"This is a real blow to children and families all across the country. I don’t have constituents asking me to shut the door on kids with disabilities."
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) continues to advocate for students with disabilities and their families in the wake of President Trump’s devastating cuts to the Department of Education, particularly the special education division.
Today, Senator Hassan hosted a discussion in Manchester during which she heard from Manchester School District leaders, advocates on behalf of students with disabilities, and a Granite State family, all of whom count on federal special education funding to ensure that children are able to succeed in the classroom. During the conversation, participants made clear the ways in which resources from the Department of Education provide critical support for educators, students with disabilities, and their families, and make it possible for all learners to succeed in the classroom and thrive in our communities.
Read more from USA TODAY about Senator Hassan’s advocacy on behalf of students with disabilities and their families – and her clear message to the Trump Administration as it continues its longstanding agenda to dismantle the Department of Education and cut resources for students with disabilities:
USA TODAY: For this senator, Trump's special ed layoffs are personal amid shutdown showdown
By Zachary Schermele
WASHINGTON – For New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan, it felt personal watching more than 120 jobs tied to special education disappear during the U.S. government shutdown.
President Donald Trump ordered massive layoffs across the federal workforce, which critics see as part of an effort to pressure Democrats like Hassan into voting to end the ongoing budget crisis that now stretches into its third week. The firings included roughly a fifth of the U.S. Department of Education – and nearly everyone in its special education division, per court documents and the agency's union.
That's particularly painful to Hassan, a second-term lawmaker and former governor with a son, Ben, who was born almost four decades ago with cerebral palsy, a neurological condition that affects movement and posture. While in school, the senator's son needed some of the very programs she says now have an uncertain fate without people to manage them.
"This is a real blow to children and families all across the country," Hassan told USA TODAY in an interview. "I don’t have constituents asking me to shut the door on kids with disabilities."
Her concerns echo those of many families nationwide while underscoring the real-world stakes and complicated politics of a federal government shutdown. The special education layoffs, which were paused temporarily by a federal judge on Oct. 15, have prompted a wave of anxiety that washed over parents and teachers in the last week. Special education advocacy groups say they were inundated with questions.
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Staffers in legal limbo; IDEA funding threatened
Between 7 million and 8 million students receive special education services in public schools, according to government data. They're eligible for those programs through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, the main federal law that protects the rights of students with disabilities.
Passed 50 years ago, IDEA doles out billions of dollars annually to states, and then to school districts, which use the money to help pay for special education services.
In the case of Hassan's son, that funding and its requirements made it possible for his school to connect him with the right resources, specifically an occupational therapist and alternative communications devices. By fifth grade, those tools helped his teachers realize he could raise his hand to respond to multiple-choice questions. Even though he couldn't speak, they finally began to better assess his learning progress.
"Those are the kinds of things that allowed him to be a much more fully participating student," she said, "and really have a quality of life that he wouldn't otherwise have had."
Though almost all of IDEA funding was already disbursed this school year, nearly everyone in charge of its oversight and administration was laid off, USA TODAY has reported. More than 120 workers were let go from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, the Education Department stated in recently filed court documents. Should states or schools have issues in the coming weeks and months drawing down the money they need, they'll be turning to staffers whose jobs are now in legal limbo.
Same goes for schools that have questions about the technicalities of IDEA, or, in many cases, parents looking to file a civil rights complaint. Nearly 140 employees in the Office for Civil Rights were fired, too. (Most investigations in that office are about disability-related discrimination.)
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Already, most of the laid-off staffers aren't doing their usual work to help schools, as is mandated by the Education Department's shutdown contingency plan. Due to the crisis, they were indefinitely furloughed, along with most of the agency, until the government reopens.
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"Nobody should buy the administration's excuse that somehow they're doing this because the government is shut down," she said. "This is part of a long-term trend."
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