Parents of children with disabilities are growing increasingly worried as the Education Department shrinks and mechanisms for accountability seem harder to find.

The department laid off nearly half of its workforce earlier this year, is moving to reduce disability services even further and has 95 percent of its employees currently furloughed due to the government shutdown.

Parents say it's getting harder to know who to contact for civil rights complaints and progress updates, and their fears are growing as Education Secretary Linda McMahon presses her calls for education to go back to the states while saying little about who will ensure oversight and compliance for the Individuals with Disabilities and Education Act (IDEA).

“It's not just the families that are left high and dry, it's our school systems. The fact is that the federal government has a role in the provision of public education in this country, and when that's just stripped out with no warning, no information and no assistance, it leaves everyone affected powerless. Schools are without guidance, and students are potentially — and families — without the protections that they're guaranteed under the law,” said Denise Marshall, CEO of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates.

Alicia Reneé, who has two neurodivergent sons,........

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