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Binghamton, NY – U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro (NY-19), founder of the successful ‘Think DIFFERENTLY’ initiative, today called on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a comprehensive study on how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted educational outcomes for students with disabilities. While there has been numerous studies on the significant learning setbacks experienced by school-aged children during the pandemic, little has been done to fully understand the challenges faced by students with disabilities.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, schools in Upstate New York and across the nation experienced prolonged closures, mask mandates, and various restrictions. Students with disabilities were particularly affected, with limited access to essential therapies, altered Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals, and extensive time away from the classroom.

In a letter to the GAO, Rep. Molinaro urged them to commission a study to fully explore how the pandemic impacted students with disabilities. The goal of the study is to understand the unique needs of these students so educators, parents, and lawmakers can develop informed solutions and never let this happen again.  

Rep. Molinaro said, “I’m the father of four children, one of whom is on the autism spectrum. During the pandemic, parents like myself saw learning loss in their children firsthand. While many academic studies have sought to understand the full scope of these educational setbacks, very little attention has been given to the educational needs of students with disabilities. I’m working to commission a federal study so we can find solutions to address the challenges facing these students and never let this happen again. Every child of every ability deserves to have an education that gives them the opportunity to succeed.”

The full text of the letter can be found here:

Dear Mr. Dodaro:

Students with disabilities face many unique challenges in achieving educational success. These challenges were only exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic through the closure of schools for many months and even years in some cases, the requiring of masks in schools, and more.

Certain decisions and restrictions led to significant time out of classroom, therapies limited, and IEP goals amended. We know regression has occurred but to what extend and at what cost to the individual student? For these reasons, I ask the GAO to conduct a study to determine the impact of COVID-19 and corresponding shutdowns on the average educational outcomes for students with disabilities. Subsequent lack of staff and new requirements on schools most certainly have led to impacts from before the COVID-19 pandemic, during, and then after. How those with disabilities have been impacted would shed an important light for educators, schools, students, parents, and lawmakers.