1. United States
2. Ill.
3. Letter

As a resident of Mount Prospect and the father of an autistic child, I am writing to you today with urgent concerns regarding the recent announcement that the Department of Education intends to move the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services to the Department of Health and Human Services. My child relies on the protections, resources, and inclusive environment provided through special education. Moving this office out of the Department of Education is deeply troubling for our family and for students with disabilities across the country. Special education is fundamentally an educational civil right, not merely a medical or rehabilitative issue. By shifting this oversight to the Department of Health and Human Services, we risk fundamentally changing how our government views and supports students like my child. Specifically, this move threatens to: Undermine the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: This critical legislation guarantees a Free Appropriate Public Education in the least restrictive environment. Keeping oversight within the Department of Education ensures the focus remains on academic achievement, classroom inclusion, and educational equity for autistic students and others with individualized education programs. Medicalize Disability: Shifting oversight risks viewing my child through a purely medical or diagnostic lens, rather than focusing on their fundamental right to access the general education curriculum alongside their peers. Disrupt Critical Funding and Oversight: Schools rely on the seamless integration of general and special education resources. Splitting federal oversight between two separate cabinet-level departments could create bureaucratic roadblocks, disrupt funding streams, and complicate compliance for local school districts that support our kids. Our children deserve to have their educational rights protected by the department designed to oversee education. I am asking you to use your platform and legislative authority to demand that the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services remains within the Department of Education where it belongs. Thank you for your time, your service, and your attention to this critical issue. I look forward to hearing your stance on this matter and the steps you will take to protect special education.