Abe Saffer, Federal Affairs 10/24/2025
Recent policy discussions from the administration and other policymakers have proposed transferring the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) from the Department of Education (ED) to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Here are eight reasons the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) believes the IDEA should remain within the Department of Education.
1. IDEA is an education law, not a health program
The IDEA was created to make sure students with disabilities get a free, appropriate public education (FAPE), not medical care. The IDEA’s purpose would be confused if it was moved to HHS, changing it from an education program to a health one.
2. IDEA works best alongside general education
Congress has worked since the IDEA’s creation to more closely align special and general education laws to foster closer integration. Preserving the IDEA in the Department of Education (ED) maintains this alignment, enhancing coordination, which benefits all children.
3. ED staff has the expertise
The Department of Education staff have decades of specialized expertise, understanding schools, classrooms, and education law. Transferring the IDEA to HHS, an agency with no experience or expertise in administering education programs would not only create a steep learning curve but could dilute the IDEA’s educational focus and compromise its effectiveness in ensuring a free and appropriate education for students with disabilities.
4. Moving the IDEA to HHS would send the wrong message to schools about the necessity of related services
The Congressional purpose of the IDEA is spelled out in the legislation: to assess, and ensure the effectiveness of, efforts to educate children with disabilities. Even though the vast majority of related services are provided by professionals frequently defined as health practitioners, all related services are designed to meet the educational needs of students with disabilities.
5. It would put at risk all the progress made by the IDEA in the last 50 years
Prior to the nation’s first special education law, only one in five students with disabilities attended public schools, and many states had laws excluding children with certain disabilities from school. Today, the civil rights of students with disabilities are safeguarded in part because ED houses both the Office of Special Education Programs and the Office of Civil Rights. This ensures coordinated oversight and enforcement of the law. Moving the IDEA out of ED would fracture this structure and weaken the protections Congress intended.
6. Creates new challenges for state and local education agencies
State and local education agencies, not departments of health, manage the IDEA funding and services. Transferring the IDEA to HHS would force states to rebuild systems and processes, at best delaying support for students, and at worse seeing more students fail to get the support they need to thrive.
7. It would send the wrong message about inclusion
Students with disabilities are general education students first. Moving the IDEA to HHS would create the impression that special education should occur separate from general education, which is in direct contrast to the Congressional mandate that students should be educated in the least restrictive environment.
8. It would weaken accountability
A key responsibility of the Department of Education is to hold states accountable for meeting all federal education mandates. Moving the IDEA to HHS would remove the clear line of accountability, making it harder to track if schools, local education agencies, or states are serving students with disabilities, consistent with the IDEA.