But the panel’s Republicans voted down Democratic efforts to add amendments that would protect the civil rights of students with disabilities and LGBT students. How the Trump administration will address securing the civil rights of students with disabilities has been an issue for some time. The Trump administration has also rolled back federal guidelines specifying that transgender students have the right to use public school restrooms that match their gender identity. Students with disabilities who attend a private school with a voucher awarded through the program lose some of the civil rights protections they are granted under IDEA. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), the District’s nonvoting representative, who told her, “These are private schools.

Source: Washington Post March 12, 2017 15:51 UTC