The Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA) views the move of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) from the U.S. Department of Education to the Department of Health and Human Services as one that jeopardizes decades of progress toward accessibility. Special education is fundamentally an educational, not medical, enterprise. The purpose of IDEA is to ensure that students with learning and other disabilities receive a free appropriate public education through evidence-based instruction, specialized supports, and meaningful access to the general curriculum. Relocating OSERS to a health-focused agency risks reinforcing a medical model of disability that emphasizes diagnosis and treatment rather than educational access, achievement, and inclusion. It also separates special education from broader education policy, reducing opportunities to align disability-related services with general education initiatives, teacher preparation, school improvement efforts, and postsecondary success. Students with learning disabilities are first and foremost students. The federal office responsible for protecting the educational rights of students with disabilities must remain under the leadership of professionals who coordinate both special and general education to ensure all students have access to high-quality instruction and support.
