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Dear Friend,

URGENT ACTION! The Trump Administration’s Department of Education has gutted their Special Education office in shutdown layoffs, eliminating nearly all positions overseeing special education. (When you click, you’ll automatically sign on if we already have your information.)

What’s happening?

Last weekend, the Trump Administration announced the firing of hundreds of Department of Education federal staff who provide critical educational access support for children with disabilities. This means fewer protections when students with disabilities face exclusion, harassment, discriminatory discipline, and barriers to access and inclusion in education. Without federal oversight, states could begin ignoring or weakening disability rights laws altogether. [1]

Harrowing moves like this are not happening in isolation, they are yet another egregious example of the ceaseless attacks on children with disabilities–from assaults to Medicaid, dangerous false rhetoric around autism, and the proposal of registries for tracking children with developmental differences, indicating a pattern of measures that are harming children with disabilities.

Tell your members of Congress that this is completely unacceptable and they MUST put pressure on the Trump administration to reinstate staff at the Department of Education. (When you click, you’ll automatically sign on if we already have your information.)

The Education Department already severed nearly half of its staff this past March [2] – and now have laid off just about every employee responsible for administering funding and overseeing the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), [3] which serves more than 8 million children nationwide. [4]

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a good law which has provided access to free, quality education to children with disabilities, early intervention support for infants, toddlers, and their families, and ensured access to special education & critical supportive services since 1975.

Prior to the protections enacted by this landmark legislation, U.S. public schools accommodated just 1 out of 5 children with disabilities and many states even had laws excluding students with disabilities! [5] 3.5 million disabled children who attended school were forced into segregated facilities that provided little or no effective instruction [6] and 1.8 million children with disabilities had no access to the public school system at all. [7]

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the IDEA – yet instead of celebrating progress, our nation is facing the dismantling of the very infrastructure created to protect children with disabilities, pushing millions of children back to a time of segregation and systemic refusal to provide educational opportunities.

Congress has a long bipartisan history of funding federal efforts to ensure children with disabilities can equally access education. This is why it’s important to TAKE ACTION demanding Congress deliver on its essential role in funding & overseeing these critical education programs—and hold the Department of Education accountable! (When you click, you’ll automatically sign on if we already have your information.)

The letter we are sending the U.S. Congress states the following:

Dear member of Congress,

Last weekend the Administration announced the firing of hundreds of Department of Education federal staff who provide critical educational access support for children with disabilities. This means fewer protections when students with disabilities face exclusion, harassment, discriminatory discipline, and barriers to access and inclusion in education. Without federal oversight, states could begin ignoring or weakening disability rights laws altogether.

The Education Department already severed nearly half of its staff this past March and now have laid off just about every employee responsible for administering funding and overseeing the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which serves more than 8 million children nationwide.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has provided access to free, quality education to children with disabilities, early intervention support for infants, toddlers, and their families, and ensured access to special education & critical supportive services since 1975. Prior to the protections enacted by this landmark legislation, U.S. public schools accommodated just 1 out of 5 children with disabilities and many states even had laws excluding students with disabilities! 3.5 million disabled children who attended school were forced into segregated facilities that provided little or no effective instruction and 1.8 million children with disabilities had no access to the public school system at all.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the IDEA yet instead of celebrating progress, our nation is facing the dismantling of the very infrastructure created to protect children with disabilities, pushing millions of children back to a time of segregation and systemic refusal to provide educational opportunities.

Congress has a long bipartisan history of funding federal efforts to ensure children with disabilities can equally access education, this is why it is crucial that elected officials such as yourself help fulfill this essential congressional role of funding & overseeing these programs—and hold the Department of Education accountable. The Department of Education is meant to be the keeper of IDEA’s promise, not the architect of its demise.

We urge you to put pressure on the Trump administration to reinstate staff and transparency at the Department of Education and help right this egregious wrong and protect children with disabilities throughout the nation who depend on these critical programs to learn, grow and thrive.

Sincerely,

Your name

SIGN NOW: Congress must push for the restoration of staffing and transparency at the U.S. Department of Education! (When you click, you’ll automatically sign on if we already have your information.)

Let’s also be clear that ALL of this is part of the administration's larger goal of denying the right to a public education for all, stripping away protections for students, rolling back civil rights enforcement, and weakening federal support for public education nationwide. As devastating as this is, we won’t back down from speaking up for our nation’s children and families, and we know you won’t either. We will continue to rise up together to call for protecting public education and the rights and futures of children with disabilities!

-Nadia, Ruth, Bea, Lauren, Nina, Felicia, Kristin, Donna and the whole MomsRising.org & MamásConPoder Team

P.S. Will eliminating disability protections in education impact your child or family? Share your Disability Rights story with us now! 

P.S.S. Want to learn more about recent federal updates and its impact on programs that support young children with disabilities? Click here to register for the  Advocating for Young Children with Disabilities in Your State webinar happening Monday, October 20th. The webinar will be recorded.

[1] [2] Ed. Dept. Offices Will Be Virtually Wiped Out in Latest Layoffs

[3][5][7] A History of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act

[4] Education Department wipes out special ed office in shutdown layoffs, union says

[6] Disability and the Education System

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