In The Politics of Autism, I write about social services, special education, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
Today,—at a Senate Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on the FY27 budget request for the Department of Education (ED)—U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, questioned Secretary Linda McMahon on how her efforts to dismantle the Department of Education are hurting students...Senator Murray began by noting grave concern that ED is ignoring parents who don’t want management of programs to protect the rights of students with disabilities to be transferred from ED to other agencies with little to no relevant expertise or experience.
MURRAY: Let me just start with this: look I am really concerned you’re not listening to parents of children with disabilities and their profound objections to moving IDEA and Rehabilitation Act programs out of the Department of Education.
I’ve gotten a petition from thousands of parents, educators, advocates who are concerned that will really undermine 50 years of progress in making sure the rights of children and students with disabilities are met.
So, I wanted to ask you today, what is the status of moving programs for children and students with disabilities out of the Department of Education?
MCMAHON: Well, currently, we are still evaluating of where those programs would best be located. We have not made that determination yet. We are looking at the Department of Labor for some of its programs and we are also looking at HHS for a potential home for some of those programs. I can assure you that the intent of this administration is not to put these students at risk in any way whatsoever. I have met—I have not received thousands of applications as you have but I have met with parent groups all over the country who have children with disabilities. We have talked about what they need. And, I have said to each of them, who is better positioned to know what your children need then you working with them and then working with your local school board—
MURRAY: That is exactly why these parents and advocates are spitting mad because what they want to make sure is that their child with a disability has an education. And moving it out of the Department of Education is not only undermining that … But [parents] want their kids to get a good education and that is why I am hearing from so many parents. So, I am deeply concerned that your answer sounds like you’re still moving ahead. Just—let’s make it clear: that will break the law, and it will make it a lot harder for these students with disabilities to get the education and the understanding that their country will stand behind them with that.
MCMAHON: Well, I just have to object to your framing of this. First of all, it is not against the law. And, secondly, these parents need to understand that regardless of which department these programs are located, they will still get the same treatment, the same funding.
MURRAY: Well, are you under the Department of Education which says that your education is the priority—that’s their concern. But let me move on. Because I have several other questions and my time is limited.
[Dismantling ED Decimates Protection of Students Civil Rights]
Senator Murray continued by pressing Secretary McMahon about how her efforts to dismantle the Department of Education have led to a precipitous drop off in resolution of students’ cases managed by the Office for Civil Rights.
MURRAY: Let me ask you, a little over a year ago, you made the decision to eliminate more than half the staff in the Office for Civil Rights and close half of the regional field offices.
Now, you’ve testified repeatedly that students won’t even notice your efforts to abolish the Department—but I’d like to hear you tell that to the students and parents who have yet to hear anything about their case, let alone have it be fully investigated and resolved.
Because you know—in President Trump’s first year of his first term, OCR resolved about 60 sexual harassment cases and 15 sexual assault cases.
Can you tell me how many of these cases were resolved in the first year of this term?
MCMAHON: Well, I can tell you what we are doing with our OCR program. We are definitely moving forward. We inherited—
MURRAY: No, I asked how many—
MCMAHON: We inherited about 19,000 backlog of cases from the Biden administration—
MURRAY: How many of those were resolved last year?
MCMAHON: So, what we have done, and I have hired into the Department of Education, Kim Richey, who was the director of that department—
MURRAY: I had a quick question, and I have more questions, so I want you to answer the question I asked [which] is how many of those cases were resolved last year?
MCMAHON: We are moving to resolve as many cases as we can, we are bringing back many of those lawyers which were part of that RIF. And there was a time when we were not processing cases as quickly as we should, but we are now focused on that and moving forward with the expertise—
MURRAY: For the record, the answer to my question is zero.
MCMAHON: We are moving forward to resolve those cases today.
MURRAY: Okay, as of this morning, 1% of all cases last year were resolved. 78% fewer cases were resolved than the year before. And really, we have to understand what that means is that kids are being denied equal access to education they are entitled to under law are now also being denied the justice they deserve.
And that is really wrong. So, you said you’re hiring people back, I want to see what those numbers are, I want to see what cases are being resolved because I think it’s really our responsibility to make sure those kids get the education they are promised.
MCMAHON: Well, I’d be anxious to share those with you because—
MURRAY: Well, right now, it’s zero.
MCMAHON: What we’re putting in place is to move forward, and so I’ll be happy to share that with you—
MURRAY: Happy to hear that but just telling this committee that it’s going to happen someday, to me, is not making sure those kids get an education.
MCMAHON: Well, I’ve hired the person and brought them back who made all of those things work in the first Trump administration, left office with 4,500 backloaded cases, and inherited again 19,000 from the Biden administration and has a full on attack now to resolve those cases, and we’re moving forward to make sure that gets handled.
MURRAY: Just for the record, we expect to see progress.
MCMAHON: So, do I.
MURRAY: Okay, I’m glad to hear that.
