National School Boards Association Statement on Plan to Move Special Education, OCR, Out of Education Department
The National School Boards Association (NSBA) released the following statement today from Executive Director and CEO Verjeana McCotter-Jacobs regarding the announcement to move the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) from the U.S. Department of Education to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to the Department of Justice.
“Education is not a collection of interchangeable parts to be scattered across Washington; you cannot separate a student’s learning from their well-being or their civil rights.
“For decades, school boards and families have fought side-by-side for the federal government to fulfill its promise to fully fund IDEA and meet student needs. Instead of delivering that long-overdue support, these moves don’t remove bureaucratic barriers; they create them—forcing school districts and parents alike to navigate a multi-agency maze just to ensure a single student receives a basic public education, necessary accommodations, and fundamental civil rights protections.
“Students and families deserve stability, continuity, and a federal framework that keeps education at the center of their success and protects their fundamental civil rights within public schools.
“The National School Boards Association strongly opposes proposals to move the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) from the U.S. Department of Education to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as well as the proposal to shift the Office for Civil Rights to the U.S. Department of Justice.
“For nearly 50 years, IDEA has been a bipartisan commitment between Congress, states, and local school districts to ensure that children with disabilities receive a free appropriate public education. Lawmakers from both parties have consistently recognized that IDEA is an education law — grounded in access to learning, instructional supports, and accountability within public schools — not a health care or social services program.
“The U.S. Department of Education has historically had the expertise and exercised federal oversight over IDEA services because of the law’s critical importance and the need to support students with the greatest needs. As the nation’s education agency, it has the statutory authority, infrastructure, and direct relationships with state and local education agencies necessary to administer IDEA effectively and consistently nationwide. Moving IDEA to the Department of Health and Human Services would create unnecessary disruption and confusion for schools and families, weaken coordination with broader education systems, and risk shifting the focus away from educational outcomes for students with disabilities.
“Similarly, the Office for Civil Rights must remain inside the Department of Education to ensure swift, education-specific enforcement of federal civil rights laws. OCR’s primary mission in this space is preventative and remedial—working directly with school leaders to resolve Title IX, Title VI, and Section 504 complaints before they escalate to costly, protracted federal litigation. Stripping the Department of Education of its civil rights arm and transferring it to a law enforcement agency like the Department of Justice fundamentally alters the relationship between federal oversight and local schools. It replaces collaborative compliance and vital technical assistance with a purely prosecutorial framework, potentially harming the very students it is meant to protect.
“School boards are responsible for IDEA compliance, civil rights protections, and oversight at the district level across the country. A structural change of this magnitude would complicate compliance, delay services, bureaucratize the resolution of discrimination complaints, and strain local capacity — at a time when schools are already navigating staffing shortages, rising costs, and increasing student needs.
“Given the bipartisan history and significance of these core functions to public education, NSBA urges Congress to exercise its oversight authority to ensure that both IDEA and OCR remain within the U.S. Department of Education. Rather than moving these vital programs, policymakers should focus on fully funding IDEA, providing timely guidance, and supporting effective implementation of civil rights protections for states, districts, educators, students, and families.”
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Founded in 1940, the National School Boards Association’s (NSBA) purpose is to ensure each student everywhere has access to excellent and equitable public education governed by high-performing school board leaders and supported by the community. With members spread across the United States, the Virgin Islands, and Canada, NSBA is the only national organization representing school boards. Along with its member state associations and member public school districts representing locally elected school board officials serving millions of public school students, NSBA believes that public education is a civil right necessary to the dignity and freedom of the American people and that each child, regardless of their ability, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, identity, or citizenship, deserves equitable access to an education that maximizes their individual potential. For more information, visit nsba.org.