Kelly Rogers tells disability advocates IDEA protections intact in special ed move

Advocates say reorganization of IDEA leaves key questions unresolved

In a call with disability advocates Thursday, acting assistant secretary Kelly Rogers said the department remained committed to enforcing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. “The U.S. Health and Human Services is not taking over IDEA. Period,” Rogers said, according to a recording of the call obtained by NPR.

The call came three weeks after the administration announced it would relocate the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) to HHS as part of the administration’s broader push to close the Education Department, which Trump has publicly advocated. Disability groups have warned that shifting oversight of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) could weaken accountability and create confusion for families and schools.

But in the same conversation, Rogers confirmed that staff from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services — the personnel who support states and schools in implementing IDEA — would be transferred to HHS. She said she would continue to oversee that staff from the Education Department “with additional support by HHS.”

“The concern is not that IDEA disappears overnight,” said Jacqueline Rodriguez, CEO of the National Center for Learning Disabilities. “The concern is that the administration is preserving IDEA at the Department of Education on paper, while moving much of the work that makes IDEA real for families somewhere else.”

Disability rights advocates who participated in the call said the administration offered no specific timeline for the changes and left key questions unresolved. “Today’s briefing left more questions than answers for parents and educators,” said Chad Rummel, who leads the Council for Exceptional Children. “Today we heard that there is no clear and transparent plan around the move to HHS.”

Denise Marshall, CEO of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA), said the proposal “appears to add another layer of bureaucracy while creating additional confusion and uncertainty for families, educators, and state agencies.”

The Education Department’s press secretary, Savannah Newhouse, said in a follow-up email that “advocates, parents, and teachers in the special education community have nothing to fear.” She said the partnership with HHS would “…place these important federal responsibilities in a better positioned agency and draw on HHS’ expertise of working with people with disabilities of all ages.” She also said that “a different building, a different floor, or a different desk doesn’t change their job responsibilities and commitment to serve students with disabilities every single day.”

The department has already shared plans to transfer more than a dozen offices to other agencies as part of its “Returning Education to the States” campaign.

For decades, the Education Department has overseen IDEA and provided federal funding, technical assistance, and accountability for how schools serve students with disabilities. The federal government does not directly manage schools but is responsible for ensuring states comply with the law.

Marshall said the administration acknowledged during the call that the Education Department and the secretary of education remain legally responsible for administering and enforcing IDEA. She said the reorganization “neither advances the stated goal of closing the department nor transfers new authority to the states.” Marshall characterized the arrangement as “a sham.” She said only an act of Congress could dissolve a federal agency, and called on lawmakers to intervene.