Federal Policy

News, analysis, and opinion about federal education laws, regulations, and proposals—and their impact
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Federal Trump Admin. Warns Schools: End Race-Based Programs or Risk Losing Funds
A sweeping new letter from the Education Department says schools and universities should stop using race as a factor in programming.
Brooke Schultz, February 18, 2025
6 min read
A shouting protester is removed from the hearing room as Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Education, testifies during her Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing, at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, on Feb. 13, 2025. A shouting protester is removed from the hearing room as Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Education, testifies during her Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing, at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, February 13, 2025. (Graeme Sloan for Education Week)
A shouting protester is removed from the hearing room as Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Education, testifies during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 13, 2025.
Graeme Sloan for Education Week
Federal Trump’s 4th Week: Musk’s Team Pushes Ed. Dept. Cuts as McMahon Faces Senators
Linda McMahon appeared before U.S. senators, answering for an already turbulent time at the Education Department before she's taken charge.
Brooke Schultz, February 14, 2025
6 min read
Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Education, testifies during her Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing, at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, on Feb. 13, 2025.
Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Education, testifies during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 13, 2025.
Graeme Sloan for Education Week
Federal Linda McMahon Backs Trump’s Push to Dismantle Ed. Dept.: 'It's Not Working'
McMahon faced lawmakers' questions amid changes to the Education Department that are already underway.
Brooke Schultz, February 13, 2025
5 min read
The exterior of the Department of Education Building in Washington, DC on Thursday, December 14, 2017.
The exterior of the Department of Education Building in Washington, DC on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. President Donald Trump is reportedly weighing an executive order that would lay the groundwork to eliminate the department.
Swikar Patel/Education Week
Federal Trump's 3rd Week: Restrictions on Trans Athletes and Moves to Gut the Ed. Dept.
In his third week, the president continued his foray into education, gearing up to shrink the U.S. Department of Education.
Brooke Schultz, February 7, 2025
7 min read
President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order barring transgender female athletes from competing in women's or girls' sporting events, in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington.
President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order barring transgender female athletes from competing in women's or girls' sporting events, in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP
Federal Trump Threatens Funds to Schools That Let Trans Athletes Compete on Girls' Teams
The sweeping order is a reversal from the Biden administration, and continues efforts from Trump to roll back protections for transgender youth and adults.
Brooke Schultz, February 5, 2025
4 min read
Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., speaks during an event at the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit on Dec. 9, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., speaks at the U.N. Climate Summit on Dec. 9, 2023, in Dubai. Walberg, the newly minted chair of the U.S. House's education and workforce committee, said at a Tuesday event that he wouldn't stand in the way of President Donald Trump's efforts to diminish or close the U.S. Department of Education.
Joshua A. Bickel/AP
Federal Top House Lawmaker Supports Trump's Bid to 'Depower' Education Department
The House education committee chairman believes "even the best-meaning bureaucrat" can't understand what's happening in local schools.
Alyson Klein, February 4, 2025
5 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
Policy & Politics Opinion How Blind Partisanship Harms Schooling
No one political party enjoys a monopoly on truth, good intentions, or rightness
Rick Hess, February 4, 2025
9 min read
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center on Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Donald Trump arrives at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center on Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. Trump's second week in the White House featured his first direct foray into policymaking aimed directly at schools.
Evan Vucci/AP
Federal Title IX, School Choice, ‘Indoctrination’—How Trump Took on Schools in Week 2
It was a week in which the newly inaugurated president began wholeheartedly to act on his agenda for schools.
Brooke Schultz, January 31, 2025
8 min read
A line of school children with obscured faces board a school bus on their way to school.
E+/Getty
School & District Management School Leaders Rush to Manage Deportation Fears
School and district leaders describe a chaotic time amid changes to federal immigration policies.
Ileana Najarro & Olina Banerji, January 31, 2025
9 min read
Collage image of former President G.W. Bush signing NCLB bill.
Liz Yap/Education Week and Canva
Federal Then & Now Why Can't We Leave No Child Left Behind ... Behind?
The law and its contours are stuck in our collective memory. What does that say about how we understand K-12 policy?
Evie Blad, January 31, 2025
6 min read
President Donald Trump signs a document in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington.
President Donald Trump signs a document in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington.
Evan Vucci/AP
Federal What's in Trump's New Executive Orders on Indoctrination and School Choice
The White House has no authority over curriculum, and no ability to unilaterally pull back federal dollars, but Trump is toeing the line.
Brooke Schultz, January 30, 2025
9 min read
President Donald Trump, right, arrives in a classroom at St. Andrew Catholic School in Orlando, Fla., on March 3, 2017.
President Donald Trump visits a classroom at St. Andrew Catholic School in Orlando, Fla., on March 3, 2017. Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 29, 2025, that aims to end what he calls "radical indoctrination" in the nation's schools.
Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP
Federal Trump Threatens School Funding Cuts in Effort to End 'Radical Indoctrination'
An executive order from the president marks an effort from the White House to influence what schools teach.
Brooke Schultz, January 29, 2025
6 min read
President Donald Trump talks as he signs an executive order giving federal recognition to the Limbee Tribe of North Carolina, in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Washington.
President Donald Trump talks as he signs an executive order giving federal recognition to the Limbee Tribe of North Carolina, in the Oval Office of the White House, Jan. 23, 2025. Trump on Jan. 29 signed an executive order that would mandate a federal push for school vouchers.
Ben Curtis/AP
School Choice & Charters Trump's Order Kicks Off His Efforts to Expand Private School Choice
Trump is directing several federal agencies to look into expanding school choice offerings—a push that continues from his first term.
Brooke Schultz, January 29, 2025
3 min read
President Donald Trump speaks in Emancipation Hall after the 60th Presidential Inauguration, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
President Donald Trump speaks in Emancipation Hall after the 60th Presidential Inauguration on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. His administration's order to pause potentially trillions of dollars in federal spending this week sent school districts scrambling to figure out which funds might be halted.
Al Drago/AP
Education Funding Trump Spending Freeze Hits Roadblocks: How Schools Are Coping With Chaos
The Trump administration appeared to halt the planned funding freeze, but district leaders remain cautious.
Mark Lieberman, January 29, 2025
6 min read