Category: News

Experts at CEC/CASE Summit Sound Alarm (July 23, 2026)

On July 22, 2026, special education professionals and advocates warned that moving special education functions out of the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) would be detrimental to students with disabilities. Citing the likelihood that the  move would cause disparities in services across the states and reduce accountability measures, along with the  risk that the guidance received from one agency and the guidance received from another agency would make it difficult to  impossible to administer all applicable laws, were examples given expressing great concern. For instance, the recently announced interagency agreement between the USDE and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would move key responsibilities for special education formula and discretionary grants, compliance and monitoring, and annual state performance determinations to HHS. However, the USDE, would maintain statutory responsibility for the functions being outsourced.

CEC and CASE officials also say the level of funding proposed in the FY 2027 budget is not enough to address the needs in the field, such as severe teacher shortages, growing demands for student mental health services, and year-over-year increases in special education enrollment. In 2024, about 8.2 million students ages 3-21 qualified for IDEA Part B school-aged services, which was a 3.8% increase compared to the year before.

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Federal Judge Ruling Prevents Trump Officials from Revoking Grants Due to Change in Priorities (July 20, 2026)

On July 17, 2026, a federal judge ruled in favor of a coalition of 21 attorneys general and three governors who sued over the Trump administration’s approach to grant terminations. According to the lawsuit, since the Trump administration began its second term, it has terminated billions of dollars in federal grants, including for school lunch programs, because they no longer align with the federal government’s goals.

Pursuant to the ruling, federal officials cannot cancel existing grants simply because they don’t align with new government priorities. In fact, federal regulations and the U.S. Constitution’s spending clause prohibit the administration from canceling existing grants based on such a reason.

Governor Josh Shapiro filed suit on behalf of Pennsylvania.

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Info Requests Have Overwhelmed the USDE (July 20, 2026)

On a monthly basis the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) receives on average nearly 300 requests for data under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). However, under the Trump administration the USDE has only responded to about 3% of those requests. and staffing issues have been a major hurdle. For example, according to The 74, the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) had eight employees working on requests in January 2025. After staff cuts, none remained.

For more from The 74, click here.

Preparing for Cyclical Monitoring: A Focus on Secondary Transition (Indicator 13) (July 19, 2026)

In response to the accountability requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 2004 (IDEA) Part B State Performance Plans, the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) and intermediate unit transition consultants will provide sustained professional development for targeted local educational agencies (LEAs). This targeted professional development will assist with creating compliant and effective individualized secondary transition programming for students with disabilities.

The requirements for each LEA assigned to the 2026-2027 Preparing for Cyclical Monitoring: A Focus on Secondary Transition training are as follows:
-Develop an administrative team to support the targeted training and technical assistance process. The administrative team is required to attend the webinar, What LEAs Need to Know About The Secondary Transition Cyclical Monitoring Schoology Course, on September 10, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Administrative team members need to register in advance for this training on the PaTTAN Training Calendar, using the link: PaTTAN – Session-42664.
-Assign a lead contact person to complete an interview/survey regarding effective practices for secondary transition as facilitated by an intermediate unit and/or PaTTAN consultant. The lead contact will work with IU Transition TaC/PaTTAN consultants to develop and implement a local training plan for the 2026-2027 school year.
•Identify targeted staff (i.e., special education directors, building principals, transition coordinators, special education teachers, speech/language therapists, school counselors, school psychologists, career tech ed staff, and other LEA staff involved in secondary programming) who will be required to complete an online Schoology course and targeted staff to participate in IEP pre-reviews using the PA Indicator 13 checklist, complete IEP post-reviews, participate in coaching activities as warranted with IU Transition TaC.
•Identify and ensure all targeted staff complete the required online Schoology course, Preparing for Cyclical Monitoring: A Focus on Secondary Transition Planning and IEP Development, between September 11, 2026, and February 26, 2027.
‣Step 1- Registration for Act 48 and the Schoology course directions can be found on the PaTTAN Training Calendar, using this link: PaTTAN – Session-42668.
*All assigned staff must individually register on the PaTTAN Training Calendar using the registration key: IND13-2026 in order to receive 6 Act 48 credit hours and directions to register for the Schoology course, Preparing for Cyclical Monitoring: A Focus on Secondary Transition Planning and IEP Development.
‣Step 2- On September 11, once assigned staff have completed Step 1, an email will be sent with directions on how to access the Schoology course, Preparing for Cyclical Monitoring: A Focus on Secondary Transition Planning and IEP Development and the access code for each LEA’s region. If directions are not received via email after registering on the PaTTAN Training Calendar, please contact Administrative Assistant, Kristen Olszyk at kolszyk@pattanpgh.net.
‣Step 3- Upon receiving the directions for the Schoology course and the access code for your LEA’s region, assigned staff must join their region’s Schoology section and complete the required course.

For questions concerning the Preparing for Cyclical Monitoring: A Focus on Secondary Transition training for 2026-2027, contact PaTTAN Educational Consultants, Darla Bryant at dbryant@pattan.net or Stephanie Ruby at sruby@pattan.net.

USDE DCL Addresses Schools “Passing the Trash” (July 18, 2026)

On July 10, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) issued a Dear Colleague letter to states and school districts reminding them of their responsibilities to protect students rather than engage in the practice, which it called “a troubling and recurring pattern in schools” nationwide. In addition, on the same day the USDE announced it was opening 20 targeted investigations into schools that the it suspects of “passing the trash” based on their responses to the 2023-24 Civil Rights Data Collection.

According to the Dear Colleague letter, 35 states lacked laws banning the suppression of information regarding employee sexual misconduct in termination, resignation, and severance agreements as of 2022. And 40 states didn’t prohibit expunging such information from personnel files.

For more information from K-12 Dive, click here.