The department said the new interagency agreements are with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice. HHS will work with the Education Department on special education and rehabilitative services. DOJ will work with it on civil-rights enforcement, student privacy protection, and training and advisory services.
Secretary Linda McMahon framed the move as a way to reduce federal bureaucracy while strengthening oversight where the administration believes it is essential. The department said the four new agreements follow 10 agency partnerships signed over the past year, placing this announcement inside a broader effort to alter federal education administration.
Table: Education Department interagency agreements and oversight questions
| Partnership | Partner agency | Program area | What the department says changes | Oversight question |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Special education and rehabilitative services | HHS | IDEA, Rehabilitation Act and related disability programmes | HHS will support grant administration, monitoring, data and compliance work under ED and OSERS direction | Whether administrative support improves service delivery without diluting specialised disability oversight |
| Civil-rights enforcement | DOJ | ED Office for Civil Rights complaint and enforcement work | ED and DOJ will coordinate evaluation, investigation and complaint resolution; ED says OCR complaints remain available | Whether coordination increases enforcement capacity or blurs accountability for families |
| Student privacy protection | DOJ | Student privacy rights and parent access to records | DOJ will review complaints, conduct investigations and recommend resolutions; ED says it keeps final authority | Whether complaint handling becomes clearer for schools and parents |
| Training and advisory services | DOJ | Desegregation-related technical assistance | DOJ will support training and advisory services for eligible public education entities | Whether civil-rights expertise improves assistance without turning grant support into enforcement signalling |
Source: U.S. Department of Education press release and partnership fact sheets, 2026.
The disability agreement is the largest operational shift. The HHS fact sheet says the partnership covers components of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, parts of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Randolph-Sheppard Vending Facility Program, the Vocational Rehabilitation Disability Innovation Fund, the Special Olympics Sport and Empowerment Act, the Education of the Deaf Act, the Helen Keller National Center, the American Printing House for the Blind and Gallaudet University.
The Education Department's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, or OSERS, is still described as the lead office. The fact sheet says fiscal 2026 grant awards and supplemental awards will be made through ED's G5 system, while later awards will move to HHS's GrantSolutions and Payment Management System. It also says ED-OSERS will preserve its independent statutory functions and continue oversight of the programmes.
That language matters because IDEA is not a customer-service programme. It is the federal legal framework for special education rights, services and procedural protections. Families use it to secure evaluations, services and due-process rights. An administrative handoff that leaves those rights formally untouched can still change how quickly states, districts and parents get answers.