Students with disabilities are entitled to free and appropriate education. Public schools use federal support to accommodate millions of children. (Lauren Tucker, WTIU)
Kristie Brown Loftland said the Autism Society of Indiana wants to make it easier on parents and families.
“It's already confusing for a lot of parents when they first get the diagnosis of autism,” Brown Loftland, the ASI board president, said.
About one in 36 U.S. children has autism spectrum disorder. After diagnosis, Brown Loftland says some parents may have no idea what to do next.
“Oftentimes the public doesn't understand, necessarily, what kind of services are offered to a child with a disability,” she said.
Many of those services in special education, such as special therapy or individualized education plans, are partially funded by the federal government. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) enshrined protections and funding for these students with disabilities in 1975.
About 15 percent of children receive special education, more than 7.5 million students. In Indiana, about 200,000 students receive special education.
But advocates, including Brown Loftland, believe the act and the rights it guarantees for those students are threatened as President Donald Trump reshapes education.
“It's going to affect millions of students with disabilities and their families,” Brown Loftland said.
Trump’s administration has drastically slashed staff and grants in the Department of Education, which oversees IDEA and its funding. With plans to completely dismantle the education department, the administration proposed moving special education programs to the Department of Health and Human Services, which also recently fired thousands of workers.
It’s a deeply concerning idea for Brown Loftland.
“If IDEA goes away, that's going to affect their civil rights,” Brown Loftland said. “It's also going to affect their educational programs. Because without federal and state funding, I don't see how schools are going to be able to provide a free and appropriate education for kids who have autism or any other disabilities.”
Students with disabilities in the classroom
It’s been 50 years since Congress passed IDEA and changed special education in the U.S.
Derek Nord, director of the Indiana University Institute on Disability and Community, said it’s not easy to imagine education before it was enacted. Something that people take for granted today — students with disabilities in typical classrooms — was not common.
“What the federal law did is, it required states and required educators to not just acknowledge the support needs of students with disabilities,” Nord said, “but also to acknowledge that where they belong is in school with their peers without disabilities, with everybody else, when as much as we can do that.”
The act states students with disabilities must have access to free and appropriate public education.
IDEA funding can be broken into two sections, Nord said. Young children have a right to early intervention that identifies their disability before starting school, Nord said. Then, when they reach the classroom, they have special services that accommodate their disabilities and help them learn.
Many students with disabilities have individualized education plans (IEP), and Brown Loftland says there’s been a big push for inclusion. Schools must put students in their least restrictive environment, meaning many of them don’t need to be separated.
“If possible, we would like for that student who does have autism to be in a classroom with his non-disabled peers and to be presented with the same curriculum,” Brown Loftland said.
Federal law also provides an accountability mechanism, Nord said, so families can challenge schools that violate their civil rights.
“Education is a process, and at the end of that process, we're hoping to have citizens that can contribute to society, and understand, and be independent, and be able to be a community member,” Nord said.
Fearing cuts while already in a deficit
The federal government partially funds the required support for students with disabilities —about 13 percent of special education funds. It seems like a small number, he said. But there’s a lot of fear about what comes next if it is lost.
“Because federal law states that we can't go back, that students deserve to be there — and not just deserve, but it is their right to be there,” Nord said. “So balancing this out, how do we make that happen with fewer resources is a real concern.”
Joe Kwisz, president of the Indiana Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE), said educators start the game playing from behind. The federal government originally promised to fund about 40 percent of mandated services — more than double the current funding rate. Lawmakers never provided that much.
“We already start out in a funding deficit model,” Kwisz said. “And if we're going to take more funding away from that, I think we all can do the simple math on that reality.”
Kwisz said special education budgets are already lean, and public schools will probably not get any more money in the next funding cycle.
Indiana’s new tax plan will cost local schools an estimated $744 million.
If the federal government dismantles the Department of Education and moves oversight of IDEA funding to states, Brown Loftland believes the services in every state will vary drastically.
“Because some states may be able to provide more, and they haven't had the cuts like Indiana has proposed or has passed,” she said.
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Indiana has funneled funding out of public schools and into charter schools and vouchers. Kwisz said CASE is monitoring proposals in Washington, D.C., to divert federal block grants from students with disabilities to programs such as school choice vouchers for private schools.
“Right now, money trickles down from the federal government to the states,” Kwisz said. “Those dollars have a very specific purpose.”
If cuts continue, it’s going to be harder for schools to deliver services and to meet requirements for IEPs, but Kwisz said it will get done.
Kwisz said he’s seen how schools are already struggling with teacher shortages.
“We all want to do everything we can for all of our students, but if there simply are not people to do this work, there are going to be things that don't get done,” Kwisz said.
Read more: 'Why am I so bad?' Indiana schools suspend tens of thousands of students with disabilities
Schools are making things work — for now. Families may feel the effects in the next year or so, he said. If parents have concerns, Kwisz said they should reach out to schools or get involved in advocacy.
“I have three kids,” Kwisz said. “My youngest has an IEP. Fortunately, I work in this area. I've been doing this for 20 years, so I know the ins and outs, so I see what's coming down the tracks.”
Aubrey is our higher education reporter and a Report For America corps member. Contact her at aubmwrig@iu.edu or follow her on X @aubreymwright.
