The Harkin Institute

Students with disabilities deserve the same access to learning and civil rights protections as every other student.

Transferring their rights from the Department of Education to the Department of Health and Human Services, puts more stress on overly stretched departments, further erodes the systems that serve students with disabilities in the classroom, and pushes a harmful “medical model” of disability.

Special education shakeup sparks disability rights concerns Special education oversight is changing hands, from the Department of Education to Health and Human Services. The department says it will streamline the system. Advocates warn it could separate disabled students from their peers.