Federal lawsuit by Florida, 16 other states raises fears about student disability protections

ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida is one of 17 states suing the federal government over changes to disability law made by the Biden administration, and parents and advocates fear the legal battle could have “catastrophic” results for some students with disabilities.

At issue is Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which protects people with disabilities from discrimination.

More than 1.6 million students in the United States — including those with ADHD, autism, dyslexia and chronic health conditions like asthma — have so-called 504 plans that allow them to receive accommodations in class. Thousands of Florida students, including about 12,400 in Orange County Public Schools, have such plans.

The lawsuit asks a federal judge in Texas to rule Section 504 unconstitutional because of an update made by President Joe Biden’s administration that added protections for those with gender dysphoria, when a person’s gender identity differs from their sex.

But some disability advocates fear that if the 17 states prevail, the impact will be felt by all students who rely on 504 plans to get accommodations, such as more time to complete tests, because of the 52-year-old law.

Texas’ attorney general Ken Paxton argued that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not have the right to classify gender dysphoria as a disability nor to rewrite the statute. He and the other attorneys general argue the change will impact who is eligible for a variety of services and cost states additional money.

The lawsuit comes as Republican-run states and the new Trump administration seek to limit accommodations and services for transgender people. All 17 states, among them Texas, Georgia, Indiana and South Carolina, voted for President Donald Trump on election night.

The lawsuit has caused alarm nationwide among disability rights advocates. Five national groups on Friday urged anyone concerned about attacks on Section 504 — which they fear also could impact disability rights in healthcare practices and workplaces — to contact their state’s attorney general and ask them to drop the case.

In a Facebook post Friday, the National Down Syndrome Congress said it was actively working with legal experts and coordinating with other disability organizations amid the “threat” to disability rights.

Jennifer Knopf is the president and founder of the Winter Park-based Reed Foundation, which helps train teachers how to help students with dyslexia, a learning disorder that affects one’s ability to read. Knopf has a child in public school who has dyslexia and uses a 504 plan.

The plans provide needed help and the federal law gives some leverage to make sure schools provide it, she said. The lawsuit could upend that, she said.

“It’s catastrophic for these kids, because it’s the only teeth to trying to make sure that we’re doing the right thing by all kids,” she said. “It’s all we got.”

Without accommodations, children with disabilities can struggle academically and emotionally, she added.

“When you spend your school day not getting the support that you need, it’s so much bigger than not being able to read, write, spell or do math,” she said. “It destroys their self-esteem and creates serious mental health issues.”

Florida’s Department of Education did not respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit and how it might impact Florida students.

In the lawsuit, filed in September, the states asked a court to “declare Section 504…unconstitutional.”

But in a brief filed Wednesday, they said that was not their intent. Instead, they argued that Section 504 as updated by the Biden administration violates Congress’ spending authority, and they want a ruling based on those arguments.

Claudia Center, the legal director of the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, said that brief was “very conservative” and “very anti-civil rights” and did not mean the states had abandoned their 504-is-unconstitional argument, despite the legal posturing made in the document.

Her organization and four others warned the states’ new brief “does not change anything about the case,” in a joint statement issued Friday.

“This legalese means that they are saying that Section 504 should only protect people against discrimination in the handful of programs funded under the Rehabilitation Act, like vocational rehabilitation services, and not the many other areas where Section 504 has always been applied, like health care, education, and housing,” the statement read.

But Center believes Section 504 will ultimately be upheld in court. Declaring the civil rights of disabled students unconstitutional would be a “radical” decision by the court.

“Section 504 has been part of our society for decades. Children and adults have relied on this set of rules for generations,” Center said. “We’re not going back.”

An Orange County parent who asked not to be identified to protect her teenager’s privacy, said her ninth grader has several disabilities and receives accommodations under a 504 plan, including additional time on tests and specifically-designed assignments to reduce visual clutter.

Those accommodations help “even the playing field,” allowing her daughter to take advanced classes and keep up with her peers. The parent is worried about the lawsuit.

“She wants to have access to honors and be in classes where there’s discussion that she finds intellectually stimulating and not in a watered-down curriculum,” the parent said. “She’s doing amazing right now, but a piece of that is her 504, so that she can keep up.”

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