Please join Jayhawk Global and the School of Education and Human Sciences for a timely and in-depth webinar on May 13, 2026 at noon Central Time. "Is Special Education Innovation and Support DEAD? - The past, present and future role of disability-related grants," will examine the shifting landscape of IDEA discretionary grants under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. We will provide an overview of recent grant cancellations affecting IDEA Part D programs, including Community Parent Resource Centers, State Deafblind Projects, Personnel Development, State Personnel Development, and Interpreter Training Programs -impacting universities, state education agencies, and nonprofit organizations across the country. Drawing on publicly available data (e.g., reporting from Education Week), we'll review the scope of discontinued grants, funding amounts, and the practical consequences for families, educators, and students with disabilities.

The session will also explore the Administration's evolving federal grant making and oversight playbook, with a focus on the President's recent Executive Order on Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking, its emphasis on grants being required to be consistent with an undefined "national interest," restrictions on DEI-related initiatives, centralized political review, and changes to peer review authority and agency discretion.

Looking ahead, we will examine the implementation of proposals outlined in Project 2025, including restructuring or shuttering the U.S. Department of Education, converting IDEA funding into block grants, deregulating key provisions of IDEA such as significant disproportionality requirements, and shifting funding oversight to other Federal agencies.

Importantly, we will highlight key developments in the FY 2026 IDEA budget, which maintained level funding for core programs, rejected consolidation of Part D discretionary grants into formula grants, and generally maintained the 2026 budget at 2025 levels, in large part due to extensive advocacy efforts.

Finally, we will place these developments in historical context, tracing the federal investment in special education innovation from 1958 through the enactment of IDEA, and examining how grant planning, peer review, and internal oversight processes have evolved over time.

This webinar is designed for nonprofit leaders, university faculty, state agency personnel, school district leaders, policy analysts, and advocates seeking clarity on the future of IDEA discretionary funding and the broader policy direction shaping special education and early intervention nationwide.

After you register, you will receive two emails to the email account you used to register. One email is to confirm your registration and will come from jayhawkglobal@ku.edu. The second email will come from Zoom, from the Jayhawk Global Extended Learning Zoom account. The Webinar ID, the Passcode, and a link to the event will be in the second email.