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Mai Hall expected that her oldest child would automatically receive special education services for her autism, dyslexia and ADHD when she enrolled in a Kaimuk墨 elementary school 10 years ago. But the school said Hall鈥檚 daughter didn鈥檛 need any additional support, insisting that she earned good grades and got along with her friends. 

It was only after Hall received training from a federally funded parent information center that she was able to successfully advocate for her daughter 鈥� and later, her son 鈥� to get the support services they needed.

Parents of students with disabilities have long struggled to ensure their kids have the resources and support they need in public schools in Hawai驶i, which ranks among the worst states in the nation when it comes to academic outcomes for special education students.

Today, Hall鈥檚 daughter is attending college and her son is receiving the accommodations he needs to feel supported and happy at school. But Hall and other families are worried that potential cuts to federal funding and efforts to shutter the U.S. Department of Education will result in fewer services and learning opportunities for special education students.   

鈥淲e really don鈥檛 need to worry about our children鈥檚 education any more than we already are,鈥� Hall said. 

Education advocates and families say federal funding and regulation have played a key role in strengthening protections for special education students in Hawai驶i, but it鈥檚 unclear what oversight will look like moving forward. President Donald Trump cut the U.S. DOE鈥檚 staff by nearly half last month, resulting in the closure of seven civil rights offices dedicated to processing student discrimination claims, including those related to disabilities.

A  from the administration also aims to dismantle the U.S. DOE, and the administration has proposed shifting special education programs to the Department of Health and Human Services. But the health department doesn鈥檛 have the staff or expertise to hold states accountable for following federal special education laws, said Meghan Burke, a professor at Vanderbilt University.    

A reduction in federal oversight may make it harder for Hawai驶i families to receive support and resources for their children, said attorney Keith Peck, who leads the  providing legal representation to families seeking special education services. 

Federal funding is currently tied to Hawai驶i鈥檚 compliance with special education laws, Peck said, but he鈥檚 worried the new administration may provide states with more flexibility and less accountability on how the money can be spent.   

鈥淚f the funding is no longer linked to allowing the parents to assert their rights and dispute against the Department of Education, if the (Hawai驶i) DOE no longer has to comply with those protections, then nobody will have any protections,鈥� Peck said. 

What鈥檚 At Stake? 

Hawai驶i鈥檚 education department enrolls over 18,000 special education students and receives $50 million from the federal government each year to educate those children. To access the money,  Hawai驶i must submit annual data reports and comply with federal laws requiring schools provide special education students with necessary services, from physical therapy to one-on-one aids. 

Teachers, families and educational specialists work together to determine the specific services students with disabilities should receive in schools. 

But Hawai驶i has fallen short of meeting federal benchmarks for the quality of special education services for the last decade, according to  from the U.S. DOE. 

Hawai驶i鈥檚 special education students rank among the lowest in the nation in reading and math proficiency and learn in traditional classroom settings at lower rates than their peers on the mainland. 

Researchers and families say  in general education classrooms provides them with important opportunities to interact with their peers and raise their academic achievement. 

Leah Yim said she鈥檚 lost count of the hundreds of meetings she鈥檚 attended over the years to advocate for her two children with special needs. 

Yim鈥檚 6-year-old daughter currently receives speech therapy for her autism spectrum disorder, while her 15-year-old son has a nurse and aid accompanying him in class. He also receives services like physical and occupational therapy as part of his treatment after having a stroke in utero. 

Yim said she hasn鈥檛 heard of any changes to her children鈥檚 services so far, but worries that federal funding cuts could reduce the number of educators and specialists in schools, which already face a shortage of special education teachers. 

鈥淢y worry would just be the amount of caseloads that they鈥檙e carrying, and then how that would affect their quality of services one-on-one with our child,鈥� said Yim, whose family also  against the state education department in 2023 accusing a teacher at Kaiser High School of sexually abusing their son. 

While the U.S. DOE plays a key role in protecting the rights of special education students, the agency has limited enforcement powers.

In the most extreme cases, the U.S. DOE can take away special education funding if states aren鈥檛 complying with federal law, said Nathan Stevenson, an associate professor at Kent State University. In most cases, he said, the federal government steps in with grants or training to support states in areas where they鈥檙e struggling. 

In Hawai驶i, the federal government has provided a variety of aid, such as training sessions teaching staff how to resolve disputes with parents over special education services and collaborations with national centers to expand access to preschool for students with disabilities, said department spokesperson Krislyn Yano. The department declined an interview for this story. 

The U.S. DOE also has a regulatory branch, the Office of Civil Rights, dedicated to processing complaints from students who file claims of discrimination based on gender, race, age or disability against their schools. As of January 2025, Hawai驶i had  in both public schools and universities, 17 of which had to do with students鈥� disabilities. 

JD Hsin, an assistant professor at the University of Alabama, said recent staffing cuts to OCR and the closure of seven regional offices will make it much harder for the remaining employees to handle families鈥� complaints and ensure states are providing special education students with the services they need. As of January 2025, OCR had over 12,000 pending cases that could take years to close and required in-depth investigations involving families, schools and federal attorneys.  

Now, with fewer staff on board, Hsin said, he鈥檚 worried that many cases will be left unresolved, leaving families with no answers about the support their children should receive in school. 

鈥淭hose are kids鈥� lives,鈥� Hsin said. 鈥淭hese are just kids who want an education.鈥� 

Reduced Oversight And Enforcement 

At the Hawai驶i Disability Rights Center, Executive Director Louis Erteschik said he鈥檚 most concerned about what accountability will remain if the U.S. DOE is dismantled and special education is moved to the Department of Health and Human Services. Already, he said, many students with disabilities aren鈥檛 receiving the education they deserve under law. 

In 2019, Erteschik  with the Office of Civil Rights arguing that students with disabilities weren鈥檛 receiving adequate services because they were suspended at three times the rate of the rest of their peers. 

While Trump has proposed shifting special education oversight from the U.S. DOE to the Department of Health and Human Services, the move would require an act of Congress, said Jennifer Coco, interim executive director at The Center for Learner Equity. But there are ongoing worries that the federal government could reduce funding for students with disabilities, she said, adding that the U.S. DOE is already underfunding special education in schools and has consistently fallen short of its promise of covering 40% of the costs of providing services. 

Currently, the funding Hawai驶i receives from the U.S. DOE makes up roughly 10% of what the state spends on special education. 

U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda said the state would have to fill in the funding gaps if the federal government reduces its support for special education. But, she said, the uncertainty around the future of federal funding makes it hard for state lawmakers to plan on how they鈥檒l meet special education students鈥� needs.  

鈥淚 have great fears that we will go backwards in terms of actually providing the appropriate and adequate education to our special needs students,鈥� Tokuda said.  

Federal funding for Hawai驶i schools should remain roughly the same from this year to next year,  Superintendent Keith Hayashi is slated to give to the Board of Education on Thursday.

Peck at the Advocacy Project said he鈥檚 most concerned that the federal government won鈥檛 enforce the mandates that have historically accompanied its special education funding to states. With the administration鈥檚 efforts to dismantle the U.S. DOE, the federal government will lack the staff and expertise needed to oversee states鈥� compliance with special education law, he said. 

Hawai驶i has a state equivalent of the federal special education law that also requires schools to meet the needs of students with disabilities, providing families with an extra layer of protection if the federal government stops enforcing its laws. But the state still needs an external source of enforcement to keep schools accountable, Peck said.    

It鈥檚 unlikely the Hawai驶i education department will take on the added responsibility of strengthening oversight over its schools, Erteschik said, adding that states don鈥檛 have the same familiarity with special education law and requirements compared to the federal level. 

鈥淭he state can鈥檛 oversee itself by definition,鈥� he said.

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