Meng Calls on DeVos to Ensure Civil Rights Protections for Students During COVID-19 Crisis

QUEENS, NY – U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) announced today that she sent a letter to U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos urging her to ensure protections during the coronavirus pandemic for students with disabilities, English language learners (ELLs), and other school kids who require special accommodations.

In her correspondence, Meng called on DeVos to exercise high levels of scrutiny when issuing waivers of requirements under civil rights and education laws. The letter specifically urges the Secretary to ensure that states, colleges and universities, and local educational agencies (LEAs) meet student needs within the flexibilities that exist in current laws.

Over 55 million students at over 124,000 public and private schools across the nation are engaged in online remote learning. As educators, administrators, and students adjust to this new learning environment, guidance from the Department of Education carries extraordinary influence on schools' and teachers' adherence to landmark civil rights laws, like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

"Civil rights protections for students with disabilities, English language learners, and others that require special accommodations must be protected during the coronavirus pandemic," said Congresswoman Meng. "Current laws already offer flexibility to schools to ensure they meet the needs of even the most vulnerable student populations. Secretary DeVos must ensure that all students can continue to succeed academically."

"In this time of great uncertainty caused by COVID-19, students with disabilities and other marginalized groups stand to fall even further behind their peers," said Lindsay Jones, President and CEO of the National Center for Learning Disabilities. "We cannot grant waivers that would allow schools to step back from their obligations. Instead, we must work together to help educators and administrators do everything in their power to serve students with disabilities well. We are grateful to Congresswoman Meng for shining a light on the needs of the very students who are often left in the shadows."

"Special Olympics wishes to thank Representative Meng for her efforts to ensure that potential waivers to education laws do not infringe on the basic civil rights of our most vulnerable students," saidShawn Ferguson, Vice President of Government Relations and Chief of Staff to the Chairman at Special Olympics International. "Rather than waiving requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and other laws, it is important to make sure that all students (including those with intellectual disabilities) are able to overcome the challenges of social isolation during this pandemic."

"During these extraordinary times, we sympathize with teachers who are struggling to bring their classrooms to students quarantined at home," said National Disability Rights Network Executive Director Curt Decker. "However, it is critical that students with disabilities not be left out of these efforts. Special education law is flexible enough already to allow teachers to continue to serve all students. The Education Department does not need to waive any requirements in the law."

"As we continue to navigate this health crisis, we are mindful of the toll the coronavirus pandemic will levy on the long-term academic progress of our nation's most vulnerable students, including students with disabilities and the five million English Learners who already face unique challenges," said Amalia Chamorro, Associate Director of the Education Policy Project at UnidosUS. "We join Representative Meng, in urging Secretary DeVos and the Department of Education to protect the civil rights of all students."

Meng's letter has been endorsed by the National Disability Rights Network; Special Olympics International; National Center for Learning Disabilities; Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD), host of the National Center for College Students with Disabilities (NCCSD); New York Immigration Coalition; Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC); and UnidosUS.

The text of the letter, which was signed by 35 other Members of Congress, is below and a copy of the correspondence can be view here.

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The Honorable Betsy DeVos

Secretary

U.S. Department of Education

400 Maryland Ave. SW

Washington, DC 20202-7100

Dear Secretary DeVos,

We write to ask that you determine your recommendation for waivers to education laws, authorized in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, with high scrutiny to ensure that even short-term changes due to the waiver of a requirement do not cause long-term harm and do not infringe upon the civil rights of students with disabilities, English language learners (ELLs), and other students that require special accommodations. You must ensure states, post-secondary institutions, and local educational agencies (LEAs) meet student needs within the flexibilities that exist in current law, rather than waiving requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), and other education laws.

School closures due to COVID-19 have impacted over 55.1 million students of over 124,000 public and private schools across the nation,¹ and over 7,000 institutions of higher education.² Teachers and school officials are earnestly working to personally navigate this unprecedented dilemma while helping their students transition to online learning. As schools evolve through this crisis, your guidance to schools and waivers to pre-existing law carry extraordinary influence.

Fourteen percent of all public school students, 7 million students, receive education services under IDEA.³ Additionally, 19 percent of students in postsecondary education reported they have disabilities.⁴ Your recent guidance to schools explains that "federal disability law allows for flexibility in determining how to meet the individual needs of students with disabilities."⁵ As IDEA offers flexibility by design, waivers to IDEA or Rehab Act are unnecessary.

Instead, we ask that you:

As you know, under civil rights law, schools are obligated to ensure that all students, including English language learners, have equal access to education. Furthermore, schools would be in violation if students are unable to participate in school due to language barriers, if the English language acquisition program is inadequate, or if schools fail to translate resources for parents with limited English proficiency.⁶ In efforts to uphold these laws, we urge you to:

IDEA mandates that students who are in juvenile detention facilities, institutions, hospitals, or jail still be provided special education services by their home district and that the state and district make every effort to identify unidentified students with disabilities through the Child Find mandate.

Given the potential for COVID-19 to affect each of these institutions, you must:

While the effects of COVID-19 have aggravated all our lives, the challenges are far greater for students with disabilities, English language learners, institutionalized students, and students who require accommodations. You must protect the basic rights of students and ensure that waivers instituted in response to COVID-19 do not disproportionately impact students most in need.

Sincerely,