May 2026 Policy News Round-Up

Secretary McMahon goes before Congress, special education funding gets a rare boost, and the Administration proposes changes to IDEA reporting requirements. See what else NCLD engaged on this month. 

Secretary McMahon Appears before House Education Committee

On May 14th, Secretary McMahon testified in the House Committee on Education and Workforce in a hearing titled: “Examining the Policies and Priorities of the Department of Education.” In the hearing, the Secretary responded to a question from Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA) about supporting students with disabilities by defending the Administration’s proposal to consolidate six IDEA programs. The hearing recording and recap are here.

This hearing occurred two weeks after the Secretary also appeared before the Senate LHHS-ED Appropriations Subcommittee where the Secretary also defended the Administration’s budget proposal to consolidate IDEA programs and stated that moving special education programs to another agency is still under evaluation.

Updates on Education Funding

IDEA Gets $144 Million Boost

On May 13th, U.S. Department of Education announced that $144 million would be sent to state and local education agencies to use for programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). OpenOMB.org shows that these funds were unspent from the American Rescue Plan and will be sent to the grates to states, preschool grants, and grants for infants and families and also states that funding with the Administration’s Executive Order on Ending DEI. 

Bipartisan Senators Respond to Apportioned Education Research Funding, Including Special Education Research

As highlighted in our April 2026 policy news round-up, 85% of the $77 million of special education funding has been unspent. On May 11, Senators Merkley, Tillis, and Warren led a letter urging prompt release of this funding and that ED works with the Office of Management and Budget to allocate these funds in order for IES to meet its statutory obligations to support special education research.

Coming Soon: Congress’ FY 2027 Bills

In early June, the House will markup its FY 2027 Labor, Health, Human Services and Education appropriations bill both in the subcommittee (June 5th) and full committee (June 8th).

NCLD Responds to ED Proposals to Weaken IDEA Reporting Requirements

NCLD joined other disability organizations in submitting comments that urged the U.S. Department of Education to maintain strong accountability and transparent requirements for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in State Performance Plans and Annual Performance Reports (SPP/APR). In the comments, disability rights groups opposed the elimination of reporting data on suspension and expulsion and about data on significant disproportionality by race/ethnicity. ED issues its annual state determination letters in June using SPP/APR (see 2025’s) to determine if states are meeting the requirements of IDEA. These proposed changes would impact future determinations and reduce transparency around disproportionate discipline rates by race/ethnicity, if enacted.

Louisiana Becomes the Second State to have an ESEA Waiver Request Approved

On May 20th, ED approved a request from the Louisiana Department of Education to waive certain requirements in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), making it the second state to have this type of waiver approved. Iowa was the first. ED has granted the state permission to consolidate activities under ESEA Title II-A (Supporting Effective Instruction grants), Title III-A (English Language Acquisition), Title IV-A (Student Support and Academic Enrichment), and Title IV-B (21st Century Community Learning Centers). In February, NCLD joined All4Ed and EdTrust in urging Louisiana to withdraw this request, explaining how this consolidation undermines program-specific guardrails and diverts funds away from students with the greatest need.

Senators Demand Action on the Office for Civil Rights

On May 27th, Sen. Sanders led a letter from 34 Senators demanding specific and immediate actions to fulfill ED OCR’s legal obligations after a recent report found that the Office has been the least productive in over a decade, despite receiving the same amount of funding. Specifically, the Senators requested that OCR: 

• Reopen closed regional offices
• Hire more investigators
• Reach out to all students with pending cases and provide status updates
• Begin reaching resolution agreements in every category
• Cease the mass dismissal of complaints
• Cease efforts to rescind existing resolution agreements
• Restore public transparency with public data updates

A new website, OCR Watch, displays data and examples related to the OCR in 2025.

Advocacy Opportunities

NCLD’s Action Center enables you to contact your Members of Congress and make your voice heard on issues important to students with disabilities. 

ICYMI 

• Sen. Lujan and Rep. Leger Fernandez introduced the Loan Forgiveness for Educators Act, which was endorsed by NCLD. 
• The Senate HELP Committee held a hearing titled “Meeting the Individual Needs of All Students: The Role of Charter Schools.” Jennifer Coco, the Interim Executive Director of the Center for Learner Equity, highlighted the need to fully fund IDEA and other important issues for students with disabilities in her testimony and throughout the hearing.
• Kelly Rogers is appointed as the Deputy Assistant Secretary and Acting Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS)

NCLD’s Voice:

• NCLD has published a new policy position on K-12 Education Technology and Artificial Intelligence. 
• NCLD’s Director of Policy and Advocacy, Lindsay Kubatzky, is quoted in EdWeek: Senate Days are Numbered for Top Republican Charged with Ed. Dept

What We’re Reading:

• National Center on Improving Literacy: State of Dyslexia Report 2026
• Institute for Education Sciences: Report on the Condition of Education 2026
• The 74M: Wealthy Students More Likely to Get Disability Accommodations, Study Finds