IDEA at 50: Rolling Back Protections Would Harm Millions of Disabled Americans

In 1970 — five years before Congress enacted the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) — only one in five children with disabilities in the United States attended school. That landmark law established that every child with a disability is entitled to a free, appropriate, integrated public education and transformed millions of lives, including my own.

As a person with a disability, I can’t overstate how profoundly IDEA shaped my path. Without it, I likely would have been institutionalized and denied many rights and opportunities I now have. Thanks to IDEA, I attended public school from pre-K through 12th grade, received vital services and supports, and went on to college and a meaningful career.

How IDEA Changed Education

IDEA’s legal roots trace to the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which rejected the doctrine of “separate but equal.” Disability advocates drew a direct parallel: segregation by disability is inherently unequal. The 1972 case Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania recognized the right of children with disabilities to an education, and three years later Congress passed IDEA.

Each year my parents and I met with teachers and specialists to negotiate services and develop an individualized education program (IEP). Those annual meetings mattered: accessible buses, physical therapy, adaptive driver’s-education training, and the chance to compete on my high school track team allowed me to learn alongside nondisabled peers and prepare for college and work.

Current Threats to IDEA

Today, IDEA faces serious threats from policy changes that would weaken oversight and accountability. One example: in 2016 the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services finalized a rule requiring standardized data collection so states could better monitor schools that disproportionately identify and discipline students of color with disabilities. In August 2025, the Department of Education signaled efforts to roll back that rule — a move that would likely increase educational discrimination against Black and brown students with disabilities.

Another risk is a proposal to consolidate IDEA funds into broader block grants, giving states broad discretion over how dollars are spent. That would reduce federal accountability and could leave critical services underfunded, especially in states that already struggle to meet students’ needs.

Who Suffers Most

Securing IDEA evaluations and services is often an uphill battle that falls to parents. My family spent countless hours advocating so I could fully participate in school and extracurricular activities. We were fortunate they had the time and knowledge to fight. Many low-income families do not, which leaves children without timely evaluations, early interventions, or adequate supports.

These policy changes would disproportionately harm students of color and low-income families. Disabled people are already twice as likely to be unemployed and twice as likely to live in poverty as nondisabled people; education is one of the most effective routes to economic stability. Weakening IDEA threatens those pathways and risks reversing hard-won civil-rights gains.

IDEA is a civil-rights law. Its protections and funding save opportunities — and lives.

My education enabled me to become a senior director at a policy think tank and to speak before Congress and a vice president on behalf of disabled people. I fear those opportunities may disappear for the next generation if IDEA protections are rolled back. With the number of students eligible for IDEA rising, now is not the time to weaken this essential law. We must protect rigorous data oversight, strong IEP protections, and reliable funding to ensure future generations can access the same opportunities I received.