This Thursday, June 25, National PLACE and a broad coalition of disability advocates, Parent Centers (including Encircle Families), families, and organizations across the country are participating in a National Call-In Day to oppose moving special education and disability civil rights enforcement out of the U.S. Department of Education.

Encircle Families is sharing this action opportunity because these federal protections matter deeply to students with disabilities and their families. This is part of a national, cross-disability effort to ensure that Congress hears directly from families, educators, advocates, and community members who are concerned about the potential impact of moving these responsibilities into separate federal agencies.

What’s Happening

On June 16, the U.S. Department of Education announced plans to shift day-to-day administration of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, known as OSERS, to the Department of Health and Human Services. OSERS includes the Office of Special Education Programs, or OSEP, which plays a central role in helping states implement the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA.

The Department also announced that key civil rights enforcement responsibilities of the Office for Civil Rights, or OCR, would move to the Department of Justice. OCR is often where families turn when a school denies services, accommodations, or equal access to a student with a disability.

IDEA is the federal law that helps ensure children with disabilities receive a free appropriate public education. It serves roughly 7.5 million children with disabilities nationwide. OSEP helps turn IDEA from words on paper into real protections, guidance, and accountability for students, families, schools, and states.

Why Disability Advocates Are Concerned

Special education is education. Civil rights in schools are education rights.

Families already navigate complicated systems to secure evaluations, IEP services, accommodations, behavior supports, related services, and access to school programs. Disability advocates and organizations across the country are concerned that moving special education oversight and civil rights enforcement into separate federal agencies could create more confusion, longer delays, and less clear accountability.

Children with disabilities experience school as one connected experience. The offices responsible for supporting and protecting them should work in a coordinated, connected way.

Congress placed these offices within the U.S. Department of Education by law. Families, educators, and advocates rely on a federal education agency that understands schools, students, state education systems, and the rights of children with disabilities.

What You Can Do on Thursday, June 25

As part of this broad national effort, families and community members are encouraged to call their two U.S. Senators and their U.S. Representative on Thursday, June 25.

Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. When you provide your ZIP code, the operator can connect you to each office.

Phone calls are especially important on a call-in day because they help congressional offices understand how many constituents are paying attention to an issue.

You can use the script below as written, or adapt it in your own words.

Sample Call Script

Hello, my name is [your name], and I live in [city/state]. I am calling as part of a national disability coalition effort to ask [Senator/Representative name] to oppose moving special education and disability civil rights enforcement out of the U.S. Department of Education.

Children with disabilities and their families rely on IDEA and federal civil rights protections to access education, services, accommodations, and support at school.

Moving OSERS and OSEP to the Department of Health and Human Services and shifting OCR responsibilities to the Department of Justice could create confusion, delays, and less accountability for families and schools.

Special education belongs in the federal agency responsible for education. Civil rights enforcement for students should remain connected to the education system students experience every day.

Please oppose any effort to move these offices out of the Department of Education. Thank you.

Helpful Resources

National PLACE and coalition partners have shared resources to help families, advocates, and organizations take part:

The more calls Congress hears on Thursday, the stronger the message: students with disabilities deserve clear, coordinated federal protections that support their education and civil rights.

Encircle Families encourages families to learn more, share information, and participate in ways that work for them.

These materials are for education and awareness only and are not intended to support lobbying with federal funds. Participation in call-in activities is voluntary and should be done on personal time using personal resources, consistent with applicable funding rules.

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