#AdvocacyMatters: Dismantling the Systems of Accountability

March 21, 2025 / #AdvocacyMatters

For parents of students with disabilities, ensuring their children receive the free and appropriate public education to which they are entitled can be a long and seemingly endless journey: Reviewing IEPs, documenting necessary accommodations, and advocating for their children’s education can quickly and easily become all-encompassing. When roadblocks occur, many families turn to the U.S. Department of Education and its Office of Civil Rights for investigation and resolution… a free option open to everyone without requiring an attorney.

Recently the Department of Education’s staff was cut in half, including the vital Office of Civil Rights.

“The reduction in force is simply an evisceration of the Office for Civil Rights’ investigatory authority and responsibility,” Dan Stewart, managing attorney for education and employment at the National Disability Rights Network, recently told TIME. “There’s no way that I can see that OCR [Office of Civil Rights] can keep up with the backlog or with the incoming complaints.”

Every year, DRO receives more than 600 requests for assistance from families trying to protect their children’s educational rights. Post pandemic, students with disabilities continue to struggle to achieve alongside their peers without disabilities. Maintaining high standards in special education and accessible remedies for parents is critical for Ohio to deliver on its requirement to provide students with disabilities an appropriate education that prepares them for further education, employment, and independent living.

“Gutting the U.S. Department of Education will weaken significantly its capacity to provide necessary oversight and procedural safeguards to families, resulting in fewer and inconsistent services to students with disabilities, and parents left without recourse to resolve their concerns,” shared Kristin Hildebrant, DRO Senior Attorney and Education Team Leader. “For students with disabilities who are already achieving far below their peers without disabilities, this is a step in the wrong direction and a bad decision for Ohio’s children.”

Improving educational outcomes for students with disabilities is vital to realizing a truly equitable society. Our work in this area will continue, both in direct case work and in systemic advocacy around these harmful policy changes.

#AdvocacyMatters