Jane Cutter is a co-author of the new book, Disability and Empire: Class, U.S. Imperialism and the Struggle for Disability Justice.
Update: On Feb. 21, Associated Press published Backlash leads Republican attorneys general to declare support for a landmark disability rights law. After disability rights advocates began raising the alarm about the lawsuit targeting Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, constituents began to put pressure on the Attorneys General bringing the suit. They have since backtracked under pressure and claim to support the law, while doubling down on their attack on transgender students in a blatant attempt to pit the interests of disabled against those of trans students. Advocates for students with disabilities should not let up their guard, as Trump’s billionaire agenda is to dismantle the Department of Education, the agency charged with enforcing civil rights laws in schools, including Sec. 504 and IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.) The non-profit for families of children who learn differently, Understood, is following this case closely.
Seventeen states have filed a suit against the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, challenging Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (1973). If the states prevail, students and workers with disabilities and health conditions would lose important accommodations that enable access. While this suit does not come directly from the Trump administration (it was filed in the fall of 2024), it is part and parcel of the billionaire agenda to wipe out the people’s victories of the 1960s and 70s. It’s also closely linked to the Project 2025 goal of dissolving the Dept. of Education.
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973: It takes a struggle
The Rehabilitation Act was an important step for disability rights that became law almost two decades before the Americans with Disabilities Act. Initially the act was vetoed twice by President Richard Nixon in 1971 and 1972, claiming it would be too expensive. Finally he signed the bill in 1973 after it was revised.
Section 504 “forbids discrimination by employers and lists crucial rights for disabled people, including access to all services and programs receiving federal funding.” (Disability and Empire: Class, U.S. Imperialism and the Struggle for Disability Justice)
But even after the bill became law, the federal government did not activate Section 504 and create regulations to enforce the provisions of the law. Four years later, the militant disability rights movement took action and won a historic victory, building important links of solidarity to other movements.
Disability justice groups demonstrated at federal buildings around the country. The movement occupied the one in San Francisco for 25 days, the longest-ever occupation of a federal building. The protesters inside were supported by labor, churches, even some elected officials. Key material support came from the Black Panther Party, which delivered hot meals to those inside and clearly saw the connection between fighting for disability justice and the fight for liberation for all working and oppressed people.
What is a 504 plan?
The Rehabilitation Act outlined for the first time the idea that people with disabilities have the right to accommodations, that is changes or adjustments to allow them access. Curb cuts, bus lifts, elevators, braille signage, are all “universal” accommodations that are implemented to increase access to people with mobility and vision limitations.
When it comes to students with disabilities that impact the ability to access schooling, individual 504 accommodation plans can be created. These are different from Individual Education Plans which flow from a different law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act which was passed in 1975. Some students may have a 504 plan but not an IEP. About 3% of students have a 504 plan while about 14% have an IEP. The plans often include things like allowing a student to have extra time while taking a test or preferential seating in the classroom to see or hear instruction better or to avoid distractions.
What’s the lawsuit about?
Ostensibly, the lawsuit is challenging the inclusion of gender dysphoria as a student health condition needing 504 accommodations. This is bad, completely bad enough for any progressive person to oppose this lawsuit. But the suit goes further and seeks to have Section 504 in its entirety ruled unconstitutional as “government overreach.” Papers are due for filing in the case by Feb. 25.
Basically, these states are saying that public schools should be allowed to discriminate against transgender kids and kids with disabilities by not providing accommodations that allow these students equitable access to schooling.
Similar to the scapegoating of immigrants and trans people, people with disabilities are also the targets of hate. Removing barriers to access, whether physical or those based in “traditional” ways of teaching and assessing progress, is deemed “too costly” or “too hard” to do. Underlying this argument is pure ableism — the idea that people with disabilities are inferior, not deserving of rights and protections and with nothing to contribute to society. This is a lie intended to divide our class. Becoming disabled is an oppressed status that anyone can end up joining, at some point in their life. Every community includes people with disabilities. Disability justice equals justice for all working people.
Section 504 is not perfect. The word “reasonable” is attached to “accommodations,” and it is bosses and school administrators who decide which accommodations are reasonable and which are not. If an accommodation is more expensive, it might be called “unreasonable.” In underfunded overcrowded schools, teachers may feel overwhelmed by implementing accommodation plans, but the solution is not to eliminate the plans, it’s to properly fund schools and reduce class sizes.
Communities, students, parents, educators all need to stand up to support hard-won legal protections for people with disabilities, while pushing back against ableist and transphobic narratives that underpin the billionaire’s agenda.
Featured image: 2019 rally in Boise, Idaho by disabled tenants of the Idanha building. Liberation photo.
