Earlier this week, the Trump administration announced plans to move oversight of special education and education-related civil rights enforcement out of the U.S. Department of Education and into other federal agencies that lack specialized expertise in K-12 education. This proposed restructuring violates federal law and is the latest step in an ongoing effort to dismantle the Department of Education.

It will create confusion for districts, schools, and families; weaken accountability; and further stigmatize students who need additional support to learn.

At its core, this proposed splintering of the Department ignores a fundamental reality: that students with disabilities are, first and foremost, students.  

Students with disabilities are integral members of their classrooms and school communities; they represent 15% of students nationwide and more than 20% of NYC’s public school population. Since 1975, federal law has recognized that students with disabilities are entitled to a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. We know that students thrive when the supports they need are integrated into their educational experience—delivered in real time, in their classrooms, alongside their peers—not siloed away from it.  

Shifting responsibility for special education to the Department of Health and Human Services reflects a troubling, outdated view of disability as a medical condition to be managed, rather than a natural part of the human experience. It wrongly treats special education as separate from education for all learners. Nothing could be further from the truth.  

We want to be very clear: students and families, your rights have not changed, and neither has AFC’s commitment to protecting those rights. We will continue to share updates as new information becomes available.  

Every day, AFC works with families already struggling to navigate the special education system. Fragmenting federal oversight will only make it harder for students and families to secure the resources and protections they need. Our government should be strengthening its commitment to educational opportunity and inclusion for 모두 students, not creating new barriers to both.