Nevada lawmakers look to safeguard special education after Trump order

Editor's note: Este artículo está traducido al español.

The Nevada Legislature is considering a proposal that would codify federal special education requirements into state law in the wake of President Donald Trump’s executive order to begin the process of dissolving the U.S. Department of Education.

Senate Bill 368 would ensure that the rights guaranteed by the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) would remain in place in Nevada if the law were substantially limited or eliminated, whether by executive order or an act of Congress. The U.S. Department of Education has oversight of the IDEA.

“Education is a fundamental right, and it is our moral and legal obligation to ensure that all children, including those with disabilities, have access to quality education,” Sen. Lori Rogich, R-Las Vegas, the bill’s sponsor, told the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday at the bill’s first hearing. “Codifying the IDEA into our state law is not just a policy decision, it is a statement of our values as a society.”

Since President Gerald Ford signed it into law in 1975, the IDEA has guaranteed the right to a “free and appropriate public education” in the “least restrictive environment” for all students, including children and young adults with disabilities.

The law guarantees individualized education programs to meet students’ unique abilities and needs, access to general education classes, procedural safeguards, early intervention for at-risk babies and toddlers, and transitioning to postschool life.

Marina Dalia-Hunt, who leads the education advocacy program at Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada, said losing the IDEA would cause a crisis and this bill would minimize harm.

“Before the IDEA, children with disabilities were often marginalized, institutionalized or simply not educated at all,” she said.

Trump signed an executive order March 20 directing the secretary of education to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the states and local communities while ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs and benefits on which Americans rely.”

“Closing the Department does not mean cutting off funds from those who depend on them — we will continue to support K-12 students, students with special needs, college student borrowers, and others who rely on essential programs,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement.

McMahon has suggested that the IDEA be moved under the purview of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The law resided with the HHS’ predecessor agency, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, until Congress created the dedicated Department of Education in 1979.

Dalia-Hunt said there was a lot of uncertainty — but abolishing the Education Department was a stated goal of the Trump administration, and its effects on the IDEA haven’t been addressed. Rogich noted that last week’s funding resolution for the federal government did not include line-item details for key parts of the IDEA.

Leading up to the executive order, the Trump administration had terminated or offered buyouts to half of the agency’s staff. But the president cannot unilaterally abolish the agency outright — constitutionally, Congress must approve the closure of a Cabinet agency.

“The president cannot do this all on his own, but he is in the process of dismantling the Department of Education, which is part of the executive branch,” state Sen. Marilyn Dondero Loop, D-Las Vegas, said. “We also know that we have a secretary of education who didn’t know what IDEA was,” a reference to McMahon being unable to say what the acronym stands for during a Fox News appearance this month.

SB 368 does not include any dollar figures.

Julie Bowers, director of the Office of Inclusive Education for the Nevada Department of Education, said the state received an average of $100 million a year in federal special ed funding to allocate to schools, plus more for related discretionary projects and Nevada Department of Education administrative costs.

The Clark County School District alone is set to receive $63.5 million in IDEA funding for the span between July 2025 and September 2026, according to a list of recurring grants presented to the school board in February.

The amount covers educator salaries and benefits; occupational, physical and speech therapy, and psychological and nursing services; vocational training; adaptive technology and instructional resources.

The district also received $1.7 million specifically for preschoolers with disabilities and $750,000 in discretionary grants for other special education projects, including recruitment and retention of educators.

Brian Wallace, a Carson City teacher and vice president of the Nevada State Education Association, said the statewide union “can neither support nor oppose this bill because it is outrageous that this bill is before this committee due to the recklessness of the Trump and Lombardo administrations.”

Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo supports Trump’s desire to dismantle the Education Department. Rogich said she wanted to put aside politics to protect kids.

“Despite its success, IDEA’s future at the federal level is not guaranteed,” she said. “Legislative or administrative changes, or executive orders, could weaken or repeal its provisions, leaving students with disabilities vulnerable to losing their rights and access to necessary services.”

Lawmakers did not take immediate action on the bill.

A bill in the Assembly, AB 494, similarly calls for the state to apply provisions of the IDEA plus several other education-related federal laws should they be repealed by the federal government. A hearing for AB 494 is set for Tuesday.