Hi there,

If you think Democracy Now!’s reporting is a critical line of defense against war, climate catastrophe and authoritarianism, please make your donation of $10 or more right now. Today, a generous donor will DOUBLE your donation, which means it’ll go 2x as far to support our independent journalism. Democracy Now! is funded by you, and that’s why we’re counting on your donation to keep us going strong. Please give today. Every dollar makes a difference—in fact, gets doubled! Thank you so much.
-Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate

Department of Education Rescinds Papers on Rights of Disabled Students

HeadlineOct 24, 2017

The Department of Education has revoked 72 policy documents detailing the rights of disabled students, calling them “outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective.” The documents spelled out ways that schools should comply with two civil rights laws—the Rehabilitation Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Among the documents rescinded was one offering guidance to schools on how to use federal funds for special education. A spokesperson for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos declined to comment on the changes. During her confirmation hearings last January, DeVos told senators that states should be left to decide whether to comply with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. That prompted a follow-up question to DeVos by New Hampshire Democrat Maggie Hassan.

Sen. Maggie Hassan: “I want to go back to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. That’s a federal civil rights law. So do you stand by your statement a few minutes ago that it should be up to the states whether to follow it?”

Betsy DeVos: “The law must be—federal law must be followed where federal dollars are in—in play.”

Sen. Maggie Hassan: “So were you unaware, when I just asked you about the IDEA, that it was a federal law?”

Betsy DeVos: “I may have confused it.”

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top