The federal government just moved billions of dollars in education programs out of the Department of Education, framing it as a step toward “returning power to the states.” Behind that language sits a harsher reality. Special education offices have been gutted, key grants are being scattered across unfamiliar agencies, and families are being left to navigate a system that no longer has a clear front door. This moment demands more than outrage. It demands local organizing, documentation, and community based accountability to protect students who have always lived on the margins of the system.

