Linda McMahon’s Reckless and Scary Disregard for Special Education History

Linda McMahon appears unaware of the past progress made in serving students with disabilities in public schools. Nor does she understand the complexities surrounding student needs and the long-time underfunding of education services, or what improvements would make school better.

She’s sliding America backwards, with devastating repercussions for children with special needs and all students.

McMahon took a grand “return education to states tour,” checking on best practices, selling the idea that the U.S. ED, which oversees protective, critical laws, is not necessary. How Donald Trump’s “A1 steak sauce lady,” who has never worked with exceptional children or studied their learning needs, could recognize best practices is anyone’s guess.

Disability Scoop reports that the Trump administration is going to cut hundreds of millions in awards under IDEA Part D, which includes technical assistance, parent resource centers, and personnel preparation for special educators.

It’s likely not a hard sell for McMahon to do corporate bidding and finally end special education. It’s easier to push unscrupulous vouchers, declined at the ballot box, where children with disabilities lose protections.

CBS reports that McMahon, when asked, brushed aside concerns about losing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and special education programs, as the Department of Education is being dismantled.

She said:

I think that is the least worry that anyone should have because Congress appropriates that money and it flows through whichever agency will be distributing it. So that money flowed from 1965 before there was a Department of Education, and it will continue to flow.

Did she mean 1975, after the signing of the All Handicapped Children’s Act (later IDEA)? McMahon appears to suggest that the money was allocated before President Jimmy Carter established the U.S. ED in 1979. Money didn’t flow to services in 1965. Educating children with special needs differed significantly from today.

McMahon likely knows that if the U.S. ED is eliminated, states won’t have to comply with the law. They’ll take money from block grants and give parents vouchers, even though vouchers, a disaster, are opposed by many. Reports indicate that school vouchers are being used to attend Disney World and for other purposes unrelated to school.

Students with disabilities often wind up in segregated schools without inclusion, rejected from private schools, and may fail to get the education they need to be healthy and well-rounded adults.

The U.S. ED ensured that the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, which later became the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), provided oversight to ensure that states follow the mandate. Losing the U.S. ED means the IDEA lacks coordination, or more simply, the teeth to make states follow the law.

President Lyndon B. Johnson enacted the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965, providing federal funds to public schools for special education supplemental services. Then, in 1966, Congress began work on understanding learning disabilities. But schooling hardly offered a panacea for children.

Back then:

• Students with special needs floundered in school.
• Some school districts offered segregated classes for students.
• Children with severe disabilities faced institutionalization, often under terrible conditions.
• Some special schools existed but were largely unregulated and not inclusive.

McMahon should read about how students with disabilities were treated before IDEA went into effect. She should read Christmas in Purgatory by Burton Blatt, or connect with news reporter Geraldo Rivera, who exposed the horrible conditions at Willowbrook State School.

McMahon isn’t alone in her disregard for the IDEA’s history. Shutting down special education services has been a part of the corporate reform agenda since the law’s passage. Dismantling the U.S. ED will result in little accountability for students.

Instead of getting tougher on states to fulfill the law’s promise, parents will have to fight harder for their children.

Current Examples of a System Breakdown 

• Alaska exemplifies the challenges states face in educating students with special needs. With a teacher shortage, schools have been underfunded, and there’s much concern about a lack of services and insufficient IEPs.
• Central Florida Public Media reports an improvement in the teacher shortage; however, there has been a rise in uncertified teachers. Who do they have working with children with special needs? Additionally, Florida will no longer issue certificates of completion to high school students with disabilities. 
• Colorado will cut early intervention programs for toddlers and babies with developmental disabilities.
• For years, parents fought to obtain the services for their children in the State of Michigan. Now there’s a Blueprint, by a nonprofit with partnerships, but it’s still unclear how this will improve services.
• Missouri is shuttering 12 schools for children with disabilities.
• Tennessee will move to restrict disruptive students from class without assessing their difficulties. Who will help those students with their emotional and behavioral problems?
• Virginia had been noncompliant with special education, and parents complained they were not heard. They claimed to have finally made gains, so what will happen next if the state isn’t held accountable?
• While more students have been identified with disabilities, there has been a reduction in the number of higher education faculty to prepare special education teachers.
• West Virginia special education teachers are leaving due to the overwhelming amount of paperwork, while the governor advocates for school choice, despite West Virginians’ reliance on public schools.

Trump supporters who think dropping U.S. ED laws and waving a magic wand to place special education grants in some other department (still unknown) with more power to the states don’t seem to understand that this will involve chaos when it comes to children with disabilities getting the services they need.

Parents and children with disabilities don’t need chaos. They require protection. 

How are your state and local school districts doing? How’s Linda McMahon’s special education agenda, or lack of one, working out for the children with special needs where you live?