"Fifty years ago, just after Thanksgiving of 1975, President Gerald Ford signed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, the landmark law that created special education as it exists today, and guaranteed all children with disabilities the right to a "free appropriate public education." Yet, "rather than celebrating progress, we face a crisis," warned a recent letter to Congress, signed by hundreds of disability, civil rights and education groups. That crisis, according to the letter, is "the dismantling of the very infrastructure Congress created to ensure children with disabilities could reach their full potential.""
"The Trump administration has fired, or tried to fire, many of the federal staff at the U.S. Department of Education who manage and enforce federal disability law, though Education Secretary Linda McMahon has said federal funding for special education is not at risk."
"But, in interviews with 40 parents, educators, disability-rights advocates, subject matter experts and Education Department staffers, NPR heard a growing fear: that the Trump administration's efforts to cut federal staff and oversight of special education could return the U.S. to a time, before 1975, when some schools denied access or services to children with disabilities."
Fifty years ago President Gerald Ford established the law that created modern special education and guaranteed all children with disabilities a free appropriate public education. Hundreds of disability, civil-rights and education groups warn that current actions are dismantling the enforcement infrastructure designed to uphold that guarantee. The Administration has removed or sought to remove many Department of Education staff who manage and enforce federal disability law, while the Education Secretary says funding remains intact and supports state-led control. Parents, advocates and experts fear reduced oversight could revive pre-1975 denial of access and services for disabled students.
Read at www.npr.org
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