17 States Sue To End Protections For Students With Special Needs
By Peter Greene for Forbes
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was signed into law by President Richard Nixon in September of 1973. Section 504 of that act codified the civil rights of persons with disabilities. “No otherwise qualified individual” can be, simply because of their disability, “denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination” in any program or activity that receives federal funds.
That law has turned out to be hugely important in education, offering an even broader definition of students with special needs than the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Now 16 states have joined Texas in a lawsuit asking the court to declare Section 504 unconstitutional.
On the surface, the lawsuit appears to be one more battle over the rights of transgender citizens. Under the Biden administration, the Section 504 definition of disability was expanded to recognize that “gender dysphoria . . . may be considered a physical or mental impairment.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration in September 2024, saying that it was “abusing executive action” to sidestep the law. The state was suing, Paxton said, “because HHS has no authority to unilaterally rewrite statutory definitions and classify ‘gender dysphoria’ as a disability.”
Then, on page 37, as it reached its third of four counts, the lawsuit switches gears, arguing not for an excision of the new language, but the elimination of Section 504 entirely. The suit argues that Section 504 is “coercive, untethered to the federal interest in disability, and unfairly retroactive” and therefore unconstitutional.
504 plans are common in all 50 states. Like an Individualized Education Program or IEP, a 504 plan puts in place a specialized program and supports to help students with special needs succeed and ensures that they will not be discriminated against in classes or activities. 504 plans address a wide variety of needs, including visual impairment, diabetes, heart disease, epilepsy, depression, and ADHD. Section 504 is meant to guarantee that these students cannot be discriminated against and that they will get the supports they need as they receive a free and appropriate public education.
Read more here.
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