Author says IDEA helped her learn to walk as the program’s federal oversight faces upheaval

According to Time, Victoria Mejicanos writes that she learned to walk because of services provided under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and warns the law’s programs face an uncertain future as the Trump administration works to dismantle the Department of Education and move IDEA to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Mejicanos recounts adaptive P.E. teachers and therapists provided through individualized education programs and notes that IDEA mandates inclusion and a free, appropriate education for students with disabilities. The article cites NPR reporting that the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights resolved 73 alleged disability-discrimination cases this year, down from 390 in 2024 and more than 1,000 in 2017, and says the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services was gutted during the government shutdown and is now in turmoil; NPR described that office as the “central nervous system” for programs supporting students with disabilities.

The office is also responsible for ensuring state compliance with IDEA and distributes roughly $15 billion in funds. The piece notes that about 7.5 million students, or 15 percent of public students, rely on the office to uphold their rights and warns that if the office loses staff next year the effects would be far-reaching.

Key Topics

Politics, Idea, Victoria Mejicanos, Gavin Newsom, Ocr, Iep