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Republican Leaders Call for Research into Effect of School Closures on Children with Disabilities

This week, the Republican leaders of key House Committees wrote a letter to Democratic leaders expressing the need to conduct a bipartisan investigation into the effect of school closures on children with disabilities. In the letter, Representatives Scalise (R-LA), Comer (R-KY), Foxx (R-NC), and McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) emphasized that school closures are having a disproportionately negative impact on students with disabilities, seeing as these students often require more personalized and attentive instruction.

The lawmakers point to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) stipulation that each school must provide a “free appropriate public education” for students with disabilities, noting that states and localities are not meeting minimum requirements and in some cases fail to provide reasonable modifications or services to mitigate limited services during distance learning.

The letter also includes anecdotes from parents of students with disabilities who express the heightened difficulties faced by this student population during distance learning.

Read the letter

Posted:  12 March, 2021
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