Families across the United States are raising alarms as the Trump administration dismantles key parts of the Department of Education\u2019s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), leaving children with disabilities vulnerable to mistreatment and neglect in schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emma Miller, a single mother in Wake Forest, North Carolina, has been fighting for years to secure proper educational support for her autistic twins, Devon and Danielle. Despite being enrolled in the state\u2019s largest school district for over a decade, Devon, age 15, still cannot read or write. Danielle, also autistic, was bullied so severely she became suicidal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Miller says her children are high-functioning and verbal, and believes they could have thrived academically if schools had provided adequate services. Instead, she claims Wake County schools failed to reevaluate their needs, denied access to records, retaliated against her, and assigned her son to an unlicensed assistant instead of a certified teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese are the most vulnerable children being denied a basic education,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Department of Education, created in 1979, enforces protections against discrimination based on disability, race, sex, and religion. Its OCR investigates school violations and negotiates corrective actions. But in March 2025, the Trump administration announced layoffs of nearly half the department\u2019s 4,133 employees and closed seven of 12 regional civil rights offices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump later signed an executive order to eliminate the Education Department entirely, arguing that control should return to states and local communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Advocates warn this move will strip away federal accountability. \u201cWithout the Department of Education, there is no oversight,\u201d said Hannah Russell, a disability advocate and former special education teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2024, the OCR received nearly 23,000 complaints\u2014the most ever recorded\u2014with 37% involving disability discrimination. Yet the agency is now operating with a skeleton staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Robert Kim of the Education Law Center warns that Black students and children with disabilities could suffer most, as they disproportionately face harsh school discipline such as restraint and seclusion. Federal data show:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSomething unusual and unprecedented is happening,\u201d Kim said, describing the erosion of federal responsibility for equal education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
North Carolina law requires reevaluation of children with disabilities every three years, yet Miller says local officials ignored her requests for nearly a decade. Despite some state rulings in her favor, she continues to face school resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parents nationwide are worried that local districts will be left to \u201cpolice themselves\u201d despite histories of segregation, gender bias in admissions, and inadequate support for students with disabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Education Law Center, NAACP, and other groups have sued to stop the department\u2019s closure, joined by 20 states and the District of Columbia. The Supreme Court, however, ruled in July that Trump\u2019s plan could move forward while litigation continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Danielle entered 10th grade reading at a fourth-grade level. After repeated class changes meant to separate her from bullies, she began to self-harm and now requires intensive therapy. Devon, meanwhile, continues to struggle without access to proper literacy programs or assistive technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt has been nothing but problems,\u201d Miller said. \u201cIt\u2019s like no one cares.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She fears for her children\u2019s future: \u201cI\u2019m a single parent, and one day I won\u2019t be here. My kids are going to be adults soon, yet my son doesn\u2019t know how to read and write.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The outcome of these policy changes could reshape the future of millions of children with disabilities, leaving parents like Miller to fight uphill battles with little federal support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Families across the United States are raising alarms as the Trump administration dismantles key parts of the Department of Education\u2019s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), leaving children with disabilities vulnerable to mistreatment and neglect in schools. Struggles of Families with Disabilities Emma Miller, a single mother in Wake Forest, North Carolina, has been fighting for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"saved_in_kubio":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportpro.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportpro.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportpro.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportpro.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportpro.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2252"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sportpro.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2253,"href":"https:\/\/sportpro.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252\/revisions\/2253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportpro.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportpro.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportpro.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}