Keep Special Education Oversight with Education—Former Republican Leaders Agree

Congress must stop the transfer of IDEA oversight from the Department of Education to the Department of Health and Human Services. This proposal will not reduce bureaucracy or return education to the states. Former Republican Directors of the Office of Special Education Programs—including a Trump appointee—have warned it will create fragmented oversight, inconsistent guidance, duplicative processes, and weaker accountability for students with disabilities. IDEA is an education law. The Department of Education has the expertise to oversee its implementation, protect students’ rights, provide technical assistance to states, and hold school districts accountable when they fail to meet their obligations. Please oppose any effort to move IDEA oversight to HHS and protect strong, unified federal oversight of special education so students with disabilities and their families do not lose the accountability Congress intended.