Key Points: 

• Cuts to federal civil rights office limits oversight on disability discrimination

• State complaint system left to pick up slack, advocates move for stronger system

• Bill aims to increase transparency, bolster parent assistance and expand scope

As the federal office investigating and resolving discrimination cases involving students with disabilities dissolves, advocates are turning to the Legislature to bolster and peer deeper into the state complaint system. 

The Office of Civil Rights, housed in the U.S. Department of Education, previously stood as advocates’ first recommended stop for students with disabilities denied a free appropriate public education. 

But in the past year, the Trump administration halved the office’s staff and closed more than half of its regional offices, leaving the vast majority of complaints either dismissed or unresolved. 

Arizona is required by federal law to offer a state-level complaint system, too.

But advocates say the mechanism in place now falls short, leading to a push to require the Arizona Department of Education to offer greater assistance to parents navigating the process and to publicly report the outcomes of prior and ongoing investigations. 

“How well is this system working in Arizona?” Karla Philip-Krivickas, chief policy and strategy officer for Champions for Kids, said. “Well, we don’t know.” 

Under the current system, a parent can file a grievance alleging a violation of the right to special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) within a year of the alleged violation. 

The online form asks for the student’s name, the complainant’s name, the district, the facts, the dates and any supporting documents. It then goes to the Dispute Resolution staff for review, who decide whether the complaint rises to the level of a violation and requires further investigation. 

If an investigation reveals a violation of IDEA, the department can then order the school district or charter to take corrective action. 

In 2025, 152 people filed complaints, and 45 failed to meet the criteria. Of the 107 investigated, 40 led to some solution. 

According to Doug Nick, a spokesperson for the Department of Education, the office currently has 19 open disability complaints. 

Amanda Glass, an attorney for Disability Rights Arizona, previously directed families through the federal Office of Civil Rights. 

But amid massive reductions in staff, she said the force of the complaint process has shifted drastically, leading her to look for alternatives. 

A recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that the Department of Education placed 299 of the 575 employees of OCR on administrative leave and closed seven of its 12 regional offices. 

And from March 11, 2025, to September 23, 2025,, the office received more than 9,000 complaints of alleged discrimination and resolved about 90% through dismissal. 

“Uncertainty and change has really limited the number of options for families of students with disabilities when it comes to being able to file complaints or expect oversight or enforcement of their children’s rights in public schools,” Glass said.

Though Glass said the state complaint process was more accessible than pursuing a discrimination case before an administrative law judge or filing a lawsuit, there have always been questions and concerns from families about navigating the process and the effectiveness of the resulting enforcement and oversight. 

“Although this is the most parent-friendly of the options, it’s still a lot to understand and to navigate,” Glass said. 

Phillips-Krivickas started looking into legislation to improve the state complaint system last year, which led to Senate Bill 1754, sponsored by Sen. Mark Finchem, R-Prescott.

For one, the bill designates a staff member in the Division of Special Education to file a complaint and requires a request for additional information and follow-up on complaints found not to qualify. 

It also extends the complaint process’s scope to include a state law that details circumstances under which it is appropriate to restrain or seclude a student and how to report such incidents. 

And, on the transparency issue, the bill would require a repository of redacted reports and require a rundown on the number of complaints disaggregated by type of complaint and end resolution, as well as the basis for dismissing complaints found not to qualify. 

“We’ve got to get our arms on this,” Phillips-Krivickas said. “Especially when nobody’s answering the phone in DC anymore.”

The department did not weigh in on the bill in committee on Feb. 18, and has yet to take a formal stance. But Nick said they were “involved in dialogs on the substance of the bill.” 

Glass noted though amendments may come down the line, starting the process of strengthening the complaint process and making it more accessible is a strong first step. 

Looking ahead and weighing the downward trajectory of the Office of Civil Rights, Glass noted the future need for the state to pick up the slack on alleged violations of federal laws not currently covered by the state process, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. 

“Because of all of the changes happening at the federal level, families are losing some of the tools in their tool belt for ensuring enforcement of their children’s rights,” Glass said. “Having a more robust state level system is vital to ensure that our Arizona students with disabilities continue to have access to a free and appropriate public education, free from discrimination.”

And beyond students with disabilities, she noted the new gaps in complaints for gender discrimination under Title IX, civil rights and race-based discrimination under Title VI. 

“There really isn’t a way for families to navigate that short of filing a lawsuit,” Glass said. “That’s something else our state needs to be looking at is filling this void left by the Federal Department of Education by creating parent friendly state level enforcement options that just don’t really exist right now.”

Senate Bill 1754 passed through the Senate Education Committee unanimously on Feb. 18.