Advocates fear effects Trump policies could have on special education

Special education advocates and educators in California are raising red flags over President Donald Trump’s dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education and how it would affect some of California’s most vulnerable students.

As CalMatters’ Carolyn Jones explains, nearly 800,000 K-12 California students, or 14%, are enrolled in special education. Last year the state spent roughly $13 billion on special education, with the federal government covering about 10%. 

In his push to shutdown the federal education department, Trump is slashing its workforce by half, and in March he said he plans to move special education oversight to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — itself undergoing a more than 20% reduction in workforce.

Trump has also threatened to pull federal funding for schools to states, including California, that do not comply with his orders to terminate diversity efforts or to limit protections for transgender students. 

At the same time, while Congress left special education funding intact in the most recently passed budget, its GOP members are considering deep cuts to Medicaid as they seek to maintain 2017 tax cuts that primarily benefit the rich. 

Medicaid helps school districts pay for speech and occupational therapy, as well as mental health services for students with disabilities. Regional centers in California, which are partly funded by Medicaid, also provide parents with disabled children diagnoses, medical equipment such as wheelchairs and other services.

Any federal cuts or changes to special education could have a major effect on the community and jeopardize the safety of students and staff, according to some special education experts. For Gina Gandolfi, a former special education teacher in San Bernardino County, she worries whether Trump’s changes would disrupt the services her son receives. Nathan, who is a ten-year-old with Down syndrome, receives speech and occupational therapy and one-to-one classroom support. 

• Gandolfi: “The disability community has fought hard for where we are now. What if those services are taken away? Kids with disabilities will go back to being second-class students.”

Read more here.

As Democratic candidates for California’s crowded 2026 gubernatorial race wait in anticipation for former Vice President Kamala Harris to decide whether she’ll throw her hat in the ring, Republican candidates seek to become the state’s first GOP governor in more than a decade, writes CalMatters’ Alexei Koseff.

Despite an overwhelmingly Democratic populace, California Republicans have some reason to be optimistic: In November they flipped three seats in the state Legislature, and Trump increased his vote share in nearly every county. Two of the more high-profile GOP candidates for California’s highest elected office are Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former Fox News host Steve Hilton, who joined the race Monday. 

Both candidates want to eliminate the state income tax and roll back environmental regulations. They are also vocal Trump supporters who argue that California is faring worse under the Democratic party’s policies on crime, homelessness and the economy.

• Bianco, to CalMatters: “We are being led down a path of complete government control and socialism. This is no longer Democrat versus Republican. We’re at a point where it’s sane versus insane.”

• Hilton, to CalMatters: “I don’t think there’s any other way of describing California today, other than the sick man of America. It’s just undeniable that we’re in a terrible, terrible mess in California and we have to change direction.”

Read more here.

From CalMatters economy reporter Levi Sumagaysay:

California homeowners sued the state’s biggest insurance companies late Friday, saying the companies conspired to cancel policyholders and caused them to be under-insured after the Los Angeles County fires. 

The lawsuits, brought by two law firms on behalf of homeowners, name State Farm, Farmers, 21st Century and other insurers as plaintiffs accused of violating the state’s antitrust and unfair practice laws. The plaintiffs allege the “group boycott” by the insurers drove Californians to the FAIR Plan, the insurer of last resort — which is run by an association of the same insurers. The plan, which offers less coverage but higher prices than other policies, essentially shifted financial risk to homeowners, the lawsuits say. 

One lawsuit seeks class-action status on behalf of all FAIR Plan customers. The other was filed on behalf of some families that had FAIR Plan policies when their homes burned down in the recent L.A.-area fires.

The suits say the coordination was made possible through meetings among the FAIR Plan board and two industry groups. Rex Frazier, president of the Personal Insurance Federation of California, called it “an outrageous lie that distracts from the well-known state policies that predictably caused, and continue to cause, the market problems.” The other group, the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, did not immediately return a request for comment.

Through a state initiative to bring down prescription drug prices, Californians can now purchase the overdose-reversal medicine Naloxone at a steep discount. Find out more from CalMatters’ Kristen Hwang.