Nicole Fuller
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nicoleafuller.bsky.social
Nicole Fuller
@nicoleafuller.bsky.social
Senior Policy Manager at National Center for Learning Disabilities (she/her)

Math teacher/nerd turned policy nerd. Views my own.
ITEP predicts the federal private school voucher program in OBBB could cost the fed govt $51 billion annually! That amount would get us somewhere between 30-35% of full funding for IDEA (in other words SO much closer to the full funding pledge of 40%).

itep.org/trump-megabi...
Senate Megabill Takes Cap Off Unprecedented Private School Voucher Tax Credit, Potentially Raising Cost by Tens of Billions Relative to House Version
The tax and spending legislation approved by the U.S. Senate would create an unprecedented, dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit designed to support private school vouchers. This tax credit has the po...
itep.org
July 2, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Reposted by Nicole Fuller
The Senate just passed the worst Medicaid cuts in history — but we can stop them in the House! We make it easy to take action with scripts and tips. autisticadvocacy.org/2025/07/act-...
Act NOW to stop the worst Medicaid cuts in history - Autistic Self Advocacy Network
The Senate just voted in favor of the worst Medicaid cuts ever.  If this bill becomes law, at least 17 million people will have their health care taken away. This is deeply disappointing, but it is…
autisticadvocacy.org
July 1, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Reposted by Nicole Fuller
Check out this FANTASTIC paper led by @lindseykaler.bsky.social for her (2024 TED dissertation award winning!) dissertation. Lindsey tackles a long-standing Q:

What is the effect of teacher attrition on students w/disabilities?
Working paper: tinyurl.com/j3rykkp9
& One-pager: tinyurl.com/bddtzxtp
May 20, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Reposted by Nicole Fuller
In Trump's first White House, Betsy DeVos launched an initiative to prevent inappropriate use of restraint and seclusion on #ActuallyAutistic students. Now, Trump's top special education official ran charter schools that restrained 41 percent of students.
www.the74million.org/article/trum...
Trump Official’s Autism Schools Secluded and Restrained Students at High Rates
Diana Diaz-Harrison's Arizona Autism Charter Schools restrained 41% of kids and put 20% in seclusion in 2020-21, 50% higher than the national average.
www.the74million.org
May 14, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Reposted by Nicole Fuller
We won!! A nationwide preliminary injunction against McMahon's February Dear Colleague letter which tried to stop public schools & higher Ed from teaching honest history or enforcing student civil rights. It’s a win for students, families & educators. democracyforward.org/updates/harm...
Harmful Attacks on Educational Programs Paused by Court in Case Brought By Educators - Democracy Forward
democracyforward.org
April 24, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Reposted by Nicole Fuller
The U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights investigates discrimination in schools. It recently lost more than 40% of its staff.
Families say school civil rights investigations have stalled after federal cuts
The U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights investigates discrimination in schools. It recently lost more than 40% of its staff.
www.npr.org
April 16, 2025 at 10:16 AM
Reposted by Nicole Fuller
Are you looking for resources on literacy legislation, including dyslexia and science of reading laws? I made my resource list an open access document for all. Please feel free to share!
(PDF) Resources on Literacy Legislation
PDF | Current resources for learning about state dyslexia and reading laws | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate
www.researchgate.net
March 18, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Reposted by Nicole Fuller
BREAKING: A federal lawsuit filed overnight says the Trump administration is sabotaging civil rights enforcement at the U.S. Department of Education.

Brought by parents & advocates, the lawsuit says actions and mass firings at OCR violate the Constitution.
w/ @jodiscohen.bsky.social
Parents Sue Trump Administration for Allegedly Sabotaging Education Department’s Civil Rights Division
The class-action lawsuit claims that decimating the agency’s Office for Civil Rights will leave it unable to address issues of discrimination at school — violating the equal protection clause of the F...
www.propublica.org
March 14, 2025 at 1:46 PM
The lack of understanding of IDEA is devastating
March 12, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Reposted by Nicole Fuller
Anyone who is using IES-facilitated data to criticize the Education Department today really needs to acknowledge that the entire research arm that has helped form the basis of their opinions about the federal role in schools has just been decimated, raising serious questions about progress tracking.
March 12, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Reposted by Nicole Fuller
Hearing that nearly all the employees in the statistics agency inside the Education Department -- NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) -- have lost their jobs. Rumors that the NAEP test -- the nation's report card -- will no longer be run by NCES. This info is not confirmed.
March 12, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Reposted by Nicole Fuller
"A former Education Department staffer ... said the entire Office for Civil Rights team based in Philadelphia that employed 30 staffers was let go." www.chalkbeat.org/2025/03/11/e...
Linda McMahon didn’t need a Trump executive order to make big Education Department layoffs
The layoffs, combined with recent staff buyouts, mean that the number of Education Department staff has dropped by nearly 50% in the last two weeks. President Donald Trump has expressed a desire to cl...
www.chalkbeat.org
March 11, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Reposted by Nicole Fuller
On Fox to discuss massive layoffs, McMahon says IDEA money flows through Title I (a different program) then says she doesn’t know what IDEA stands for.
March 11, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Reposted by Nicole Fuller
ICYMI: One of the grants halted by the Trump administration's war on DEI? A $3 million grant through the National Science foundation to help neurodivergent middle school and high school students get ready to enter STEM majors.
March 4, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Reposted by Nicole Fuller
+1 for this and it is particularly important for parents of special education students to effectively advocate for changes to an IEP. www.the74million.org/article/what...
Whatever Changes the Feds Make, They Must Keep Requiring Annual State Exams
Berkley: Yearly exams are essential for helping students catch up and learn what they need to know to succeed in life
www.the74million.org
March 5, 2025 at 11:45 AM
The IDEA Full Funding coalition had a webinar this week for #IDEA50 #IDEAFullFunding www.edweek.org/teaching-lea...
How Schools Make Up for the Feds' Unfulfilled Special Ed. Funding Commitment
Congress has never met a 50-year-old funding commitment it made for special education services.
www.edweek.org
February 28, 2025 at 2:55 PM
State tests (and a fed requirement for doing so) are so important for families of kids with disabilities.
February 27, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Reposted by Nicole Fuller
Pretty funny watching GOP testimony leaning on old Rick Hanushek school spending claims without also noting that even Rick has walked that back.

Glad @edlawcenter.bsky.social ‘s Bob Kim is there to immediately correct the record.
www.chalkbeat.org/2023/5/16/23...

www.youtube.com/live/g9jC5ZA...
Hearing – Federal Investments in Elementary Education
YouTube video by House Appropriations Committee
www.youtube.com
February 26, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Reposted by Nicole Fuller
McMahon goes on record saying private schools funded by taxpayer vouchers—including a federal voucher scheme—do and should have the right to turn children away if those children don’t fit those private schools’ needs.

It’s not parent choice. It’s the school’s choice.
February 13, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Reposted by Nicole Fuller
New from me: In 1970, only 1 in 5 students with disabilities went to public school. Now, about 15% of students in public schools receive special education services. Eliminating the Department of educatio would have disastrous consequences.
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
Opinion | Linda McMahon and RFK Jr. could be a one-two punch for disabled students
The Education Department is an irreplaceable lifeline for students with disabilities.
www.msnbc.com
February 13, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Reposted by Nicole Fuller
They're dismantling the Institute for Education Sciences to create the illusion of meritocracy. Because no data means no evidence of systemic inequities.
February 11, 2025 at 2:50 AM
Reposted by Nicole Fuller
IDEA turns 50 in 2025! It's a milestone worth celebrating and an important law worth supporting. 1/
February 11, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Reposted by Nicole Fuller
Updated report on what private school vouchers and ESAs mean for students with disabilities - helpful and timely information from the National Center for Learning Disabilities @nicoleafuller.bsky.social
Private School Vouchers, ESAs, and Tax Incentives – National Center for Learning Disabilities
Private school voucher programs, including education savings accounts (ESAs) and tax incentive programs, often lack critical civil rights protections for students with disabilities. In some cases, fam...
ncld.org
January 11, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Reposted by Nicole Fuller
New pub today, focused on the ethnoracial diversity of the special ed teacher (SET) workforce.

We found that -- at current rate of change -- the SET workforce will NEVER be ethnoracially representative of the population of students w/disabilities.

journals.sagepub.com/eprint/VPMXC...
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
December 17, 2024 at 9:41 PM
The examples of disability discrimination in this were so helpful
Yesterday, the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights released a new resource to assist communities in understanding the civil rights implications of #AI use in schools. CDT applauds this guidance.
www.ed.gov/about/new...
November 20, 2024 at 7:50 PM