Introducing “Zero Reject: The Uncertain Future of Special Education”

Every year, millions of families fight to get their kids the special education services they’re legally owed. And right now, changes under the Trump administration are making that fight even harder. Find out what those changes mean on Zero Reject, a new investigative podcast from Understood.org, hosted by award-winning journalist Anya Kamenetz. 

Over six episodes, Anya follows real families navigating IEPs, evaluations, and federal complaints. She also traces the policies shaping who gets protected and who doesn’t. Meet a civil rights attorney caught in a wave of federal layoffs, a mom whose complaint disappeared into a 25,000-case backlog, and families finding creative ways to make the system work better despite it all. Zero Reject digs into what’s really happening in special education — and what’s at stake for the millions of kids who depend on it. New episodes drop weekly starting September 29. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

• Listen: What you need to know about federal funding for special education 

• Read: News to know 

• Watch: Trump administration splits special education oversight between HHS and DOJ 

Anya Kamenetz: There is a crisis in special education.

Parent: I mean, it was heartbreaking. He would say, "I'm stupid, I'm never going to be able to read."

Anya: Half of schools say they can't fill special ed positions. Students are denied services they need. Sometimes they're shut out of classrooms altogether. Parents are fighting for years and suing to get their kids even seen as worthy of an education.

And now the Trump administration is taking apart the Department of Education, threatening the fundamental civil rights of nearly nine million students with disabilities nationwide.

I'm Anya Kamenetz, and I'm the host of "Zero Reject: The Uncertain Future of Special Education," a new podcast from Understood.org about what it would take to meet the needs and the potential of every single kid in the country.

Parent: You had to fight for services, you had to fight for everything. You know, and the people that don't fight for everything, they don't get it.

Anya: "Zero Reject," available wherever you get your podcasts.