More students with disabilities are learning in general education classrooms, but progress remains uneven at a time when federal education oversight is being split across multiple agencies

By: Robyn Linscott, Director of Education and Family Policy, The Arc of the United States

A new GAO report shows that more students with disabilities are learning in general education classrooms than they were a decade ago. But it also shows how uneven that progress is, and why this is the wrong time to split education oversight across multiple agencies.

The number of students with disabilities who spent at least 40% of the school day in general education classrooms increased 25% between the 2012-13 and 2023-24 school years. At the same time, progress varied sharply by state and across disability categories. So while more students with disabilities are learning alongside their peers, access to inclusion still depends too much on where a student lives and which students are being counted in that progress.

That news comes as federal oversight of schools is being split across multiple agencies. In late 2025, the Department of Education began shifting parts of K-12 education work to the Department of Labor. Then in June 2026, it announced plans to move special education oversight to the Department of Health and Human Services and civil rights enforcement to the Department of Justice. That means general education, special education, and civil rights are being handled in different places. That separates students with disabilities from the broader education system, weakens the link between classroom instruction and disability rights, and risks a more fragmented approach to inclusion across the country.

Inclusion is growing, but where a student lives matters

The GAO findings are good news. More students with disabilities are spending a substantial part of the day in general education classrooms, and the biggest increase came among students who spent at least 80% of the day there. That means more students are getting access to general education standards, peers, and the day-to-day life of school.

But that progress still isn’t happening evenly. Inclusion increased in 42 states and the District of Columbia, but the state-by-state differences were stark. The District of Columbia saw the largest increase, while North Dakota saw a decrease.

Are all students with IDD seeing the same gains in inclusion?

The report shows overall progress, but that progress isn’t reaching every group in the same way.

For students with intellectual disability, the number spending at least 40% of the school day in general education rose from 180,492 in 2012-13 to 199,274 in 2023-24. But as a share of the overall student population, that figure actually fell from 3.9% to 3.5%. For students with multiple disabilities, the number also rose, from 36,384 to 42,136, while the share fell from 0.8% to 0.7%. By contrast, for students with autism, both the number and the share increased sharply, from 253,750 to 543,868 and from 5.5% to 9.5%. While schools have gotten better at supporting students with autism in the general education classroom, more work needs to be done to meaningfully include students with intellectual disability and multiple disabilities.

Inclusion is moving in the right direction nationally, but the picture is more uneven for students with IDD. Some students with IDD still aren’t seeing the same gains in access to general education classrooms.

What does inclusion look like beyond classroom placement?

One of the most useful parts of the GAO report is that it goes beyond placement numbers. School officials told GAO that placement decisions are shaped by resources, family involvement, and school environment. They also described the role that relationships, extracurriculars, and school culture play in helping students with disabilities feel part of the school community.

That reinforces what we already know: a student can be in a general education classroom and still not be meaningfully included. Real inclusion means being part of the class, part of the school, and part of the opportunities that make up school life.

Why is now the wrong time to weaken federal special education oversight?

Students with disabilities need one education system that can connect classroom learning, special education supports, and civil rights protections. When those responsibilities are spread across different agencies, it becomes harder to give schools clear guidance, harder to hold states accountable, and harder for families to get answers when something goes wrong. A child who’s denied services, pushed out of the classroom, or excluded from school life shouldn’t have to navigate a maze of agencies to get help.

It also pushes disability further away from education itself. The Arc has already warned that moving IDEA oversight into HHS risks treating disability more as a health or services issue than as part of a student’s experience in school. That’s the wrong approach. Students with disabilities are students first, and their rights belong in the education system.

The timing makes this even more concerning. The Department of Education’s latest IDEA determinations show that only 20 states met requirements for serving students with disabilities. When so many states are still falling short, the answer should be stronger oversight and clearer accountability, not moving special education farther away from the education system.

We can’t afford to backslide on this progress

Inclusion is increasing nationally, and that’s worth recognizing. But the gains are uneven, which is why strong federal oversight still matters. This is not the time to move special education farther away from the rest of education. It’s not the time to split classrooms, disability rights, and school accountability across different agencies. And it’s not the time to accept a system where inclusion still varies too widely by state and where some disability groups still are not seeing the same gains. We’ve made progress, and now we need to protect it.