Education

America’s future depends on a strong investment in education. Preparing our students to compete in the global economy requires proper funding and resources, a safe learning environment, and a committed local community. We must work on a bipartisan basis to make sure important programs like Head Start receive proper funding, maintain civil rights protections for students, support priorities like environmental education and high-speed broadband infrastructure while also assisting rural schools that have lost property tax revenue due to nearby federal property. 

I am deeply concerned by the Trump administration's efforts to cut funding and support for the Department of Education and public schools. These actions threaten vulnerable students, special education programs, and the integrity of our public education system. Alongside a coalition of my Democratic colleagues, I pushed back against President Trump's executive order redirecting public school funds toward private and charter schools, co-signing a letter challenging the decision and demanding answers. Ensuring that local schools and families everywhere have access to a well-funded education system remains a top priority of mine.

Dismantling the Department of Education: 

Since taking office, the Trump administration has worked to functionally eliminate the Department of Education without the congressional approval required to do so, shrinking its staff and, through a series of interagency agreements, shifting more than 100 of its programs out to other federal agencies. On June 16, 2026, the administration took its most consequential step yet, announcing agreements that hand day-to-day administration of special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and shift civil rights enforcement, including investigations into discrimination based on disability, race, and sex, to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

I warned against exactly this outcome. Alongside Reps. Mary Gay Scanlon, Suzanne Bonamici, Lucy McBath, and Mark DeSaulnier, I repeatedly pressed Secretary McMahon to halt any transfer of IDEA out of the Department of Education, cautioning that moving special education oversight to a health agency would push students with disabilities toward a medical model of disability rather than the educational and civil rights framework Congress intended, and that it would strip away the department's decades of expertise and established relationships with state and local education agencies.

I will keep fighting to reverse this harmful reorganization and to restore accountability for how the federal government serves students with disabilities.

Special Education: 

More than 6.5 million children are eligible for special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The federal government has committed to contributing 40 percent of the average per pupil expenditure for each special education student, but we have never met this funding target. 

That’s why I’ve introduced the IDEA Full Funding Act every Congress since I was first elected. This bipartisan bill would require regular increases in special education funding to fulfill the government’s commitment. This bill will help ensure students with disabilities receive the support and resources they need to help them prepare for further education, employment, and independent living. 

I also previously introduced the IDEA High Cost Pool Funding Act to support states that set up funding “pools” to help reimburse local schools for special educational services that are three times or more the average per-pupil expenditure. This legislation builds on the historic civil rights law by authorizing additional federal funding to help keep IDEA’s promise that every child with disabilities would have the opportunity to reach his or her full potential.