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Senate Education

Wednesday, March 11, 2026·2h 17m·▶ Watch / Listen

Senate Education advanced two bills — one erecting state-level disability rights enforcement to backfill a gutted federal Office for Civil Rights, the other loosening licensure rules for experienced out-of-state teachers — both on unanimous votes after hours of wrenching parent testimony.

Key Actions

·Disability Rights Protections in Public SchoolsPassed

+ 1 more action

Notable Quotes

Considering the reality of our national climate and administration, there currently is no ocr. Currently no one updates our case. No one responds to my emails. No one answers FOIA requests. It is a complete ghost town for public education students with a 504.

Danny Lawrence (parent) · witnessEncapsulates the bill's central premise — that federal disability rights enforcement has effectively stopped, leaving families no recourse.

+ 5 more quotes

Votes

Referred to Committee on AppropriationsAction
Yes (7)Scott Bright, Lisa Frizell, Cathy Kipp, Janice Rich, Marc Snyder, Janice Marchman, Chris Kolker
Referred to Committee of the Whole and with a recommendation that it be placed on the consent calendarAction
Yes (7)Scott Bright, Lisa Frizell, Cathy Kipp, Janice Rich, Marc Snyder, Janice Marchman, Chris Kolker
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TranscriptPreview
Senate Education Committee will come to order. Ms. Chris Phelan, please call the roll. Senator Sprite. Here. Frizzell. Excused. Kip. Here. Rich. Here. Snyder. Here. Marchman. Here. Mr. Chair. Here. And we have a quorum, and we'll begin our business. I'll be handing over the gavel to Senator Snider as my vice chair. And I are going to be presenting Senate Bill 125. So we'll just get set up and begin as soon as we get settled. Okay. You got him. Okay. The Education Committee is coming back to order. First, I'd like to welcome Senator Snyder to the committee. Oh, that's me. Okay. Okay. On that note of levity, let's go ahead and call up Senate Bill125. We have our bill sponsors ready to go. Who'd like to kick us off? Senator kolker. Thank you, Mr. Education Chair. I don't know if you've ever done education before, so as a chair. So thank you for your service and for taking on this responsibility. Senate Bill125 is a bill that really. The impetus began in April of 2025 when we held an education hearing to bring forward changes to the U.S. department of Education. We had a joint hearing scheduled,
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