument that no one would miss the Department of Education depends on several assumptions: that all states have equal resources, that families can independently navigate complex systems and that federal protections – especially for students with disabilities – are optional. These assumptions do not align with the lived reality of American families.

Everybody understands that the Department of Education doesn’t take attendance, teach classes, coach sports or drive school buses – the core of McMahon’s straw-man argument. Its purpose is to ensure that all children, especially those with disabilities, have a fair chance at success, regardless of where they live.

What McMahon dismisses as “micromanagement” is, in reality, the implementation of our nation’s special education law. Without it, the legal rights of millions of students with disabilities become optional.

The administration’s move to relocate more education programs to other federal agencies makes the stakes clear. When duties meant for the Department of Education are handed to agencies without experience and expertise in public education, long-standing inequities will intensify.

An interagency agreement effectively moved the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education to the Department of Labor. The Office of Special Education Programs has not yet been moved, but President Donald Trump said it would be shifted to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This effectively segregates general and special education initiatives, and extinguishes the collaboration essential to serving and integrating all students.

All education programs need to stay at the Department of Education to continue the collaboration that has taken decades to achieve.

History shows what happens without federal safeguards

History has already shown the critical importance of federal oversight. In Texas, an arbitrary state-imposed cap limiting special education services to 8.5% of the student population – at a time when the national average was nearly double – denied evaluations and support to tens of thousands of students.

It took years of investigation and enforcement action by the department’s Office of Special Education Programs to reverse the damage. Between 2017 and 2023, students classified as having dyslexia in Texas increased 79% ‒ not because children changed, but because federal oversight finally forced compliance to match the actual numbers of students with dyslexia.

Without the federal department’s involvement, there would have been no mechanism to uncover the problem, no authority to intervene and no technical assistance to fix it.

A bureaucratic move that would backfire

Some have suggested shifting IDEA to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Nearly every major disability organization rejects this proposal:

• The HHS lacks the statutory authority, expertise and infrastructure to oversee IDEA effectively.
• Families rely on Parent Training and Information Centers funded by the Department of Education – supports that HHS is not equipped to maintain.
• Civil rights enforcement would be weakened at the exact moment students are still recovering from disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Moving special education to a health agency risks reverting to a medical model that isolates, segregates and stigmatizes students with disabilities.

This move is not only harmful; it is unlawful. Relocating the Office of Special Education Programs without congressional action violates the Department of Education Organization Act and IDEA.

What students with disabilities stand to lose

Students with disabilities and other learning and developmental differences depend on the Department of Education's expertise. Nearly 1 million students with autism rely on IDEA’s requirements for individualized supports.

Students from marginalized communities rely on the department’s Office for Civil Rights to investigate discrimination. And 15% of K-12 students with disabilities rely on fair, consistent implementation of federal law, which is something only the Education Department can guarantee.

That enforcement is not theoretical. In fiscal year 2024 alone, the department resolved about 8,500 disability rights complaints, conducted proactive compliance reviews, issued guidance and responded to more than 11,000 inquiries from families and schools seeking help. For many families, whose schools are not providing required accommodations, the Department of Education is their only real recourse.

Private lawsuits can take years and require financial resources that most families cannot afford. A child denied special education services cannot wait that long. Federal investigation, oversight and technical assistance happen earlier, cost families nothing and can resolve issues before irreparable harm is done.

It is also important to remember that support for special education is not a partisan issue. For nearly 50 years, IDEA has been championed by Republicans, Democrats, independents and families who don’t follow politics at all. All parents, regardless of their political beliefs, care about their children’s future. That shared commitment is exactly why dismantling the federal role would carry consequences far beyond Washington.

If policymakers genuinely want to strengthen outcomes for students with disabilities, the path is clear: Fully fund IDEA; reinforce, not dismantle, the federal-state partnership; and ensure leadership grounded in expertise and a commitment to students.

Students with disabilities deserve a federal partner that protects their rights, supports their families and works to ensure that every child can learn, grow and thrive.

Jacqueline Rodriguez is the CEO of the National Center for Learning Disabilities. Chad Rummel is the executive director of the Council for Exceptional Children. Together, in collaboration with allied partners, they work to advance federal protections and improve educational outcomes for millions of students with disabilities and their families.