Weakening the IDEA Threatens Millions of Disabled Americans Like Me

Ives-Rublee: Federal law made it possible for disabled students like me to go to school. Those opportunities may vanish for the next generation.

By Mia Ives-Rublee

This story first appeared at The 74, a nonprofit news site covering education. Sign up for free newsletters from The 74 to get more like this in your inbox.

In 1970, five years before the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was signed into law, only one in five disabled children received an education in America. This landmark law finally affirmed disabled children’s right to a free appropriate, integrated public education.

As a disabled American, it’s hard to express how profoundly this piece of legislation has impacted my life. Without it, I would likely be living in an institution, deprived of the rights and opportunities I have now. As the IDEA turns 50 this month, attacks from the Trump administration threaten to undermine the protections it provides millions of Americans like me.

The IDEA stems from the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision, which quashed the racist “separate but equal” doctrine and heralded the desegregation of American public schools, with Chief Justice Earl Warren denouncing segregation as a “denial of the equal protection of the laws.”

Disability advocates took notice of the decision, arguing that segregation based on disability is also inherently unequal. This led to a case called Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1972, where a federal court ruled that disabled children have a right to education. Three years later, the IDEA was passed.

Thanks to the new law, I attended public school from pre-K through 12th grade, receiving vital services that prepared me for college and a robust career. Each year, my parents and I met with teachers and other specialists to carefully negotiate services and develop an individualized education plan, or IEP, that ensured my experience at school remained equitable.

It wasn’t until high school that I realized how important these meetings really were. From accessible buses to physical therapy to participating on my high school track team, the IDEA funded services so that I could continue learning alongside my non-disabled peers. It even ensured that I received adaptive driver’s education training during my junior year. Without the support these services provided me during my formative school years, I have no doubt I’d be in a much different place today.

Alarmingly, the Trump administration is now trying to eliminate the protections and services that the IDEA guarantees. For example, racial minority students with disabilities are often under identified when they’re young and over represented in later years, leading them to miss out on key early interventions. This can lead to Black and brown disabled students being disproportionately placed in segregated classrooms and receiving punishment at higher rates.

In 2016, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services finalized a rule requiring states to follow standardized data collection procedures to improve monitoring of schools that are disproportionately identifying and punishing disabled racial minority students. In August 2025, the Trump administration’s Department of Education began angling to reverse that rule. If successful, it would likely mean a spike in educational discrimination against disabled Black and brown students who are already struggling.

The current administration is also attempting to eliminate IDEA funding accountability measures by consolidating funding with other programs in a block grant and letting states decide how to spend those dollars.

Obtaining IDEA evaluations and services is already difficult, since it often requires parents to fight on behalf of their children. My parents spent countless hours pushing schools to provide the right services so that I could attend and fully participate in school and after-school activities. I was lucky enough that my parents had the resources and knowledge to fight for my rights under the IDEA.

Many low-income families don’t have the time, resources, or knowledge to successfully negotiate with schools, which leaves many disabled students to navigate their education through significant barriers.

My education led me to become the senior director at a policy think-tank in Washington, D.C. I’ve had the privilege of speaking before Congress and even a vice president to advocate for disabled people. But I fear the opportunities afforded to me may vanish for the next generation of disabled students in the U.S.Disabled people are already twice as likely to be unemployed and live in poverty than non-disabled people. Obtaining an education is one of the best ways to help disabled people secure a stable income—and by weakening the IDEA, the Trump administration is trying to take those opportunities away. As the rates of IDEA-eligible students rise, it’s more important than ever for us to protect and fund this essential civil rights law.