The Risks of a Trump Election for Students, People with Disabilities by Matt Cohen

The November presidential election will have historic consequences for our country. But there also are some very real dangers on the horizon for students and people with disabilities if Donald Trump and the Republican Party are able to implement their agenda. Read Matt Cohen's take on what's at stake and then make a plan to vote.

Six things you should know about the impact of the upcoming election on the rights of kids and adults with disabilities:

1. Trump is proposing to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education. That’s problematic because the Department of Education provides enormous research, guidance, technical assistance, regulation and enforcement to ensure that schools are both developing and implementing best practices and meeting their minimum legal obligations to serve and protect the rights of kids with disabilities. Kamala Harris and the Democrats would maintain and improve the Department of Education, not get rid of it.

2. Trump and the Republicans have a track record of appointing very conservative judges to the federal courts and most notably to the U.S. Supreme Court. This is resulting in increasing numbers of judicial decisions in favor of school districts narrowing the rights of children with disabilities.

3. Of particular concern, the recent Supreme Court decision in Loper, overturning the prior decision known as the Chevron doctrine, is leading to court challenges of regulations and decisions issued by federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Education, that give meaning and direction in the interpretation and implementation of federal laws. In one case already pending, a group of Republican attorneys general are suing to overturn regulations issued under Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act that protect individuals with gender dysphoria. If federal agencies are stripped of the power to develop and enforce regulations, many of the mandates of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) may be jeopardized, never mind standards for clean air and water and other critical protections.

4. The Republican platform and Donald Trump support shifting federal funding from what are called “categorical” programs to block grants, which will give the states more control over how the funds are used and lead to wide disparities in how funds are allocated and programs are regulated. It is highly likely that, in many states, kids with disabilities and other risk factors will lose out.

5. The Republican platform and Donald Trump are advocating for much tougher school disciplinary procedures. While we all want kids to be safe in school, we also know that kids with disabilities and members of minority groups are subject to vastly disproportionate school discipline. If the rights are stripped away and the discipline toughened, these children will suffer disciplinary exclusion, rather than getting the help they need and the help we want them to get so we are all safer.

6. The Republican Platform and Trump are advocating for a dramatic shift in funding to promote free choice for families to attend private schools using federal and state dollars. While many are attracted to the notion of choice, and there are some situations where it may make sense, the overall result will be to take scarce resources from the public schools and redistribute them to private schools. That will be a crushing loss to the public schools, reducing that as a choice for many, but will also likely mean that the most challenging students, who are less likely to be admitted to private schools, will be disproportionately represented in the even less funded and smaller remaining public schools.

This election makes a difference for all of us. If you have a child with a disability or you work with kids or adults with disabilities, I hope you will vote like their life depended on it, because that is the reality of the choice we face.

www.mattcohenandassociates.com