As the Trump administration continues to downsize and dismantle many government agencies,

the Department of Education could be next on the chopping block.

At stake are resources and support for more than 7 million students with disabilities

who depend on the agency to ensure access to a free public education.

And that's at a time when they're already struggling to receive quality

schooling because of a shortage of special education teachers. Judy Woodruff reports as part of our

series, Disability Reframed. A little goat. 14-year-old Spencer Nichols loves taking care of his

farm animals at home in Macon, Georgia.

It's a break after a long school day where he has little autonomy.

Spencer has Down syndrome.

Almost the entire day, he's in a small classroom with other students with disabilities.

It's kind of a rough day for me, but maybe I'll learn some days and my mom helps me a lot.

His mother, Pam Nichols, says he's denied the same chance to succeed as his non-disabled peers.

She says he can't pick his own elective classes and isn't progressing like he should. There there's six students and they're all taught at the same level.

I have to challenge the school to go to the library and use the data from the testing to say

Spencer can read at a third or fourth grade level. These are appropriate books. It stalls his development and it doesn't make him necessarily ready for society.

I love my family.

Pam says Spencer should be in more general education classes, but his middle school lacks the

resources and staff to support students with disabilities.

Unfortunately, one class is science that he is allowed to be in the gen ed classroom.

They had a science test.

I messaged the teacher.

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