The U.S. Department of Education has gutted its special education staff and shuttered its office that enforces federal civil rights in Pennsylvania. These shortsighted and cruel actions disrupt an entire ecosystem designed to support students with disabilities and threaten the rights of all students to be safe, welcome, and able to learn in school.

To protect these students, I intend to introduce legislation authorizing the state to investigate and enforce students’ federal civil rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and other federal education laws.

The laws protecting students have not changed, but federal enforcement of those laws has essentially come to halt. Parents now have fewer options of where to turn when their child is being discriminated against or harassed – an especially devastating setback for students with disabilities who thrive in supportive, inclusive classrooms. If the federal government won’t have their backs, Pennsylvania should.

My legislation will create a new Office of Civil Rights within the Pennsylvania Department of Education and authorize the state to investigate and enforce federal civil rights in the absence of a federal government willing to do so.

Please join me in co-sponsoring this important legislation.