In The Politics of Autism, I write about social services, special education and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
The Trumpist Project 2025 would turn that law into a "no-string" block grant, thereby gutting its protections for students with autism and other disabilities. Here is an example how child advocates use IDEA, and what they would lose if the Trumpist agenda goes into effect.
The Office of the Child Advocate and Disability Rights Connecticut have jointly filed a complaint with the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs against the Connecticut Department of Education, alleging that the department is not fulfilling its role of monitoring schools for children with disabilities.
The complaint, filed on Wednesday, follows a lengthy investigation by OCA and Disability Rights CT that publicly revealed alarming conditions for those children in specific Connecticut schools earlier this year.
The investigation, which took place between 2019 and 2022, looked at a private school system known as High Road Schools. These private special education schools serve students whose home districts are unable to provide appropriate services for children with special needs. But the investigation alleged that staff at the schools were often uncertified, that education was of poor quality, that students were restrained and put in seclusion at a high rate, and that most children in the programs were sent there from low-income communities of color.
Officials at OCA and Disability Rights CT earlier this summer also filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice alleging disability discrimination by four school districts — Hartford, Bridgeport, Waterbury and Stratford — that send their special needs students to High Road Schools.
That complaint is trying to hold the public school districts accountable, according to Sarah Eagan, the state’s child advocate.
The new complaint is targeting the state’s role, claiming that in its alleged lack of sufficient oversight and regulation, the Connecticut Department of Education is in violation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which together ensure that children with disabilities have access to quality education and opportunities.
