Honoring Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month by Advocating for Special Education

The RAC is proud to bring thousands of teens to Washington D.C. for our annual L'Taken Social Justice Seminars. After three days of intensive programming and learning about just a few of the many issues prevalent in our country today, all participants travel to Capitol Hill to meet with their members of Congress and advocate on issues they care about.

As we celebrate Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month (JDAIM), we are honored to share a moving and powerful speech from Daisy B. about the importance of funding special education services. Daisy is a member of Temple Beth El in Augusta, Maine and delivered this speech at a L'Taken seminar in January 2026.

Hello, my name is Daisy B. (she/her), and I am from Temple Beth El in Augusta, ME. Thank you so much for taking the time to meet with us. Today, I will be talking to you about the IDEA Full Funding Act (H.R. 2598/S.1277). This act would require regular, mandatory increases in IDEA spending to finally meet our obligation to America's children and schools.

This topic connects to my life in a very personal way. In 2012, when I was 2 years old, my brother Ezra was born. When he was 4 months old, Ezra was diagnosed with a condition called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (or SMA). SMA is a disorder that causes your muscles to deteriorate, impacting the muscles used for walking, eating, breathing, and more. When you have SMA, you are born without an important gene called the Survival Motor Neuron. This gene transmits messages from your nerves to your muscles and when you are missing it, your muscles start to break down. SMA affects approximately one in 15,000 births in the U.S., and about one in every 50 Americans is a genetic carrier. When Ezra was born, there was no cure, and even treatments that are available today had not yet been developed and he died when he was 8 months and 6 days old. My brother left the world as he came into it: peaceful and surrounded by people who loved him. When he was born, I went to bed as an only child and woke up with a baby brother. When he died, I went to bed with a baby brother and woke up as an only child.

Ezra changed and shaped my life in so many ways, and I would not be the person I am today without his presence in my life. On one hand, he is who first made me a big sister, but on the other, he is what turned my life upside down. Ezra played an important role in my discovery of the importance of family. His loss brought my family together and created a bond that is unbreakable. If he was alive today, many of the aspects of the IDEA would apply to him, helping him get a full education with all of the resources and accommodations that he would need.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) ensures that students with disabilities receive free, appropriate, public education that meets their needs. Prior to IDEA, millions of children with disabilities were denied entry into public schools or were not provided with support to meet their needs. Despite undergoing these numerous revisions, part B of the IDEA, which covers assistance for education of children with disabilities between the ages of 3-21, has been historically underfunded.

Though Congress committed to funding up to 40 percent of the cost of special education, the federal government currently only pays about 16 percent of the expense. This is especially alarming given that the number of students with disabilities under IDEA has increased by over 25 percent in the past two decades, with over 7.5 million students (15 percent of all public school students) currently receiving special education services designed to meet their individual needs. Without this funding, many accommodations would not be available to kids with disabilities in schools, limiting their learning opportunities, and it would put them at even more of a disadvantage.

Jewish tradition teaches us of our obligation to ensure equal access for all people and to help facilitate the full participation of individuals with disabilities in religious and public life. We are commanded, “You shall not insult the deaf, or place a stumbling block before the blind” (Leviticus 19:14). Stumbling blocks come in many forms: unequal access or unfair educational and employment opportunities, lack of accessible housing and transportation, and discrimination and exclusion in both Jewish and secular spaces. Even over 2,000 years ago, when there was slavery and unfair treatment of women, they still realized that having a disability puts people at a disadvantage and we have an obligation to help people overcome those challenges.

I want to thank you, Senator Collins, for giving us a flag that flew over the Capitol in memory of my brother, Ezra. Your support means a great deal to my family. I am asking you to cosponsor the IDEA Full Funding Act (S.1277 in the 119th Congress). The IDEA Full Funding Act would ensure that the federal government provides our public schools with the funding initially promised when the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was first passed. This funding is critical to ensure students with disabilities receive the quality education they deserve. (Note: Daisy also asked her Representative to cosponsor the bill in the House of Representatives.)

Join Daisy in urging Congress to pass the IDEA Full Funding Act (S. 1277/H.R. 2598). Click here to learn more about our work on disability rights.