In private call, Education Dept. tried, but failed, to reassure disability advocates
Page 4/7

NPR followed up with the Education Department by email after the call, and while the agency did not respond to questions about its timeline, press secretary Savannah Newhouse wrote, "Advocates, parents, and teachers in the special education community have nothing to fear" about the changes. "What our partnership with HHS does is place these important federal responsibilities in a better positioned agency and draw on HHS' expertise of working with people with disabilities of all ages."

The private briefing came three weeks after the initial announcement that the Education Department would move two of its core functions — special education and civil rights — to other agencies in an ongoing Trump administration effort to dismantle the department altogether . The department has already shared plans to move more than a dozen of its offices to other agencies as part of its "Returning Education to the States" campaign .

Prev
Next
Back to headlines
News menu
Home