Washington, D.C. — Representative Lucy McBath (GA-06), alongside Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), and Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA) sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting that the Trump-Vance Administration conduct a study to help improve post-secondary outcomes for American students with disabilities. The letter comes shortly after the Administration announced it will further dismantle the Department of Education by shifting the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a move that will make it more difficult for families to ensure that children with disabilities get the appropriate education they are entitled to under federal law.
“We write to ask that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) examine how states and local school districts are implementing post-secondary transition services for youth with disabilities served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Rehab Act) as amended by Title IV of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA),” wrote the Members. “Transition services are defined by law as a coordinated set of activities that support movement from school to post-school life, representing one of the most consequential supports for determining long-term outcomes of youth with disabilities.”
“While federal law has been amended over time to improve the quality of services provided in each state, data continues to show that these services are inconsistently administered and insufficiently studied, leaving millions of students unprepared for life after high school,” the Members continued.
“We deeply appreciate GAO’s previous work analyzing services that help students with disabilities transition from school to work and believe this inquiry would provide critical insight into how to raise expectations and improve post-school outcomes for students with disabilities nationwide.”
As a member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, Representative McBath has fought for every student with a disability’s right to a high-quality public education. In September 2025, Representative McBath introduced the Protecting Students with Disabilities Act with other Democratic Members of the Education and Workforce Committee to ensure that special education programs at the Department of Education continue without interruption. Last July, McBath introduced the Charting My Path to Future Success Act which would restore an abruptly canceled federal program that was helping students with disabilities graduate high school and succeed in adulthood in Paulding County and other high schools around the country. She is also the lead sponsor of legislation to ensure that every public school district can retain and recruit the paraprofessionals and other special education staff that families need.
McBath led her Democratic colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives in sending a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought strongly condemning and urging the Trump Administration to rescind their decision to lay off federal employees dedicated to the education and support of students with disabilities and their families.
McBath is also a cosponsor of the IDEA Full Funding Act, legislation that would ensure Congress fulfills its commitment to fully fund special education programs though IDEA. This work continues Congresswoman McBath’s years-long fight to ensure that every family, no matter where they live or how much money they make, has access to an education that will set them up for a successful future—regardless of their child’s disability.
Full text of the letter is available here.
