July 5, 2022•Advocacy Matters
Strengthening Section 504 for Students with Disabilities
Strengthening Section 504 for Students with Disabilities
Disability Matters with Joyce Bender
Tuesday, July 5, 2022
#AdvocacyMatters Segment
Strengthening Section 504 for Students with Disabilities
The U.S. Department of Education is soliciting public comments to determine how to improve regulations that protect the rights of students with disabilities. In particular, the U.S. Department of Education is focusing on a review of the regulations implementing Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act.
Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in federally funded private and public programs and activities, including schools and postsecondary institutions. That law was landmark civil rights legislation for people with disabilities.
Section 504 regulations require a school district to provide a “free and appropriate public education” (FAPE) to each qualified student with a disability.
The regulations implementing Section 504 in education are 45 years old this year. Regulations were issued 4 years after passage of the law and only after protests by people with disabilities to get the federal government to issue the regulations. These regulations have not been updated since 1977.
The U.S. Department of Education has not yet drafted the new regulations and there is not timeline available for when the Education Department will make regulatory changes to Section 504. Instead, the U.S. Department of Education is seeking written comments and will be holding listening sessions over the summer to get public feedback.
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It is important for our community to provide comments and attend the listening sessions with the U.S. Department of Education on new regulations for Section 504 for students with disabilities. Community voices and protests were critical to the landmark law and regulations 45 years ago. Our voices are just as important now. Be sure to visit disabilityrightspa.org for more information about the effort to update the regulations and to find instructions on how to submit public comments.
Links
U.S. Department of Education Press Release
Instructions on Submitting Public Comment