The Trump administration is moving federal oversight of special education programs from the U.S. Department of Education to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
It’s a change that's raising concerns among some North State educators and disability advocates.
The administration announced June 16 that HHS will take over the office responsible for overseeing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Aarron Benton, director of the Butte County Special Education Local Plan Area, said the move could change how students with disabilities are viewed.
"It's really a shift from looking at disability through a social and educational model and making it more of a medical model, which is where we’ve been in the past and haven’t been successful,” Benton said. “Just really considering that students with disabilities, they're not patients in a school building, they are students.”
Benton also questioned whether the transition could affect federal protections for students with disabilities.
"It raises serious concerns about whether the federal government is going to be able to continue to protect the educational rights of students with disabilities with the same level of expertise, and urgency and accountability,” Benton said.
The Trump administration says services for students with disabilities will not be interrupted by the change.
Critics argue that moving oversight out of the Education Department could weaken accountability or create confusion for schools and families.
