Let’s start with an uncomfortable fact. States have a financial incentive to underserve disabled students. Special education is expensive, and every support costs money. The Department of Education exists, in part, as a federal watchdog to ensure that states live up to their obligations under the law.
And these are kids who will never pay taxes, they’ll never hold a job, they’ll never play baseball, they’ll never write a poem, they’ll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted.
–Robert Kennedy
The person who wrote that doesn’t understand what it means to treat other human beings as full human beings, entitled to define success for themselves. The person who wrote that should not be in charge of any part of Special Education. And, yet, Mr. Kennedy is being handed a huge part of the responsibility for managing Special Education.
He doesn’t understand that success is individual. There is no single yardstick that every person is obligated to meet.
That isn’t just part of treating people with dignity. It’s also one of the foundational ideas behind special education. Anyone who has been through the special education system as a parent or student is well aware of the term Individualized Education Program or IEP. This is the plan that students, parents and teachers craft to determine the goals (measures of success) that the team will strive for in a student’s education.
But, for the moment, let’s take Mr. Kennedy’s viewpoint. Let’s use his yardstick of success. The person who said those words has already given up on autistic children. He has effectively said, “You, young child, will never meet my definition of a successful life.” That is an extraordinary thing to say about any child, let alone from someone who may soon oversee part of the nation’s special education system.
And now he’s being handed a significant role in managing the federal office responsible for overseeing special education. In specific, the president has decided to effectively move managing the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) out of the Department of Education and into Health and Human Services (HHS). Mr. Kennedy is the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Consider this paragraph from the statement from AESA, the Association of Educational Service Agencies:
The first agreement would shift day-to-day management of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ED would retain statutory responsibility and enforcement authority, and IDEA funding would continue to flow through ED for now. A transfer of IDEA funding to HHS is not expected before FY27 at the earliest.
Try to reconcile that with the rhetoric of “small government” and “government efficiency.” One agency will manage special education’s day-to-day operations while another will retain legal responsibility and enforcement authority. Meanwhile, IDEA funding will continue to flow through the Department of Education. If your goal is efficiency, splitting authority across agencies is a strange way to pursue it.
It’s as if someone really wants this to fail.
On that thought, add this to the overall SNAFU that is the move of Special Education to HHS. The New York Times recently published a scathing article entitled Kennedy Shows Minimal Engagement With Vast Health Portfolio. It’s paywalled, but you get the gist from the title. Mr. Kennedy already appears unable, or unwilling, to fully engage with the enormous portfolio he already has. And we are handing him special education on top of it?
Mr. Trump has not been shy about his contempt for the Department of Education. He campaigned on closing the department. He can’t really close it, that takes an act of congress, but he can kill it with neglect. Similarly, he has gutted HHS, firing tens of thousands of people. And Mr. Kennedy has been more than happy to help.
When congress enacted what is now the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), they included a commitment to reimburse schools about 40% of the excess costs to educate special ed students. They never have, but the federal government does contribute a significant amount (about 20%). They are also the final federal authority responsible for ensuring that states uphold students’ rights. They monitor states to ensure that they are upholding FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education). They monitor metrics such as graduation rates to make sure that states are serving their disabled students appropriately. They investigate discrimination complaints.
It’s not perfect, by any means. I don’t know a single parent who thinks that the American special education system is fulfilling the promises we have made as a people.
But it could be worse. If the Federal government paid even less, it would be worse. If the federal government didn’t monitor and enforce special education laws and standards, things could be a lot worse.
Which is why I, for one, am shocked to hear that responsibility for managing the federal special education office is being transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services. We should be strengthening the oversight of Special Education, not weakening it.
Once again, it’s time to make your voices heard. Call, email, fax or, if you can, meet with your legislators. Tell them to reverse this bad decision.
Disability is not a disease to be managed. Special education is an educational commitment we have made to our children. It belongs under educational oversight. Special education needs oversight from leaders who believe every child is capable of growth and worthy of investment. Mr. Kennedy has repeatedly shown that he is not that person.
By Matt Carey
Left Brain Right Brain 
Recent Comments