NAGC Public Policy Update - June 2, 2025
Senators Honor National Assistive Technology Awareness Day
On April 30, the Senate passed a resolution introduced by Senators Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) to designate April 30th as National Assistive Technology Day. In a joint statement, the Senators noted, “Assistive technology, which includes communication devices, modified vehicles, glasses, and mobility devices, is not a luxury – it is essential for individuals with disabilities and older Americans to live in their homes, access education, receive health care, and obtain employment.” The resolution has been endorsed by the Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs (ATAP) and other partners who advocate for and support increased access to assistive technology for all individuals with disabilities.
Read the Senators’ statement here.
GAO Recommends Improved Special Ed Allocations for DODEA Schools
The Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) serves a global student population, with about 15% receiving special education services. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) review found serious challenges in overseas schools, including limited access to related services like physical therapy, causing delays at 44 of 114 schools in 2022–2023—some delays lasting over a year. DoDEA’s staffing model does not account for the individualized minutes of service required by students' individualized education plans (IEPs), contributing to shortages. Additionally, paraeducators at most schools reported little to no special education training, including any required crisis response preparation. Staff and regional officials also cited unclear guidance on implementing Department of Defense (DOD) policies, leading to inconsistent support across schools. While updates are planned by 2025–2026, clearer interim communication is needed. These findings highlight the need for better training, staffing, and policy clarity to ensure military-connected students with disabilities receive consistent, high-quality support. DoD only partially agreed with the GAO findings.
Read the GAO report here.
Senate Report Details Threats to Special Education Protections
Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee have released a report that details the many harms to seniors and people with disabilities that have arisen during the first 100 days of the Trump Administration. Detailing the many negative impacts of several Executive Orders combined with the significant cuts and cancellations to contracts and grants focused on research, educator preparation, civil rights protections, and more, the report emphasizes that the rights of 9.5 million students with disabilities are under direct threat.
Read the full report here.
ED Cuts $1B in Safer Communities Mental Health Funding
According to reports from grantees and an article first published by the Associated Press (AP), the U.S. Department of Education (ED) intends to cancel $1B in school mental health grants, using the rationale that the grants do not adhere to the Trump Administration’s interpretation of the civil rights laws, contradicted the tenets of merit and fairness in federal grantmaking, and therefore, resulted in inappropriate funding. The program, spurred by the Uvalde school shootings and authorized under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, provided funds to prepare and hire additional mental health workers in schools. ED has suggested it intends to reconfigure the grant program and open a new competition at a later date.
Read the AP article here.
House Budget Reconciliation Bill Takes Form, Adds Education Tax Credit, Cuts Medicaid
The Republican budget reconciliation process moved forward this week as several bills came out of House Committees to form a more than 1,000 page package. To pay for nearly $1 trillion in tax credits for businesses that will expire at the end of the year, and to add new tax relief for some American taxpayers, House Committees were tasked with producing specific cuts to existing mandatory spending programs. Mandatory programs are distinct from discretionary programs in the federal budget and include Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and certain higher education programs such as Pell Grants and student loans. As we reported last week, the House Education and Workforce Committee finalized a proposal that would help pay for the tax bill by cutting $350 billion in education spending by changing student loan program rules, limiting access to Pell Grants for low-income students, ending interest subsidies for undergraduates while they are in school, revamping loan repayment plans, and rolling back a range of accountability regulations.
Last week, the House Ways & Means Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved their portions of the reconciliation bill. Of note, the House Ways & Means bill would add $20 billion in new funding for a tax mechanism that would provide tax credits to individuals who donate to “a scholarship granting organization” which then provides up to $5000 annually through a ‘funded’ voucher to use for tuition, books, online education, and more. Families making more than three times the local median income do not qualify. While language was added to reference students with disabilities and ensure their current access to “equitable services” -a reservation of some IDEA funds for parentally placed children in private schools- the bill does not add any new protections. Similarly, the House Energy and Commerce bill -after a 26-hour marathon- voted along party lines to cut Medicaid by more than $800 billion. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that 7.6 million people will be cut from Medicaid under the proposal, which adds new work requirements, ends eligibility and enrollment rules for dually eligible individuals who already qualify due to disability, freezes payments to states for certain types of care, mandates cost-sharing on enrollees with very low incomes and more. Today, the House committee bills were rolled into a single bill package and sent to the House Budget Committee for a final vote. Despite the massive cuts offered up in the final package, at this writing, conservative Republicans joined with Democrats to block the advancement of the bill due to their desire for even deeper savings. Talks between the Republican dissenters, Speaker Johnson, and the White House are likely to begin this weekend.
House Education Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Charter Schools
On May 14, the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education held a hearing, Reimagining Education: How Charter Schools are Closing Gaps and Opening Doors. The hearing featured testimony from four witnesses: Mr. David Griffith (Associated Director of Research, Thomas B. Fordham Institute), Ms. Eva Moskowitz (CEO and President, Success Academy Charter Schools), Dr. Genevieve Siegel-Hawley (Professor of Educational Leadership, Virginia Commonwealth University), and Mr. Darryl Cobb (President, Charter School Growth Fund). Subcommittee Chairman, Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) and other proponents, praised charter schools as engines for innovation that improve academic and civic outcomes for both charter students and those in traditional public schools. Moskowitz outlined dire consequences for students attending low-quality schools and offered that charter schools can be the solution. In contrast, several Committee Members voiced concerns that charter schools may exacerbate segregation – particularly among students of color and students with disabilities – and often lack sufficient accountability for academic results and civil rights compliance. In her testimony, Dr. Siegel-Hawley noted that charter schools are less likely than traditional public schools to enroll students with disabilities, and when they do, those students often have less severe disabilities. She emphasized the need for accountability mechanisms to ensure that charter schools serve a diverse student population and deliver high-quality services, especially for students with disabilities.
Watch the full hearing here.
ED Publishes IDEA Policy Guidance from January 2024-2025
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has updated the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) searchable database to include Dear Colleague letters, policy guidance, and selected fact sheets for the calendar year 2024. Guidance includes topics such as inclusive educational practices, secondary and post-secondary transition, special education personnel retention, exclusionary discipline, using functional behavioral assessments to create supportive learning environments, a voluntary self-assessment to support military connected children with disabilities, early hearing detection and intervention, physical education and adaptive physical education, and improving access to assistive technology devices for children with disabilities.
Search the database here.
CAP Identifies Threats to Schools from Recission of COVID Relief Funds
In an article titled The Sudden Loss of Federal COVID-19 Relief Funds Will Hinder K-12 Academic Progress, the Center for American Progress (CAP) identifies ways in which the sudden loss of COVID-19 relief funds may limit school districts’ abilities to address student learning loss. Although districts were allowed extensions for spending of previously allocated American Rescue Plan (ARP) Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds by the Biden Administration, the U.S. Department of Education unexpectedly rescinded the extensions in March 2025. This has left states and districts with a greater than anticipated funding gap.
Read the article and access funding gap details here.
