FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 19, 2025
AAPD Calls for Congressional Action to Protect Federal Education Programs and Disability Rights
Washington, D.C. – The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) strongly opposes yesterday’s announcement by Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon that the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) and other programs will be transferred out of the Department. The Department of Labor (DoL) will now administer OESE and the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE). These interagency agreements further the long-planned and unlawful dismantling of the department initiated by the Trump Administration. According to federal law, these programs are required to be part of the Department of Education, and only Congress has the authority to transfer them to another department.
OESE collaborates with the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to promote inclusive education, enforce accessibility standards, and enhance teacher training—all of which are essential for the success of students with disabilities. Dismantling the department and splitting up these offices is prohibited without an act of Congress, weakens the expertise of education professionals, and jeopardizes the future of all of America’s students, including over 7.5 million students with disabilities.
We expect the Administration to continue its actions beyond this point, and we are increasingly concerned about its potential plans for OCR and OSEP. If OSEP actually moves into the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as has been suggested, it would mark a return to the segregated, medical model of disability and treating disability as a “problem” that needs to be “cured”, and addressed in separate, specialized settings instead of following the civil rights and inclusive education approach that entitles all students to a free and appropriate public education as outlined in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The Department of Education provides oversight, enforcement, funding, and programming that facilitate education opportunities for disabled students, which ultimately provides the foundation for the expectation of inclusion and integration as an adult and in other aspects of life.
This year, IDEA turns 50. Before IDEA and the Department of Education’s work to make the promise of IDEA real, children with disabilities were educated at home or within medical, institutional settings. We cannot return to this reality that many in our community still have painful memories of.
Join AAPD in urging Congress to act immediately to stop this transfer and prevent the dismantling of the Department of Education. We call on the Administration to reconsider this harmful move and protect the rights of students with disabilities to an inclusive, high-quality public education.