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Administering the Nation’s Preeminent Education Civil Rights Law for Infants, Toddlers, Children, and Youth with Disabilities: The Essential Role of the Federal Office of Special Education Programs
This report focuses on the critical role of the federal government in administering the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA, the preeminent education civil rights law for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities, served over 8 million children and youth last year.
Before Congress passed IDEA in 1975, only about one of every five children with disabilities attended public schools. Schools routinely denied children entry because of their disability. Institutionalization of children, youth, and adults with disabilities was also common, often harboring conditions that were abusive, inhumane, and harmful to the safety, health, and development of people with disabilities, violating their basic human and civil rights. Congress passed IDEA to ensure that children and youth had access to early intervention and a fair public education.
A key part of IDEA - and any civil rights law - is federal administration and enforcement of the law, which enables uniform protections regardless of geography within the nation. IDEA is administered by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) at the US Department of Education. OSEP is responsible for a wide range of activities that enable special education and early intervention systems in the United States to function, including funding disbursement to states, T/TA, monitoring to ensure children’s and youth’s rights are upheld, collecting and reporting data that are critical for transparency and accountability, and funding for innovation and research to practice projects.
Suggested Citation:
Meek, S., Cardona, M., Soto-Boykin, X., Catherine, E., Powell, T., & Blevins, D. (October 2025). Administering the Nation’s Preeminent Education Civil Rights Law for Infants, Toddlers, Children, and Youth with Disabilities: The Essential Role of the Federal Office of Special Education Programs. The Children’s Equity Project at Arizona State University. https://cep.asu.edu/resources/EssentialRoleoftheFederalOfficeofSpecialEducationPrograms.