On November 20, 2025, NAPSA joined more than 850 local, state and national organizations in releasing a joint commitment to support federal special education law and to protest any move that separates services for students with disabilities from the U.S. Department of Education (USDE). That document lists shared principles and a commitment to the education of children and youth with disabilities.
Coalition members, who also include individual advocates, support keeping the USDE as an independent agency that is fully staffed and funded to oversee federal laws including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Section 504.
The statement comes just days after the USDE announced it was transferring the management of six core programs to other federal agencies. Special education programming was not part of that announcement, but the Trump administration said it was still exploring that option.
In July, former federal special education leaders from both Republican and Democratic administrations over the past five decades wrote to leaders in Congress, urging them to keep special education programming and accountability within the USDE. Likewise, the more than 850 groups in a joint commitment said the UISDE “should remain an independent agency that is fully staffed and funded to oversee federal laws including IDEA and Section 504.” The coalition also emphasized that states should retain substantial responsibility for special education with the federal government playing a “crucial role” through funding, policy and ensuring equitable educational opportunities.
Special education advocates, parents and professionals have all along been resisting the dismantling of the agency, particularly for special education programming and oversight for the 8.4 million infants, toddlers, children and young adults with disabilities who qualified for IDEA services in 2023, the last year for which federal data is available.
The seven principles are:
I. Public education is the cornerstone of a healthy democracy
II. Free, quality public education must be available to every child and youth regardless of a family’s situation.
III. All participants (parents and school personnel) should be full and meaningful partners in the education of children and youth with disabilities.
IV. The federal government plays a crucial role in supplementing state funding and in shaping special education policy that ensures equitable access to quality education for students with disabilities. Under federal law, states retain substantial responsibility for the education of children and youth with disabilities.
V. The rights of children and youth with disabilities to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) is essential to their accessing a meaningful and equitable education and must be maintained and protected through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
VI. Federal funding under IDEA should be provided at the 40% per pupil expenditure level originally promised by the U.S. Congress to assure states have the capacity to provide needed services and specially designed instruction to students with disabilities.
VII. The U.S. Department of Education should remain an independent agency that is fully staffed and funded to oversee federal laws including IDEA and Section 504.
View the actual document by clicking here.
For an article from K-12 Dive, click here.