GEOFF BENNETT: As the Trump administration continues to downsize and dismantle many government agencies, the Department of Education could be next on the chopping block.

At stake are resources and support for more than seven million students with disabilities who depend on the agency to ensure access to a free public education.

And that's at a time when they're already struggling to receive quality schooling because of a shortage of special education teachers.

Judy Woodruff reports as part of our series Disability Reframed.

SPENCER NICHOLS, Student: My little goats.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Fourteen-year-old Spencer Nichols loves taking care of his farm animals at home in Macon, Georgia.

It's a break after a long school day, where he has little autonomy.

Spencer has Down syndrome.

Almost the entire day, he's in a small classroom with other students with disabilities.

SPENCER NICHOLS: It's kind of rough there for me.

But maybe I learn some days, and my mom helps me a lot.

JUDY WOODRUFF: His mother, Pam Nichols, says he's denied the same chance to succeed as his non-disabled peers.

She says he can't pick his own elective classes and isn't progressing like he should.

PAM NICHOLS, Mother of Spencer Nichols: There's six students and they're all taught at the same level.

I have to challenge the school to go to the library and use the data from the testing to say Spencer can read at a third- or fourth-grade level.

These are appropriate books.

It stalls his development and it doesn't make him necessarily ready for society.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Pam says Spencer should be in more general education classes, but his middle school lacks the resources and staff to support students with disabilities.

PAM NICHOLS: Unfortunately, his one class is science that he is allowed to be in the gen ed classroom.

They had a science test.

I messaged the teacher and I said, what am I supposed to be focused on for Spencer?

And she said, we will have Spencer color during the science test.

I said, well, you don't understand.

I want him to learn this.

JUDY WOODRUFF: In 1975, President Gerald Ford signed a landmark federal law that gave students with disabilities the right to a free public education in the least restrictive environment.

When Congress passed the law, it said the federal government would cover 40 percent of the average per-student cost.

But, 50 years later, federal funding sit's at just about 10 percent.

So, the majority of the money comes from state and local sources, which has stretched thin public schools required by law to provide this education.

DAVID BATEMAN, American Institutes for Research: They aren't able to actually fund appropriate one-on-one services for these kids, some kids who absolutely need this in order to make progress in the curriculum.

JUDY WOODRUFF: David Bateman is a special education researcher at the American Institutes for Research.

He says more federal funding is important, but so is how school leadership thinks about students with disabilities.

DAVID BATEMAN: The attitude and tenor that a building level administrator sets for their building flows through everything.

If everyone treats it as, these kids are part of our class, they're going to be part of what's going on, it's just an accepted thing, that sets a tone.

JUDY WOODRUFF: About 20 miles south of Atlanta in Jonesboro, Georgia, 17-year-old Todd Estes says he's been in schools where he doesn't feel valued.

Todd has ADHD and a learning disability which affects how he comprehends new concepts.

How do you think about your learning?

What do you think your learning style is?

TODD ESTES, Student: I just learn slower.

I just need to learn it like three or four times before I get it.

JUDY WOODRUFF: His mother, Priscilla Estes, says some of his general education teachers weren't well-trained to approach Todd's learning differences.

PRISCILLA ESTES, Mother of Todd Estes: They called me because Todd was underneath the table in class crying and would not come out from under the table.

I knew that adults would say things to them, instead of encouraging them, discourage them, label them.

It hinders the learning going forward because, if you hear that you are a bad student or you cannot learn, which my kids we're actually told... JUDY WOODRUFF: By teachers?

PRISCILLA ESTES: By teachers.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So, in sixth grade, Priscilla enrolled Todd in private school, where he gets some accommodations, like longer test times and delayed deadlines.

But many private schools aren't required to give special education and aren't typically monitored by the U.S. Department of Education for compliance.

PRISCILLA ESTES: I could not see Todd going to the next public school in the sixth grade dealing with a larger amount of students in the school.

And when you deal with a larger amount of school students, then you have to also deal with teachers who are more stressed.

JUDY WOODRUFF: She says, at least now, Todd has smaller class sizes and more one-on-one instruction, something he lacked because of the shortage of qualified special ed teachers.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: I would like it to be closed immediately.

Look, the Department of Education is a big con job.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Its why, David Bateman says, President Trump's reported plans for the U.S. Department of Education could further overwhelm public schools that need more support.

DAVID BATEMAN: They would then probably have to provide much, much larger class sizes, cut away some of the extracurricular activities, cut away some of the other things.

Things that we think about as part of the education, they would have to cut.

JUDY WOODRUFF: He says it could also end a critical oversight mechanism that ensures states use federal funds correctly.

DAVID BATEMAN: The federal government from the U.S. Department of Education flows money to the states, who then flows the money to the local school district, and in exchange for that local school district receiving this money, they have to provide justification to the state that they're doing what they're supposed to be doing.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And it could affect resources and training for special education teachers.

Last year, about 70 percent of public schools reported special education teacher vacancies.

About half of those teachers leave the profession within the first five years of teaching.

CRISCILLA GREEN, Special Education Teacher: They're just like any other student.

They just require a little bit more attention.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Criscilla Green is in her fourth year teaching students with disabilities in a classroom with other non-disabled students.

She modifies their lessons and sometimes teaches small groups.

She says it's her mother, a special education teacher for 20 years, who inspires her.

CRISCILLA GREEN: Seeing a student who struggled and then to see them win, to see them have a breakthrough, for me, it's so rewarding.

It's the best job I have ever had.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Her career, though, comes with its challenges.

She often has to take her work home, which takes time away from her family.

How many hours do you work at home a week?

CRISCILLA GREEN: If I had to count, I would say at least seven to 10 hours a week.

When I first started education, my caseload was about six to seven students.

Now we're up to 12,.

And when you have a bigger caseload, that's more data, more meetings, more one-on-one support.

JUDY WOODRUFF: She says paying bonuses to typically underpaid special ed teachers might bring more people to the field, but support from school leadership is what keeps them there.

CRISCILLA GREEN: For those challenges to be addressed, more time, allowing us more time to focus on our kids.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, she says, so would giving teachers feedback with how to address behavioral concerns.

CRISCILLA GREEN: We're dealing with a lot of children who are struggling to self-regulate, going back to COVID and being in the house for a year and not really learning those problem-solving skills.

And some of the behaviors are just a reaction because they can't grasp the material.

So, when you put all of that together in a classroom, it's difficult.

WOMAN: To help our students with their learning and behavior.

JUDY WOODRUFF: A Georgia Department of Education program aims to fill the gap by training early career special education teachers to maximize learning time.

GRACIE KITRELL, Special Education Teacher: Great job, guys.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Twenty-four-year-old Gracie Kitrell is in the program.

It includes a mixed reality lab, where teachers can practice speaking to online student avatars and hear feedback from their peers.

GRACIE KITRELL: It also just allows us to make mistakes in a low-pressure environment, where, if you don't really know what to say or you say the wrong thing, no harm, no foul in that situation where you're really just practicing being a teacher.

What's this sound?

Oi.

JUDY WOODRUFF: She says that training helps in her real classroom.

But as the demand for special education teachers rises, many schools are struggling to keep up.

It's why Pam Nichols in Macon says more resources, not less, should be dedicated to students with disabilities.

She says President Trump's proposal to cut the Department of Education makes them even more vulnerable.

PAM NICHOLS: It's scary.

For me, in Macon, the public school system is the only option for Spencer.

we've learned from the days when children like Spencer were institutionalized and they didn't learn to read, through early intervention services, they now are reading.

They are doing math.

These can be very meaningful contributors to society.

We just need to give them a little bit of extra and it will go a long, long way.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And Spencer has ambitions of his own, owning a home and one day working in the restaurant industry.

Pam says she will keep fighting for him to get the quality education that will get him there.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Judy Woodruff in Macon, Georgia.