AG ​Bonta co-led a coalition of 16 attorneys general in filing a comment letter opposing the U.S. Department of Education (U.S. ED)’s proposal to remove certain reporting requirements that help U.S. ED identify significant disproportionalities in special education programming for children with disabilities based on race. Attorney General Bonta and the coalition argue that U.S. ED’s proposal removes valuable oversight of state methodologies, overestimates the burden the current reporting requirements place on states, and harms states’ abilities to ensure equal opportunities and outcomes for all students. Attorney General Bonta and the coalition also argue that U.S. ED has failed to adequately address comments made in response to the proposal’s previous announcement.

“President Trump’s Department of Education is using flawed reasoning and ignoring public comment in its effort to end reporting requirements that help address race-based inequalities in special education for students with disabilities. Students of color are disproportionately identified as children with disabilities compared to their peers, and too often by mistake. This was true when U.S. ED first announced this proposal, and it remains true now. Yet U.S. ED has failed to meaningfully address the concerns that my fellow attorneys general and I expressed in this proposal’s first comment period. We will not stand by while U.S. ED attempts to baselessly halt oversight of methodologies that help states identify and address racial and ethnic inequities in our classrooms. We will continue to fight for evidence-based educational systems that improve outcomes for all students.” – AG Bonta