Lifting Our Voice for the Promise of IDEA, They are ALL OUR Children
A Call to Action for DEC Members and Partners
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), originally passed in 1975, is a civil rights law intended to protect infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities by providing the services and supports necessary to be educated alongside their peers. The U.S. Department of Education, since its creation in 1979, has worked diligently with families and professionals to enforce IDEA and provide funding and other supports to ensure appropriate early intervention and a free and appropriate public education.
IDEA is a Promise to Children and Families. |
On March 20th, 2025, a Presidential Executive Order was issued to initiate the closure of the United States Department of Education (ED). The ED can only be officially closed through an act of Congress; however, the Department can be dismantled and rendered ineffective without Congressional action.
Efforts to undermine the ED are already in progress, significantly impairing its operational effectiveness, including:
A 50% reduction in its workforce,
Cancellation of research funding at the Institute of Educational Science (IES),
Elimination of several Office of Civil Rights (OCR) responsibilities and closure of multiple regional offices, and
Reduction in personnel preparation support through teacher training program cancellations.
Additionally, the President and the Secretary of Education have announced plans to transfer IDEA to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), thereby removing it from the ED's jurisdiction.
DEC strongly opposes the administration's plans and actions to close or dismantle the ED and to relocate IDEA to HHS. |
The actions already implemented are causing harm that will require years to rectify and more harm will occur if this plan proceeds. The ED administers numerous programs that support children from birth to age 8 and their families, including Title I preschool, IDEA Part B preschool, IDEA Part B K-3, and IDEA Part C for infants and toddlers and their families. The department also supports Parent Training and Information centers (PTIs), Technical Assistance Centers (TA Centers), and Personnel Preparation Programs.
These programs are instrumental in funding and ensuring the provision of training and support for families and professionals, as well as preservice and in-service opportunities. This enables educators, EI service providers, related service providers and therapists, and administrators to effectively perform their duties. Furthermore, they contribute to research on high-quality, evidence-based practices. Importantly, these initiatives help ensure that all children, particularly those from underserved, impoverished, or rural areas, receive the foundational support necessary for their growth and development, ultimately enabling them to lead fulfilling lives. It is critical that the ED maintain responsibility for overseeing the implementation of IDEA and other relevant legislation.
Moreover, DEC strongly opposes efforts to eliminate and outlaw the extensive work on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA), which has been collaboratively developed and championed by families and professionals. The restriction and erasure of terminology foundational to the commitments made to children and families under IDEA significantly impedes the ability to effectively address early childhood and disability. Prohibiting the use of, or collaboration with individuals who employ these terms—pertaining not only to children with disabilities but to all children as unique individuals with diverse identities—contravenes the principles of IDEA, other civil rights commitments, and the ethical standards of the field. The elimination of these terms undermines the recognition of these identities.
We must stand together—arm in arm, as families, caregivers, educators, EI/ECSE service providers, administrators, Part B and Part C coordinators, advocates, and allies—to defend the rights of children with disabilities and their families. We must make our voices heard, educate our communities, and hold our leaders accountable. The future of inclusive education depends on our collective action.
Call your State and Federal Representatives. Complete CEC/DEC Advocacy Action Alerts. Involve your friends and community. Then do it again and again until we get the system parents fought for decades back in place and safeguarded for years to come.
Our system, our Department of Education, is not perfect. Nothing that attempts to change our world at such a complex level is. We acknowledge this reality but it is better to work to improve the system than to burn it all down.
Thank you for joining us in this critical work. Thank you for seeing the strength of our children who do not have special needs but have needs like any other person. Needs that at their center are about belonging. Thank you for seeing children experiencing disability as the sum of all of their strengths, potential, and multiple and unique identities, worthy of only our best!
DEC Executive Board
DEC Executive Office
Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children
