The news is changing so rapidly it can be hard to keep up. We’re creating flyers that will target different issues, and link viewers to with explainers and action items. Click on a flyer below to download the PDF.
Category: Action
Steps you can take to protect your rights.
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What’s going on with the US Department of Education?
In the news:
President Trump has repeatedly promised to close the Department of Education, including at his September 2024 rally in Pennsylvania, and later on a Fox and Friends interview. He reiterated the plan when he nominated former WWE executive Linda McMahon to head the department. This plan can also be found in Project 2025.
Closing the Department of Education(DoED) legally would take an act of Congress. There are now currently 3 active bills that seek to dismantle it:
– HR 899 “To Terminate the Department of Education” Rep. Massey (KY)
-HR 369 “To Provide for the Elimination of The Department of Education, and for Other Purposes” Rep. Rouzer (NC)
-S 5384 “Returning Education to our States Act” Sen. Rounds (SD)The bills differ in their plans for the department’s functions. S 5384 relocates certain programs to other departments following Project 2025’s outlines, while HR 899’s entire text is one sentence: “The Department of Education shall terminate on December 31, 2026.”
President Trump also drafted an Executive Order designed to gut DoED. Sources say he will not sign off on the order until McMahon is confirmed, due to its controversial nature.
Elon Musk’s DOGE team cancelled most of DoED’s research this week. The Institute of Education Services (IES) is an office within DoED that funds research grants. Most or all of their grants have been cut.
AEM Education Services, a contractor of the Office of Special Ed and Rehabilitative Services(OSERS) within DoED, also had their contracts suddenly cancelled on Tuesday, February 11th. AEM’s provides data analysis to determine where IDEA –the law that protects disabled students rights at school–funding should go. Without this data, states may not receive their IDEA-related grants, making it difficult for them to execute IEPs and services.
What Does DoED Actually Do?
Founded by President Carter, DoED serves 4 essential functions:
- Dispersing federal aid, like Pell grants and related FAFSA financial support for students attending college.
- Collecting and sharing data, research, and training materials: DoED conducts studies on teaching methods and shares that information with schools across the country.
- Choosing and advocating for key national educational issues, like the “Common Core” about things students should be able to do at a given grade level. For example: a reading standard for a first grader wouldn’t dictate what books a teacher should use, but says a student should be able to, “identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.”
- Preventing discrimination and ensuring equal access to education:
– DoED makes sure all K-12 students have access to “Free and Appropriate Public Education” (FAPE) by enforcing the law known as IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). Through grants to districts, DoED also pays some IDEA-related costs through grants, though this varies from district to district. Under IDEA, a disabled child is entitled to accommodation and an Individual Education Plan, or IEP.
If a school violates the IEP or the child’s right to education, it is with DoED that parents file a complaint. (Sometimes families are told to file an additional complaint to the Office of Civil Rights under the Department of Justice, but this Office is also frozen under the current administration.”
– DoED disburses funds to a variety of deaf and disability-centered programming through the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) as well as institutions like Gallaudet University, National Technical Institute for the Deaf, the American Printing House for the Blind, Special Olympics, Helen Keller National Center for the DeafBlind and more.
– DoED provides supplemental funding to underserved K-12 schools, known as “Title 1 schools,” in situations where state and local funding is inadequate. These schools often serve rural populations, as well as BIPOC-majority areas, and disabled students here are at already multiply marginalized.
What the Dept. of Education Doesn’t Do
Supporters of abolishing DoED often say they want to give control of education “back to the states.” But education content is already in state control.
DoED does NOT regulate specific content or curriculum. States and local school boards decide things like what textbooks, novels or other curriculum items a school district uses.
What happens to IDEA and IEPs Without DoED?
We’re not sure, exactly, whether IDEA enforcement will be moved to another department, or whether the administration will attempt to stop enforcement. As the administration is currently in contempt of several judicial orders about the constitutionality of their orders, depending solely on hope in the rule of law is not advisable.
IDEA is currently enforced by complaints to DoED and the Department of Justice’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR). Leaving parents without those avenues when districts don’t provide access leaves families without recourse, rendering IEPs less than binding.
Even if the programming is spared moved to another department, the transition would be rocky and lots of expert knowledge and policy guidance would be lost. It would be up to that new agency what kind of resources should be dedicated to IDEA enforcement. For example, if IDEA is saved and moved to HHS, it would be up to RFK Jr. to decide what happens to IDEA enforcement. Kennedy has supported anti-vax conspiracies about autism, echoed eugenicist philosophy, and suggested people with substance abuse disorders and folks who take prescription drugs, such as ADHD medicationbe sent to “wellness camps” to do outdoor labor.How Can I Take Action to Save DoED?
1. Call these four Senators in their capacity on the HELP committee, and tell them to vote NO on McMahon’s nomination. This will stall the process. The committee is 11-12 GOP, so we only need one to flip in order to deadlock the vote. If you are honest about where you live, you can call from out of state regarding the committee in particular. The hearing begins tomorrow, 13 February 2025, so this is time sensitive.
Susan Collins (known to be more likely to occasionally cross party lines): (202) 224-2523
Lisa Murkowski (known to be more likely to occasionally cross party lines): (202) 244-6665
John Husted (has previously supported disability rights): (202) 224-3353
Rand Paul (has a deaf nephew; has signed ASL on the Senate floor): (202)-224-43432. If the Committee advances McMahon, call your senator to tell them to vote NO on confirming. Find your senator’s contact information here.
Share this Information!
Many people, especially those following only mainstream or conservative media, are missing this information, but the Department of Education protects everyone’s rights. Print out this flyer and spread the word around town!
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What’s the Deal with the Section 504 Lawsuit?
Section 504 is a civil rights statute that says any entity that gets money from the federal government (funding, grants, etc.) cannot discriminate on the basis of disability. It is part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 law. This protection impacts education, healthcare, immigration services, child services, emergency services, clinical research, private companies who get federal grants, and all federal agencies and buildings.
Many people are most familiar with Section 504 through the use of 504 Plans to support disabled students at school. 504 Plans provide accommodations in public school settings like ASL interpreters, closed captions, ramps, preferential seating, extra time on tests, quiet testing environments, access to braille, audiobooks, FM systems, speech-to-text and AAC devices, and more.
Section 504 is a kind of statute known as a “spending clause.” There are also other civil rights spending clauses that protect people from discrimination on the basis of race and sex.
In 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued some updated guidance on Section 504. These are called the “Final Rule.” The pandemic revealed extreme inequities in healthcare remain–like hospitals denying lifesaving care on the basis of disability–so the Final Rule clarified who must follow 504, and what it means in the time of the internet. The Final Rule says 504 protection covers include all doctors and healthcare offices that accept Medicaid or Medicare, and their medical equipment, telehealth and websites. It also impacts programs for child services and independent living.
What is Texas vs. Becerra?
Texas vs. Becerra is a lawsuit with two main parts. One part asks the judge to strike down the Final Rule. The other part asks the judge to declare Section 504 as a whole unconstitutional and stope its enforcement.
Isn’t There Something to Do with Trans Folks in the Suit?
Sort of! The TLDR is that biased Attorneys Generals are using transphobia as a cover to get others to join in on their ableism. Jump down to the last section on this page to read more about the misconceptions.
What Would Happen if These States Win?
If the states succeed in striking down the Final Rule, disabled people’s enumerated protections under 504 will be taken back to what they were fifty years ago, without accounting for the internet, mobile devices, pandemic healthcare and more. Disabled people’s rights to live independently in-community would be impacted.
If the states succeed in having the entirety of Section 504 declared unconstitutional, all protections will be lost, including in education.
504 and the ADA, as well as other protective spending clauses, are linked in the way they’re enforced, so striking down 504 could endanger the enforcement mechanisms of the ADA as well.
This would also be a dangerous legal precedent for other spending clauses, like anti-race and sex based discrimination. It could set the stage for those protections to be declared unconstitutional, too.
Take Action: What Can We Do?
Seventeen states are currently signed on to Texas vs. Beccera.
Image of the US with involved states in pink. MT, UT, SD, NE, KS, TX, AK, LA, AR, MO, IN, AL, GA, FL, SC,WV. Image courtesy DREDF,org If you live in one of the 17 states signed onto this case, contact your Attorney General today. Let them know attacking the Final Rule and Section 504 is not ok, and ask them to drop out of the lawsuit. Here are scripts you can use while contacting your AG.
If you don’t live in one of these states, you can still contact your Attorney General. Progressive AGs can watch this litigation, file an amicus brief and more.
Here is contact information for all 50 Attorneys General
What if my Attorney General Tells me the Case is Inactive, or Doesn’t Really Attack Section 504?
Push back on misinformation and disinformation!
“This is a case about gender dysphoria.” The preamble to the Final Rule document mentions the ongoing legal inquiry into whether gender dysphoria can be classified a disability. There are currently several other court cases examining this question, and courts are split on it. The original 504 statute does not protect folks with gender dysphoria, and though Final Rule discussions mention the ongoing question in the courts, it makes no enforceable determination, or policy guidance within the text of Final Rule itself. This is political spin used to rally conservatives to the suit. However, it is important to note that there are trans disabled folks, and that the disability community stands with all LGBTQ+ folks. You can read HHS’s Final Rule document here.
“This case only takes issue with a small part of the Rule.” The suit has multiple parts. One part attacks the Final Rule, and one part explicitly asks the judge to declare all of Section 504 unconstitutional. Point your AG to page 37 of the complaint, under the heading “Count 3: Section 504 is Unconstitutional.” The full text of the complaint is here.
“The case is inactive.” The case is not inactive. The case has been paused until February 25th, 2025 in the wake of the new administrative transition. The DOJ and other involved parties are required to provide a status update on that day.
Screenshot of pg 37 of the complaint with the header “Count 3: Section 504 is Unconstitutional” Need to fact-check something else? Disability Rights and Education Defense Fund has a great FAQ document here, as well as many other resources about this and other attacks on their site: www.dredf.org
Spread the Word!The media isn’t reporting much on this case. Download our flyer and share it, especially offline. Disability affects people of every race, class, age, sex, gender, national origin, political affiliation and religion. People who aren’t spending much time on social media also need this info, and we are all stronger together.