50 years ago, special education in America was born.

The time has come for a coordinated national undertaking to address the concerns of this nation's

35 million handicapped citizens to respond to their abilities as well as their disabilities.

That was President Gerald Ford speaking at an event in November of 1975.

One week later, he signed the landmark law known today as the Individuals with Disabilities

Education Act, or IDEA. It guaranteed all children with disabilities the right to a, quote,

free, appropriate public education. Margaret Spellings,

the former Education Secretary for President George W. Bush, says political support for IDEA has not

wavered. We have long had for the last 50 years until this year, you know, huge bipartisan

support and fealty to the law.

In fact, when I showed up...

You could hear right there, spelling said, until this year.

That's because amid the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle the Department of Education,

there's a growing fear that protections for students with disabilities are in jeopardy.

Many of the federal workers charged with overseeing IDEA or protecting students from disability discrimination

have lost their jobs or are at risk of losing their jobs.

We are concerned special education will cease to exist.

Jacqueline Rodriguez is the CEO of the National Center for Learning Disabilities.

When you take protections away from kids with disabilities that are legally entitled to those

protections, every kid in the country is at risk. If they come for you, they're going to come

for everybody.

Consider this.

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