Approximately 7.5 million American students receive Special Education in public school under 13 categories of disability.
A student may have a learning, visual or hearing disability, their speech and language may be affected by a disability, or they may have an intellectual disability or be on the autism spectrum.
“About 15 percent of all K through 12 students are identified as having a disability,” Dr. Kimber Wilkerson said.
Wilkerson is a professor of Special Education at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and chair of the Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education. She preps teachers to teach Special Education and conducts study reports to retain Special Education teachers.
The United States Department of Education (DOE) administers the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and ensures all states adhere to Special Education guidelines.
“So the U.S. Department of Education essentially oversees that administration,” Wilkerson said.
Special Education in American schools began 50 years ago, according to Wilkerson. Before, many students were denied a quality education because of a disability.
“So, over the last 50 years we’ve made a lot of progress not only for access,” Wilkerson said.
But more progress is necessary and eliminating the DOE will not assist in that progress.
“Each student has an IEP [Individualized Education Program] contract between families and the school of what services are received as an individual,” Wilkerson said.
Last week, during the second of five years of federal grant funding for training of undergraduate students to become Special Education teachers in the Milwaukee Public Schools system, Wilkerson’s program lost funding overnight. The Teacher Quality Partnership program was working to address an “acute” need for Special Education teachers in the country.
“It’s often the area of education that has the greatest shortage,” Wilkerson said of Special Education. Teachers either do not consider Special Education or leave teaching Special Education.
Thanks to the DOE’s “new interpretation of DEI restrictions,” Wilkerson’s program has no plan for how to meet its obligations and provide living stipends for undergraduates who would later go on to become Special Education teachers in Milwaukee Public Schools for at least three years.
Wilkerson said her program is looking to appeal the DOE’s decision to defund. In the meantime, she and staff are scrambling to attempt to find support for current co-horts in the program so they can finish their education and become teachers.
Seventeen states have sued to overturn Section 504, Civil Rights legislation which protects Special Education students from discrimination in places that receive federal funding. Wilkerson said that 1.6 million American students have a 504 plan, which provides a broader definition of what is considered a disability. Some students may not need a Special Education instructor to learn but require other special accommodations such as a quiet space or extra time to take a test. The DOE administers the Office of Civil Rights which ensures the protection of civil rights.
Wilkerson said that the states’ intent was to ensure the legislation does not allow for gender dysphoria, but the lawsuit will also harm individuals who receive protection because they may be perceived as having a disability and be discriminated against in pursuing an equal education.
On a positive note, Wilkerson said that the outcry from the disability community over the lawsuit was heard and state Attorneys General issued statements to further explain the intent of the lawsuit.
An item in Project 2025 mentions extending block grants and giving accountability of them to states instead of the DOE. Wilkerson said that while states can be trusted to extend protections to the disabled, the federal level can ensure that all states comply and protect all disabilities.
“I think that the beauty of having the federal involvement is it sets the floor [on disability protection],” Wilkerson said.
Wilkerson encourages anyone who benefits from disability protection to speak out on the importance of continuing to protect benefits such as with IDEA and Section 504.
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Rebecca Barnabi
