rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/letter/demand-congress-defend-special-education-in-public-schools-now?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-letter-area-demand-congress-defend-special-education-in-public-schools-now' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> Race Forward Action https://actionnetwork.org/groups/rfaction https://actionnetwork.org//images/generic_facebook.jpg Students with disabilities have a legal right to a free and appropriate public education. That right is protected by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the landmark civil rights law that requires public schools to serve students with disabilities and provide the services they need to learn. But that promise is being threatened. The Trump administration has attacked the Department of Education, targeted the offices and staff responsible for enforcing civil rights protections, and created new uncertainty around education funding. Without strong federal oversight, families are left fighting alone, districts lose clear accountability, and students can be denied the services they are legally entitled to receive. States are already being forced to step in. Idaho is putting $5 million toward its special education funding gap, while Wisconsin just reached a bipartisan agreement to raise its special education reimbursement rate to 50%. Those investments are important, but students’ rights should not depend on whether a state can find extra money in its budget. IDEA is a federal civil rights promise. Congress must fund and defend it like one. The federal government has never fully funded special education at the level that families and schools were promised. Now, instead of closing that gap, the Trump administration is weakening the public education infrastructure that students with disabilities rely on. Students need consistent services, trained staff, accessible materials, transportation, therapies, and individualized support. Families should not have to fight every year for services Congress has already said their children deserve. Congress must act now to protect IDEA, fully fund special education, stop attacks on the Department of Education, and defend the federal government’s role in enforcing disability rights in public schools. Click “Start Writing” to tell your members of Congress to defend special education in public schools by sponsoring and fighting to pass the IDEA Full Funding Act now. https://actionnetwork.org/letters/demand-congress-defend-special-education-in-public-schools-now