Category: Action

Steps you can take to protect your rights.

  • Action Item: Protect Deaf and Special Education!

    Action Item: Protect Deaf and Special Education!

    1300 Department of Education employees were laid off last week, some of them illegally, including workers in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), who provide a variety of special education funding and programs, oversee IDEA, and fund and support special institutions like Gallaudet, NTID, the American Printing House for the Blind, Helen Keller National Center for the Blind, and more. Take action!

    Two options:

    1. Write to your Representative in the House. Find your Representative here.
    2. Write to a Senator on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Here is the full list of the committee. If your Senator serves, write them! If not, you can still choose a Senator to write to in their capacity on the committee, as long as you are honest about where you live. Here are some suggested contacts for the four Republicans most likely to stand up for special and deaf education:

    The template below can be tailored to contact a Representative or Senator, by mail or email– or one of each!

    Dear [Senator or Representative + Last Name]

    [If writing your congressperson, or if your Senator serves on the HELP committee: “I am a constituent from zip code [insert yours]”].
    OR

    [If writing to a Senator on the HELP committee not from your state: “I am a resident of writing to you in your capacity on the HELP committee.”] I am writing to express my grave concern that Linda McMahon, President Trump, and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are taking steps to abolish the Department of Education and eliminate educational opportunities for millions of students across the country, especially this impact has on students who are deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind. This includes the termination of over 1,300 workers at the Department of Education. Linda McMahon inappropriately included in this termination of the Liaison to the Special Institutions, who works in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS).

    The Liaison to the Special Institutions position within the Department of Education is mandated by the law The Education of the Deaf Act  (EDA) 20 U.S.C. 4356 Section 206 Liaison for Educational Programs. Through this law, Gallaudet University and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) receive direct appropriations from Congress to provide education and employment services to individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind.  The EDA designates the Liaison to serve between the Department and Gallaudet University, NTID, and other postsecondary educational programs for individuals who are deaf under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and other Federal or non-Federal agencies, institutions, or organizations involved with the education or rehabilitation of individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. The law also stipulates that the person in this position must be from the deaf community.

    Without the Liaison, the Department will be unable to fulfill its critical functions as mandated in the EDA.  In order to keep operations at both Gallaudet and NTID continued without disruption, I ask that you take immediate action to have Linda McMahon correct her mistake and reinstate the employee who serves in this position. 

    Sincerely, 

    [Your name]

    [Your Contact information] 

  • Week 8 Update

    Week 8 Update

    1. Hundreds of Illegal Layoffs at the Department of Education. DoED laid off over 1300 employees Tuesday night, nearly half the department. Secretary McMahon made a statement that layoffs would not affect special ed, nor any legally-mandated positions, but that was a lie.

      Layoffs were conducted without review via a generic, “Dear colleague” letter, including eliminating workers in mandated positions that are not allowed to be vacant by law. Many workers who were supposed to continue on until the end of the month or longer cannot consistently access their emails and computers due to DOGE control.

      The layoffs spanned a variety of departments, cutting large swaths of the Office of Civil Rights (OCR).The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) was also impacted.

      The entire office providing funding for Gallaudet, NTID, the American Printing House for the Blind, Helen Keller National Center, and other special institutions has been laid off.

      There is also currently no director at the head of OSEP, the office overseeing IDEA. McMahon sparked anger in an interview after the layoffs, in which she revealed she did not know what “IDEA” stands for.
    2. Regional DoEd Offices Shuttered. In addition to the layoffs, seven regional Department of Education offices have also been closed down: Cleveland, Boston, New York, Dallas, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia.

      Among many impacts, this will further delay already long wait times for students and families dealing with discrimination complaints.
    3. DOGE Continues to infiltrate Social Security Administration (SSA). The DOGE team continues to grow at SSA, in what journalists believe to be the largest presence at any agency. Musk and friends have alleged “mass fraud” at the agency, but have not produced any evidence of the claim.

      DOGE is currently considering cancelling benefits for nearly 200,000 people who receive social security benefits without a SSN; however the majority of those are disabled children whose benefits are redirected to a “designated payee” in their parent or guardian.
    4. DOGE takes aim at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Under Musk, DOGE targeted HUD for layoffs of around half of the department, which oversees housing vouchers, rental assistance, public housing and a variety of anti-homelessness initiatives, including rebuild grants for communities after disaster.

      HUD also oversees fair housing laws and fields discrimination complaints.

      At least 50% of the US’s unhoused population is disabled.
    5. Senate Finance Committee holds hearing for Dr. Mehmet Oz. TV personality “Doctor Oz” was tapped to be Administrator of the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, and began his hearing Friday.

      He is poised to oversee Medicaid, Medicare, and administrative duties related to the Affordable Care Act as Republicans vow to make deep cuts to the former two programs. Oz sidestepped questions about whether he would protect Medicaid from cuts during Friday’s hearing.
    6. Senate passes a Continuing Resolution for the GOP’s budget bill. Republicans, with the help of 10 Democrats, voted to pass a continuing resolution that avoids a government shutdown until September.

      A coalition of anti-Trump organizers, including the federal workers union, had rallied to encourage Democrats to vote NO, in an effort to bring Republicans to the negotiating table and include language to reign in DOGE’s unfettered slashing of federal programs and employment. Instead, a small group of Democrats helped push the bill through.

      Now that Democrats have ceded their leverage it will be difficult to stop further implementation of Project 2025 or DOGE cuts, beyond lawsuits after the fact.
    7. Texas vs. Beccera lawsuit continues. Attorneys General continue to use transphobic rhetoric to attack Final Rule and Section 504.

      Participants continue to say they do not want to dismantle disabled people’s rights, but have not revoked the original filing, which explicitly asks for 504 to be declared unconstitutional (p 37-42).

      504 protects disabled people’s rights in all spaces that receive federal funding, but could have major implications for those needing interpreters in hospitals in light of the new English EO.
      The next update is due in April.
    8. Good News… 21 Attorneys General have banded together to sue the administration regarding the illegal firings of Department of Education employees. This comes alongside previously established suits and union actions already in-play for other firings and freezings across the federal workforce.

      A judge also ordered Thursday that probationary employees across multiple agencies who were laid off should be reinstated.

    Action Items:
    Share this info. Disability is often lost in mainstream coverage.

    • Call your Representative and tell them to intervene on behalf of the Dept. of Education.
    • Call the Senate Finance Committee members and tell them to vote NO on Dr. Oz.
    • If your state is involved, contact your Attorney General and ask them to withdraw from Texas v. Beccera. Tell them you stand in solidarity with disabled people, and trans folks.
    • Consider how you can pivot to creative and local acts of resistance now that elected officials have ceded negotiating power. Here are some ideas.


  • Call Scripts for 13 March Regarding Budget Resolution and Illegal DoED Layoffs

    Call Scripts for 13 March Regarding Budget Resolution and Illegal DoED Layoffs

    Script for Calling Your Senator (*Time Sensitive*–they must vote by Friday, 314)

    Find your Senator’s phone number here

    Hello Senator [last name],

    My Name is [full name] and I’m a constituent calling from zip code [your zip code] to ask you to vote NO on the budget bill until there are firm guardrails in place that take financial control from DOGE and return it to Congress, as stipulated by the Constitution.

    The executive overreach of freezing Congressionally-approved spending and firing federal workers is illegal and dangerous.

    I understand concerns about the impacts of a temporary government shutdown, but the government is not currently functioning by the rule of law. Giving Republicans free reign to gut Medicaid and SNAP will harm even more Americans. Please use this moment of leverage to stand with the American people and the Constitution, and vote NO unless enforceable protections are implemented. Thank you.


    Script for Calling Your House Representative

    Click to find your Representative

    Hello Representative [last name],

    My Name is [full name] and I’m a constituent calling from zip code [your zip code] to ask you to stop the Trump administration from harming students and families by dismantling the Department of Education. By closing key offices and conducting illegal layoffs, Trump and DOGE are trying to bypass Congress to gut the department.

    [Personal statement here] Ex: In particular, I’m a [parent / student / teacher / community member], concerned about about the impact that these cuts will have on students with disabilities, including funding and oversight for programs like [IDEA, 504, Gallaudet, American Printing House for the Blind, Helen Keller National Center, Special Olympics. If applicable, restate importance of program to you or your family.]

    This is an overreach by the executive branch. Please act to protect the students and the federal workers who serve them. Thank you.

  • Breaking: Nearly Half the Department of Education Laid  Off Tuesday, Including from Legally Mandated Positions

    Breaking: Nearly Half the Department of Education Laid Off Tuesday, Including from Legally Mandated Positions

    On Tuesday, 11 March, the Department of Education fired over 1,300 workers, nearly half of the department. Afterward, Linda McMahon told reports that legally-mandated employees, and programs protecting disabled students’ rights were not affected; however, that was a lie. In the same interview, she also revealed she did not know what IDEA stands for.

    Federal work has some in-built protections to layoffs generally, but on top of that, some of the jobs removed yesterday are legally-mandated, making it illegal for those positions to be vacant.

    The layoffs had a wide reach across departments, but it’s been confirmed that some of those removed were from OSERS, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

    OSERS oversees and funds early intervention and IDEA law, various Vocational Rehabilitation programs, and special institutions like the American Printing House for the Blind, Helen Keller National center for DeafBlind, National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) and Gallaudet.

    Without a functioning department for funding and advocating for these programs, they are in danger. With respect to Gallaudet, specifically, the university has some special protections due to its Charter, but it is not immune to cuts, and there is no specific amount of funding guaranteed.

    Ultimately, this is no longer about debating various political policies anymore, but about returning to the rule of law.


    Action Items

    1. Don’t panic. There are currently many unknowns, which can be scary, but instead of spiraling you can–

    2. Call your senator. Tell them to vote NO on the budget resolution until those who are illegally fired are reinstated, and there are guardrails in place to revoke financial control to DOGE and return it to Congress, as it says in the Constitution.

    The Senate Democrats have leverage at this moment, because bipartisan effort will be required to pass the bill by Friday, so please let Senators, especially Democratic Senators know it’s past time to stand up for the rule of law.

    3. If you are in DMV area, there will be a protest outside the Department of Education building tomorrow (Thursday the 13th) starting at 1PM. Show up if you can.

    4. Spread the word. Not only will these actions harm children and society overall, but they are illegal. People in power are not above the law in this or any context.

  • Week 5 Update

    Week 5 Update

    1. Linda McMahon’s DoED Nomination Advances
      • The HELP Committee voted along party lines, advancing Linda McMahon to the full Senate for her confirmation as Secretary of DoED.
      • Trump has promised major cuts to the department via Executive Order once McMahon is in place.
      • Three active bills to abolish the department are also currently in Congress.
      • DoED funds and oversees a variety of disability-specific programs and grants, and protects disabled students rights to attend public schools. Read our full explainer on DoED here.
    2. Funding Cuts for DoED Now at $502 Million and Counting
    3. Mass Layoffs Hit Disabled Veterans Hard
    4. Texas vs. Beccera Lawsuit on Hold; AGs Refuse to Come Clean about Scope of the Complaint
      • On Wednesday, involved parties wrote to the judge asking for more time to evaluate their case, and claiming they did not seek to declare Section 504 unconstitutional.
      • The letter still takes aim at Final Rule’s spending guidance for independent living, which could affect disabled people’s rights to live in-community. They also continue to use transphobic rhetoric to attack Final Rule.
      • Despite reassurances, the original filing does explicitly ask for 504 to be declared unconstitutional (p 37-42). We also should not make concessions on basic rights for any humans. See all our Texas v. Beccera resources here.
    5. House Budget Takes Aim at Medicaid, SNAP
      • The House presented a budget bill that would require $880 billion in cuts from the Energy and Commerce Committee, who oversees Medicaid. Medicaid provides healthcare for 70 million disabled and low-income Americans,
      • On Wednesday, Trump endorsed the bill, after previously saying he wouldn’t touch the program.
      • SNAP, the program that provides financial assistance specifically for buying food, is also under threat.
    6. Executive Order “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies”
      • Consolidates power under the President by taking it away from independent agencies. Says the President has the final say, including budgetary, over all parts of the Executive branch.
      • From a disability perspective, the future of the Federal Communications Commission is of concern. The FCC currently oversees and disburses funds for things like closed captions, captioned phone calls and text and video relay.
      • This move is a key tenet of Project 2025. Expanding the powers of the President and weakening checks and balances is dangerous for the health of any democracy.
    7. Threats to Special Education at the State Level
      • Indiana HB 1136 appoints state governing boards over local community boards, and targets schools for charter conversion, which could harm disabled students’ services and weaken IEP oversight.
      • Alabama State HB197 seeks to “investigate” and fine parents who file complaints under IDEA’s due process procedures, and makes it harder to recover legal fees if a family wins their case.
      • See our friends at Fighting for My Voice for a state-level education policy tracker
    8. Some Good News
      • After feedback from advocates, Indiana’s SB473 was revised to include ASL and all language options for deaf children’s early intervention programming. Previously the bill protected spoken language only.
      • Connecticut’s State Legislature is expected to approve $40 million in additional funds for special education in a vote next week

    Take Action

    • Share this info. Disability is often lost in mainstream coverage.
    • Call your Senator and ask them to vote NO on the McMahon nomination and protect DoED.
    • If your state is involved, contact your Attorney General and ask them to drop out of Texas v. Beccera. Tell them you stand in solidarity with all disabled people, as well as trans folks. If your state isn’t involved, you can still call and ask them to protect Section 504.
    • Write/call your Congresspeople and tell them to fight for Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP, and Social Security. Entitlements are taxpayer money!
    • Keep an eye on your state legislatures and make sure they are not complying in advance!

    #ProtectADA for community sharing, news, letter templates and more

  • Take it to the Streets! Flyers Download Page

    Take it to the Streets! Flyers Download Page

    The news is changing so rapidly it can be hard to keep up. We’re creating flyers that will target different issues, and link viewers to with explainers and action items. Click on a flyer below to download the PDF.

  • What’s going on with the US Department of Education?

    What’s going on with the US Department of Education?

    Last Updated 3.10.2025

    In the news:

    President Trump has repeatedly promised to close the Department of Education, including at his September 2024 rally in Pennsylvania, and later on a Fox and Friends interview. He reiterated the plan when he nominated former WWE executive Linda McMahon to head the department. This plan can also be found in Project 2025.

    Closing the Department of Education(DoED) legally would take an act of Congress. There are now currently 3 active bills that seek to dismantle it:
    – HR 899 “To Terminate the Department of Education” Rep. Massey (KY)
    -HR 369 “To Provide for the Elimination of The Department of Education, and for Other Purposes” Rep. Rouzer (NC)
    -S 5384 “Returning Education to our States Act” Sen. Rounds (SD)

    The bills differ in their plans for the department’s functions. S 5384 relocates certain programs to other departments following Project 2025’s outlines, while HR 899’s entire text is one sentence: “The Department of Education shall terminate on December 31, 2026.”

    President Trump also drafted an Executive Order designed to gut DoED. He initially planned to sign last Thursday, but pulled out due to backlash.

    Elon Musk’s DOGE team cancelled most of DoED’s research in February. The Institute of Education Services (IES) is an office within DoED that funds research grants. Most or all of their grants have been cut.

    AEM Education Services, a contractor of the Office of Special Ed and Rehabilitative Services(OSERS) within DoED, also had their contracts suddenly cancelled on Tuesday, February 11th. AEM’s provides data analysis to determine where IDEA –the law that protects disabled students rights at school–funding should go. Without this data, states may not receive their IDEA-related grants, making it difficult for them to execute IEPs and services.

    What Does DoED Actually Do?

    Founded by President Carter, DoED serves 4 essential functions:

    1. Dispersing federal aid, like Pell grants and related FAFSA financial support for students attending college.
    2. Collecting and sharing data, research, and training materials: DoED conducts studies on teaching methods and shares that information with schools across the country.
    3. Choosing and advocating for key national educational issues, like the “Common Core” about things students should be able to do at a given grade level. For example: a reading standard for a first grader wouldn’t dictate what books a teacher should use, but says a student should be able to, “identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.” 
    4. Preventing discrimination and ensuring equal access to education:
      – DoED makes sure all K-12 students have access to “Free and Appropriate Public Education” (FAPE) by enforcing the law known as IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). Through grants to districts, DoED also pays some IDEA-related costs through grants, though this varies from district to district. Under IDEA, a disabled child is entitled to accommodation and an Individual Education Plan, or IEP.

      If a school violates the IEP or the child’s right to education, it is with DoED that parents file a complaint. (Sometimes families are told to file an additional complaint to the Office of Civil Rights under the Department of Justice, but this Office is also frozen under the current administration.”

      – DoED disburses funds to a variety of deaf and disability-centered programming through the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) as well as institutions like Gallaudet University, National Technical Institute for the Deaf, the American Printing House for the Blind, Special Olympics, Helen Keller National Center for the DeafBlind and more.

      – DoED provides supplemental funding to underserved K-12 schools, known as “Title 1 schools,” in situations where state and local funding is inadequate. These schools often serve rural populations, as well as BIPOC-majority areas, and disabled students here are at already multiply marginalized.

    What the Dept. of Education Doesn’t Do

    Supporters of abolishing DoED often say they want to give control of education “back to the states.” But education content is already in state control.

    DoED does NOT regulate specific content or curriculum. States and local school boards decide things like what textbooks, novels or other curriculum items a school district uses.

    What happens to IDEA and IEPs Without DoED?

    We’re not sure, exactly, whether IDEA enforcement will be moved to another department, or whether the administration will attempt to stop enforcement. As the administration is currently in contempt of several judicial orders about the constitutionality of their orders, depending solely on hope in the rule of law is not advisable.

    IDEA is currently enforced by complaints to DoED and the Department of Justice’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR). Leaving parents without those avenues when districts don’t provide access leaves families without recourse, rendering IEPs less than binding.

    Even if the programming is spared moved to another department, the transition would be rocky and lots of expert knowledge and policy guidance would be lost. It would be up to that new agency what kind of resources should be dedicated to IDEA enforcement. For example, if IDEA is saved and moved to HHS, it would be up to RFK Jr. to decide what happens to IDEA enforcement. Kennedy has supported anti-vax conspiracies about autism, echoed eugenicist philosophy, and suggested people with substance abuse disorders and folks who take prescription drugs, such as ADHD medication be sent to “wellness camps” to do outdoor labor.

    How Can I Take Action to Save DoED?

    1. Call your representatives and tell them to protect the Department of Education. While Trump and McMahon can do a lot of damage via layoffs and executive orders, it will take an act of congress to fully dismantle the department. Tell your representatives you support DoEd, and sign on to Rep. Hayes proposed HR 433 Department of Education Protection Act.

    Share this Information!

    Many people, especially those following only mainstream or conservative media, are missing this information, but the Department of Education protects everyone’s rights. Print out this flyer and spread the word around town!

  • What’s the Deal with the Section 504 Lawsuit?

    What’s the Deal with the Section 504 Lawsuit?

    ID: ASL interpreted version of DREDF Texas vs. Beccera, courtesy DREDF.org

    Section 504 is a civil rights statute that says any entity that gets money from the federal government (funding, grants, etc.) cannot discriminate on the basis of disability. It is part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 law. This protection impacts education, healthcare, immigration services, child services, emergency services, clinical research, private companies who get federal grants, and all federal agencies and buildings.

    Many people are most familiar with Section 504 through the use of 504 Plans to support disabled students at school. 504 Plans provide accommodations in public school settings like ASL interpreters, closed captions, ramps, preferential seating, extra time on tests, quiet testing environments, access to braille, audiobooks, FM systems, speech-to-text and AAC devices, and more.

    Section 504 is a kind of statute known as a “spending clause.” There are also other civil rights spending clauses that protect people from discrimination on the basis of race and sex.

    In 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued some updated guidance on Section 504. These are called the “Final Rule.” The pandemic revealed extreme inequities in healthcare remain–like hospitals denying lifesaving care on the basis of disability–so the Final Rule clarified who must follow 504, and what it means in the time of the internet. The Final Rule says 504 protection covers include all doctors and healthcare offices that accept Medicaid or Medicare, and their medical equipment, telehealth and websites. It also impacts programs for child services and independent living.

    What is Texas vs. Becerra?

    Texas vs. Becerra is a lawsuit with two main parts. One part asks the judge to strike down the Final Rule. The other part asks the judge to declare Section 504 as a whole unconstitutional and stope its enforcement.

    Isn’t There Something to Do with Trans Folks in the Suit?

    Sort of! The TLDR is that biased Attorneys Generals are using transphobia as a cover to get others to join in on their ableism. Jump down to the last section on this page to read more about the misconceptions.

    What Would Happen if These States Win?

    If the states succeed in striking down the Final Rule, disabled people’s enumerated protections under 504 will be taken back to what they were fifty years ago, without accounting for the internet, mobile devices, pandemic healthcare and more. Disabled people’s rights to live independently in-community would be impacted.

    If the states succeed in having the entirety of Section 504 declared unconstitutional, all protections will be lost, including in education.

    504 and the ADA, as well as other protective spending clauses, are linked in the way they’re enforced, so striking down 504 could endanger the enforcement mechanisms of the ADA as well.

    This would also be a dangerous legal precedent for other spending clauses, like anti-race and sex based discrimination. It could set the stage for those protections to be declared unconstitutional, too.

    Take Action: What Can We Do?

    Seventeen states are currently signed on to Texas vs. Beccera.

    Image of the US with involved states in pink. MT, UT, SD, NE, KS, TX, AK, LA, AR, MO, IN, AL, GA, FL, SC,WV. Image courtesy DREDF,org

    If you live in one of the 17 states signed onto this case, contact your Attorney General today. Let them know attacking the Final Rule and Section 504 is not ok, and ask them to drop out of the lawsuit. Here are scripts you can use while contacting your AG.

    If you don’t live in one of these states, you can still contact your Attorney General. Progressive AGs can watch this litigation, file an amicus brief and more.

    Here is contact information for all 50 Attorneys General

    What if my Attorney General Tells me the Case is Inactive, or Doesn’t Really Attack Section 504?

    Push back on misinformation and disinformation!

    This is a case about gender dysphoria.” The preamble to the Final Rule document mentions the ongoing legal inquiry into whether gender dysphoria can be classified a disability. There are currently several other court cases examining this question, and courts are split on it. The original 504 statute does not protect folks with gender dysphoria, and though Final Rule discussions mention the ongoing question in the courts, it makes no enforceable determination, or policy guidance within the text of Final Rule itself. This is political spin used to rally conservatives to the suit. However, it is important to note that there are trans disabled folks, and that the disability community stands with all LGBTQ+ folks. You can read HHS’s Final Rule document here.

    This case only takes issue with a small part of the Rule.” The suit has multiple parts. One part attacks the Final Rule, and one part explicitly asks the judge to declare all of Section 504 unconstitutional. Point your AG to page 37 of the complaint, under the heading “Count 3: Section 504 is Unconstitutional.” The full text of the complaint is here.

    “The case is inactive.” The case is not inactive. The case has been paused until February 25th, 2025 in the wake of the new administrative transition. The DOJ and other involved parties are required to provide a status update on that day.

    Screenshot of pg 37 of the complaint with the header “Count 3: Section 504 is Unconstitutional”

    Need to fact-check something else? Disability Rights and Education Defense Fund has a great FAQ document here, as well as many other resources about this and other attacks on their site: www.dredf.org


    Spread the Word!

    The media isn’t reporting much on this case. Download our flyer and share it, especially offline. Disability affects people of every race, class, age, sex, gender, national origin, political affiliation and religion. People who aren’t spending much time on social media also need this info, and we are all stronger together.