Washington Update, May 18, 2026
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FIELD READ The two hearings strengthen the legislative record across both chambers on the same set of questions. IDEA relocation remains formally undecided. MEGA remains the central FY 2027 restructuring proposal. The Senate HELP roundtable cancellation remains the procedural through-line: oversight surfaces are being documented on the record while real-time access is being restricted in parallel.
2.The OCR Record: Sanders Report Plus the May 14 ExchangeOn April 28, the same day as the Senate hearing, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ranking Member of Senate HELP, released Justice Denied: How Trump’s Office for Civil Rights Reached a 12-Year Low in Protecting Students from Discrimination. The headline data points, drawn directly from the report (sanders.senate.gov): About 1 percent resolution rate of roughly 12,000 pending OCR cases in 2025, the lowest in 12 years. 78 percent year-over-year decline in resolutions overall; 79 percent year-over-year drop in disability resolution agreements specifically. Zero resolution agreements reached in 15 states plus Puerto Rico in 2025. Resolution volume 91 percent below the first Trump term. The report attributes the decline to OCR reductions-in-force and regional office closures, not to changes in complaint volume. The Government Accountability Office (GAO-26-108320) has called for a full cost-and-savings estimate of the OCR restructuring before further reductions. A separate GAO finding cited by Politico on May 15 pegs at up to $38 million the cost of paying salaries and benefits for OCR staff on administrative leave from March through December 2025 (575 staffers, before court-ordered rehiring). The May 14 House hearing reopened the OCR exchange under different framing. McMahon defended the staffing reductions and pledged to bring back lawyers, characterizing the Department’s $91 million FY 2027 OCR request as a floor for hiring and citing 4,000 cases settled last quarter under Assistant Secretary Richey. McMahon attributed a 19,000-case backlog to the prior administration. Representative Takano pressed on the equivalence between settlements and resolution agreements, noting that the categories track different outcomes. The Department’s overall workforce has fallen from roughly 4,200 in 2024 to about 2,300 today, a 45 percent reduction. OCR-specific staffing is proposed at 271 FTE in FY 2027, down from 530 FTE in FY 2025.
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FIELD READ Two records, one direction. The Sanders documentation describes the floor of enforcement capacity that has already occurred. The May 14 Department response describes the rebuilding now underway and projects further reductions through the FY 2027 budget. More than half of OCR investigations involve children with disabilities. The fiscal and staffing trajectory directly affects how complaints from special education programs and families flow through to resolution.
3.IDEA: $144 Million Released, Part D and Preschool Proposed for Elimination, Relocation PendingThree IDEA developments since the April 30 , together they describe the structural picture for FY 2026 and FY 2027 simultaneously. First, the May 13 IDEA formula release. The day before the House hearing, the Department announced $144 million in additional IDEA funding: $123.6 million in IDEA Part B State Grants and Preschool, plus $20.5 million in IDEA Part C Infants and Toddlers. Funds are drawn from non-expiring carryover and distributed on July 1 and October 1, 2026. New guidance accompanying the release encourages states to use IDEA dollars to support expectant parents of infants with disabilities. Second, the FY 2027 elimination proposals on Part D and Preschool remain on the table. The FY 2027 President’s Budget proposes increasing IDEA Part B State Grants ($16 billion topline, an increase of more than $500 million) and IDEA Part C, while eliminating and consolidating IDEA Part D Personnel Preparation ($115 million annually, FY 2024 through FY 2026 enacted) and the IDEA Preschool program. The Part D consolidation proposal would fold the umbrella of Part D National Activities into Part B State Grants, retaining only the Special Olympics Education Program as a separate line. The CEF Budget Book article on IDEA Part D National Activities documents the full FY 2026 enacted breakdown: State Personnel Development $38.63 million, Technical Assistance and Dissemination $39.35 million, Personnel Preparation $115 million, Parent Information Centers $33.15 million, Technology and Media Centers $31.43 million. As a CEF Member, TED proudly authored this article and will share following our Hill Briefing in June, stay tuned! Third, relocation status remains formally undecided. The Bonamici exchange on May 14 (if you took a breather throughout this, go back and re-read the first article, it’s in there) is the operative public statement. McMahon: no determination has been made on whether IDEA services would transfer to HHS or Labor, and the Department will be looking to transfer and co-administer these programs. An IDEA increase administered outside the Department of Education is functionally a different program than one inside it. The TQP migration to DOL administration (Section 6) is the operative reference case for what co-administration looks like in practice. |
FIELD READ Part B and Part C dollars are flowing, with new state-level discretion. Part D and Preschool are on the FY 2027 consolidation list, but are also still flowing. The infrastructure that supports the personnel preparation programs our members run sits in the Part D line; the proposed consolidation into Part B State Grants does not include earmarks for personnel preparation, technical assistance, parent centers, or technology and media programs. Faculty preparing federal applications under the current FY 2026 cycle should plan for the existing Part D competition path while flagging the FY 2027 proposal for institutional advocacy.
4.IES: $66 Million in FY 2025 Special Education Research at Risk by September 30The Institute of Education Sciences picture has sharpened since our last update including the broader OMB apportionment pattern across Department accounts. Two May developments are the big news here, it seems, for now. First, the apportionment numbers. Of the $77 million Congress appropriated in FY 2025 for special education research, only $11 million has been apportioned by OMB to date. The remaining $66 million sits unapportioned and expires September 30, 2026, if not released. The picture extends across IES. Of the $510 million FY 2026 IES account, $289 million remains unallocated per OMB apportionment records, and the court-ordered spend plan disclosed March 5 details allocations for only $232 million. Knowledge Alliance, the IES coalition convener, estimates approximately $290 million across FY 2025 and FY 2026 IES discretionary funds at risk of lapsing by September 30. Education Week’s early-May review found that OMB had unlocked little or no funding for nearly three dozen Department competitive grant programs as of May 5. Second, on May 8, a bipartisan Senate letter. Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) led 16 cosigners (Collins, Baldwin, Blumenthal, Booker, Durbin, Gillibrand, Kaine, King, Lujan, Markey, Padilla, Sanders, Schiff, Slotkin, Van Hollen, Wyden) urging the Department and OMB to release IES funds. The letter is short and direct: “IES helps ensure that taxpayers’ money is being invested in efforts that are supported by rigorous research and demonstrated results. The federal government carries out a critical role in providing, supporting, and overseeing billions of supplemental dollars in public education each year, particularly for children, youth and students with disabilities and students from low-income families.” Ranking Member Bobby Scott raised the IES question directly with McMahon during the May 14 House hearing, pressing whether the Department would commit to obligating the IES funds flagged in the Merkley-Tillis-Warren letter. McMahon’s answer: “Yes, we are. We’re evaluating all those funds.” Department spokesperson Ellen Keast told Politico Pro on May 11 that the Department is committed to “using appropriated funds to meet our statutory obligations while supporting high-quality research.” The May 14 hearing answer is the institutional position phrased for the hearing record. The special education research portfolio sits inside the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER), the IES center whose funding has been the structural through-line for the evidence base behind IDEA personnel preparation, inclusive practices, and intervention research for two decades. The FIPSE restructuring announced in November 2025 and the broader IES architecture changes proposed in the FY 2027 budget locate the operative mechanism in OMB apportionment timing and Department implementation discretion, not in appropriations law. Three TED actions accompany this update. A one-page visual reference summarizes the FY 2025 and FY 2026 IES picture for member sharing and constituent meetings. A member alert provides sample contact language for member outreach to House and Senate offices, including a 90-second phone script and a 120-word email template. A TED-leadership-signed organizational letter to OMB Director Vought and committee leadership of jurisdiction is circulating in parallel. |
FIELD READ September 30 is the structural deadline. FY 2025 funds that have not been apportioned by that date expire. Member outreach in May and June is the operative window. The TED-leadership-signed letter is the parallel institutional signal. Constituent calls from named researchers and program directors move the conversation faster than general field concern. The IES visual is built to be forwarded directly to a congressional office.
5. Federal Register Actions Plus the FY 2027 House Appropriations MarkupThree Federal Register and Department actions in the past three weeks change the operational picture for FY 2026 applications and FY 2027 advocacy alignment. Graduate loan cap final rule. On April 30, the Department finalized regulations capping graduate federal loan amounts and instituting one new income-driven repayment plan under the 2025 budget reconciliation bill (Pub. L. 119-21). Effective July 1, 2026. Two CEF members responded over the subsequent weekend. NASFAA’s statement focused on the rule’s reversal of GRAD Plus guidance: GRAD Plus loans will now be counted within the new lifetime borrowing limit, a meaningful change from earlier draft guidance. ACE’s statement focused on the restrictive overall graduate loan limits. The May 1 Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) final rule (Federal Register 2026-08556) is the publication-of-record companion. Many TED member institutions train special educators through master’s and post-baccalaureate certification pathways that historically used GRAD Plus to cover full cost of attendance. The combination of capped annual amounts and the lifetime ceiling will affect Fall 2026 cohorts directly. Program directors and financial aid offices should model scenarios before July 1. TQP FY 2026 NOFO published, administered by DOL. On May 11, the Federal Register published the FY 2026 Teacher Quality Partnership Program competition (ALN 84.336S, Federal Register document 2026-09308). The competition is administered by the Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration under an interagency agreement. This is the first FY 2026 TQP NOFO and the first personnel-prep-adjacent program to operationalize the co-administration model McMahon described on May 14. TQP funds university-based teacher preparation, including special education partnerships. The FY 2027 President’s Budget proposes eliminating TQP. Members preparing federal applications under the FY 2026 cycle should plan for DOL/ETA application infrastructure rather than the historical OPE/HEP path. A parallel late-April joint Department-Department of Labor announcement on a competitive grant competition for State Assessments confirms that the Department now has 10 active interagency agreements under which grant administration has transferred to other agencies. New ICRs and OSEP discretionary competitions. On May 4, OSEP published an Information Collection Request (Federal Register 2026-08571) for a new National Special Education Spending Study to gather state and district IDEA expenditure data. Comments close June 3, 2026. Faculty studying IDEA fiscal policy or working with state special education directors have a 19-day comment window. On May 1, OSEP published two NOFOs in the Ed-Tech, Media, and Materials for Individuals with Disabilities portfolio: Federal Register 2026-08527 (ALN 84.327N National Center for Accessible Education Videos) and 2026-08529 (ALN 84.327C Accessible Education Video Projects). TED institutions with Center for Accessible Education partnerships or accessible-video research lines have an active application window. FY 2027 House Appropriations LHHS markup. House Appropriations Subcommittee markup of FY 2027 Labor-HHS-Education is scheduled for Friday, June 5, 8:00 AM ET, in H-140 of the Capitol. Full Committee markup follows on Tuesday, June 9, 11:00 AM ET. As of this dispatch, no chairman’s mark text or witness list has been released. Representative Robert Aderholt (R-AL) chairs LHHS; Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) leads the Democratic side. AACTE Washington Week falls Monday, June 1 through Wednesday, June 3, three days ahead of the subcommittee markup. The AACTE membership and the broader teacher preparation field will be on the Hill the same week as the chairman’s mark drops. TED-affiliated faculty attending AACTE Washington Week have natural pairing opportunities with House Education and Workforce, House Labor-HHS-Education, and Senate offices of jurisdiction. The Senate appropriations timeline trails the House by four to six weeks in a typical cycle, placing Senate LHHS markup in the second half of July. |
FIELD READ TQP migrating to DOL administration is the operative reference case for what co-administration looks like. The Department’s own FY 2026 personnel-prep-adjacent competition is running through ETA, not OPE. The graduate loan cap final rule and the STATS NPRM, both effective July 1, will land on the same Fall 2026 admissions cohort that is already absorbing the lifetime borrowing limit and the earnings premium test. Subcommittee markup is when the chairman’s mark becomes public. IDEA, Part D Personnel Preparation, Hawkins, TQP, and the MEGA block grant centerpiece all emerge from that document.
What Members Can Do Between Now and JuneTwo windows, there’s always more, but these are key and timely. |
IES advocacy (this week through September 30). Use the one-page IES visual and the member alert to schedule a five-minute call or send a paragraph to your House Education and Workforce member and your Senator on Senate HELP or Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations. Name a specific NCSER-funded study or training grant at your institution. Specific researcher and program names move the conversation faster than general field concern.
STATS NPRM comments (close Wednesday, May 20). Comments at regulations.gov, docket ED-2026-OPE-0133. The TED Policy Committee has submitted comments on the organization’s behalf. Comments from program directors, deans, and state special education leaders carry weight when they are program-specific and ground the earnings concern in starting salary data for special educators. Institutional submissions should clear through dean’s offices in the next 72 hours.
One more thing, as I'm closing this out tonight. The Louisiana Senate Republican primary is being called as I am finishing this and Senator Bill Cassidy has lost. Representative Julia Letlow took roughly 45 percent, State Treasurer John Fleming roughly 28, and Cassidy roughly 25. Letlow and Fleming advance to a June 27 runoff under Louisiana's new closed primary system. Letlow was Trump-endorsed; Cassidy's 2021 vote to convict in the second impeachment trial has been part of the through-line on his Republican standing in the state ever since. Why this matters for us. Cassidy is the current Chair of the Senate HELP Committee, the Senate committee with jurisdiction over the things that keep us up at night: IDEA, Higher Education Act personnel preparation. He also been the most visible Senate Republican voice on dyslexia and literacy. Whether the primary loss accelerates his timeline or he serves out the term through January 2027, leadership of the Senate committee that oversees our priorities is going to change hands. And Cassidy's specific lane does not have an obvious heir on the Republican side of HELP, which means our field will need to find and build relationships with whoever steps into that space. Worth watching through the June 27 runoff and into the fall. Never a dull moment, folks. Thank you for the work you do preparing the educators, researchers, and advocates who carry our field forward. More to come as the markup window opens. With appreciation and resolve, Kait Dr. Kait Brennan TED Policy Advisor @brennan_kait |
