According to NPR, on April 16, 2025 U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated that autism is a rapidly growing "epidemic" in the U.S. and vowed to identify the "environmental toxin" he says is to blame, calling it "a preventable disease." In addition, he said…
A series of bills in Congress are aimed at closing the U.S. Department of Education (USDE). In the Senate, the Returning Education to Our States Act, outlines where each of the USDE’s responsibilities would be transferred. The bill also proposes to convert federal education funding into block grants, which it…
For students with disabilities, the opportunity to develop confidence in themselves can help make the college transition less uncertain. This includes supporting their self-advocacy skills, as well as allowing them to explore what a college environment looks like before they start that part of their education. Schools can effectively prepare…
On April 3, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) announced it was canceling a fiscal year 2025 grant application for a technical assistance center that supported postsecondary transition services for students with disabilities saying that the decision was part of a comprehensive review to ensure “competitions align with the…
On March 21, 2025, President Trump announced that federal special education operations, currently spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Education (USDE), will move to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). He also said he would move federal student loan and school nutrition program oversight from the USDE…
A new report, How Medicaid Cuts Will Harm Students & Schools, presents the findings of a nationwide survey of over 1,400 school district leaders, including superintendents, school business officials and school health coordinators, on the impact Medicaid cuts would have on school health services, student resources and district funding. The executive…
Leading Democrats on the congressional appropriations committees sent a 10-page letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon demanding information about the mass layoffs in the Department of Education (USDE). The March 11 layoffs cut the USDE's workforce nearly in half and many want to know what the impact will…
According to the Advocacy Institute, a nonprofit focused on improving the lives of people with disabilities, the U.S. is on pace to see the number of students with disabilities, ages 3-21, jump by about 1 million students between 2021 and 2025. Pre-K-12 grade schools gained 539,617 students eligible for Individuals…
On March 5, 2025, the nation’s largest educator union filed suit to challenge the U.S. Department of Education’s(USDE) directive to cease diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). The lawsuit is in response to a strict Feb. 14 Dear Colleague letter (DCL) that educators and education policy experts worried would severely curb student…
In one of her first orders of business, On March 5, 2025 U.S. Department of Education (USDE) Secretary Linda McMahon has opened an Office for Civil Rights (OCR) investigation of the District of Columbia Public Schools for alleged failures to meet the needs of students with disabilities. The investigation will…
