Policy & Politics

Education news, analysis, and opinion about the legislation, guidance, policies and people involved in federal and state government
Federal Ed. Dept. Opens Fewer Sexual Violence Investigations as Trump Dismantles It
Sexual assault investigations fell after office for civil rights layoffs last year.
The Associated Press
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6 min read
Education Funding In Trump's First Year, at Least $12 Billion in School Funding Disruptions
The administration's cuts to schools came through the Education Department and other agencies.
Mark Lieberman
•
9 min read
School Choice & Charters As School Choice Goes Universal, What New Research Is Showing
New analyses shed light on the students using state funds for private school and the schools they attend.
Matthew Stone & Caitlynn Peetz Stephens
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9 min read
Law & Courts The Stark Divide in the States Recouping K-12 Grants Cut by Trump's Ed. Dept.
A fifth of lawsuits challenging Trump admin. education policies have come from multistate coalitions.
Matthew Stone
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8 min read
Students sit on bleachers after science, technology, engineering and mathematics activities, facilitated by the Kentucky Science Center, in Simpsonville Elementary School, Nov. 18, 2025, in Simpsonville, Ky.
Students sit on bleachers after STEM activities facilitated by the Kentucky Science Center at Simpsonville Elementary School in Simpsonville, Ky., on Nov. 18, 2025. The school district serving Simpsonville is one of nine in north-central Kentucky that was able to hire new school counselors with the help of a federal grant that the Trump administration terminated last year.
Jon Cherry/AP
Federal Trump Admin. Drops Legal Appeal Over Anti-DEI Funding Threat to Schools and Colleges
It leaves in place a federal judge’s decision finding that the anti-DEI effort violated the First Amendment and federal procedural rules.
The Associated Press
•
1 min read
Education Secretary Linda McMahon speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, in Washington.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP
Law & Courts Full Appeals Court Signals Openness to Ten Commandments Classroom Laws
The full 5th Circuit seemed sympathetic to unblocking two laws requiring Ten Commandments displays.
Mark Walsh
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5 min read
Ten Commandments Texas 25322117067170
A Ten Commandments poster is seen with boxes of others before they were delivered to local public schools in New Braunfels, Texas, on Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. A federal appeals court appears open to reviving blocked Ten Commandments school laws in Louisiana and Texas.
AP Photo/Eric Gay
Education Funding Rebuking Trump, Congress Moves to Maintain Most Federal Education Funding
Funding for key programs like Title I and IDEA are on track to remain level year over year.
Mark Lieberman
•
8 min read
Photo collage of U.S. Capitol building and currency.
iStock

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More Policy & Politics

  • President Donald Trump holds a bill that returns whole milk to school cafeterias across the country, in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington.
    President Donald Trump holds a bill that returns whole milk to school cafeterias across the country. He signed the measure in the Oval Office of the White House, on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026.
    Alex Brandon/AP
    Federal Trump Signs a Law Returning Whole Milk to School Lunches
    The law overturns Obama-era limits on higher-fat milk options.
    The Associated Press, January 15, 2026
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    3 min read
    A group of California parents has asked the nation's highest court to reinstate a federal district court decision that said parents have a federal constitutional right to be informed by schools of any gender nonconformity and social transitions by their children. The Supreme Court building is seen on Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington.
    A group of California parents has asked the nation's highest court, whose building is shown on Jan. 13, 2026, to reinstate a federal district court decision that said parents have a federal constitutional right to be informed by schools of any gender nonconformity or social transition by their children.
    Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
    Law & Courts Parents Ask Supreme Court to Restore Ruling on Gender Disclosure
    Parents asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene over school gender-identity policies in California.
    Mark Walsh, January 14, 2026
    •
    4 min read
    Becky Pepper-Jackson holds hands with her mother Heather Jackson outside the Supreme Court after arguments over state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on school athletic teams on Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington.
    Becky Pepper-Jackson holds hands with her mother, Heather Jackson, outside the U.S. Supreme Court after arguments over state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on female athletic teams on Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington.
    Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
    Law & Courts Supreme Court Signals Support for State Bans on Trans Girls in Sports
    The U.S. Supreme Court weighed Idaho and West Virginia laws that bar transgender girls from sports.
    Mark Walsh, January 13, 2026
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    7 min read
    President Donald Trump signs his signature bill of tax breaks and spending cuts at the White House on July 4, 2025, in Washington.
    President Donald Trump signs his signature bill of tax breaks and spending cuts, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, at the White House on July 4, 2025, in Washington. States are considering whether to incorporate the tax changes into their own tax codes, which will results in lower state revenue collections that could strain school budgets.
    Evan Vucci/AP
    Education Funding Schools Brace for Mid-Year Cuts as 'Big, Beautiful Bill' Changes Begin
    State decisions on incorporating federal tax cuts into their own tax codes could strain school budgets.
    Mark Lieberman, January 13, 2026
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    7 min read
    School bus outside Patterson High School in St. Mary Parish, in Louisiana.
    School bus outside Patterson High School in St. Mary Parish, in Louisiana.
    Brad Kemp/The Advocate
    Law & Courts After 60 Years, a Louisiana District Fights to Exit Federal Desegregation Order
    St. Mary Parish is on the frontlines of a legal battle to end ongoing school desegregation cases dating back to the civil rights era.
    Patrick Wall, The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La., January 12, 2026
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    6 min read
    Fifteen year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson tosses a discus at home in West Virginia.
    Fifteen-year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson tosses a discus at home in West Virginia. Her challenge to the state’s ban on transgender girls in school sports is now before the U.S. Supreme Court.
    Scout Tufankjian/ACLU
    Law & Courts School Sports Case Reaches the Supreme Court at a Fraught Time for Trans Rights
    The justices will consider state laws that bar transgender girls from participating in female sports.
    Mark Walsh, January 9, 2026
    •
    8 min read
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Student Well-Being & Movement Whitepaper See the Signs: A Linewize by Qoria Insights Paper
Qoria’s See the Signs Report brings together insights, trends, and signals from 1,000 schools with practical strategies to help communiti...
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Test your knowledge and explore what sets high-impact math instruction apart from traditional methods.
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Reading & Literacy Spotlight From Decoding to Growth: Every Student’s Journey Forward
This Spotlight highlights what students need to become confident and capable readers, starting with a strong foundation in decoding.
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School & District Management Whitepaper Closing the CTE Opportunity Gap with Supplemental Transportation
This white paper outlines how a multimodal transportation strategy can help to ensure equitable access to CTE programs, allowing every st...
Content provided by HopSkipDrive
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  • Students ride tricycles during aftercare at a Head Start program run by Easterseals, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government, Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami.
    Students ride tricycles during aftercare at a Head Start program run by Easterseals, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government, Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami.
    Rebecca Blackwell/AP
    Law & Courts Judge Bars Trump Admin. From Purging DEI Terms From Head Start Funding Requests
    The federal judge also prohibited further layoffs of staff from the federal Office of Head Start.
    The Associated Press, January 9, 2026
    •
    2 min read
    Students in Chad Wright’s construction program work on measurements at the Regional Occupational Center on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, in Bakersfield, Calif.
    Students in Chad Wright’s construction program work on measurements at the Regional Occupational Center on Jan. 11, 2023, in Bakersfield, Calif. A newly released policy agenda from a coalition of center-left Democrats focuses heavily on career training.
    Morgan Lieberman for Education Week
    Federal A Major Democratic Group Thinks This Education Policy Is a Winning Issue
    An agenda from center-left Democrats could foreshadow how they discuss education on the campaign trail.
    Alyson Klein, January 9, 2026
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    4 min read
    The end of a bar chart made of pencils with a line graph drawn over it.
    DigitalVision Vectors/Getty + Education Week
    Federal Opinion The Federal Government Hasn’t Been Meeting Our Need for Unbiased Ed. Research
    Trump’s attacks on data collection are misguided—but that doesn’t mean it was working before.
    Rick Hess, January 8, 2026
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    5 min read
    The Instagram logo is seen on a cell phone, Oct. 14, 2022, in Boston.
    The Instagram logo is seen on a cell phone. New York is the third state, after California and Minnesota, to pass a law requiring social media warning labels.
    Michael Dwyer/AP
    States Scroll With Caution: Another State Requires Social Media Warning Labels
    Backers of New York's law, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, have likened tech's addictiveness to tobacco.
    Jennifer Vilcarino, January 8, 2026
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    4 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 Who Tops Their Field in the 2026 RHSU Edu-Scholar Rankings?
    A scholar's rank within a discipline may be more telling than their place in the overall rankings.
    Rick Hess, January 8, 2026
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    1 min read
    Amanda Darrow, director of youth, family and education programs at the Utah Pride Center, poses with books that have been the subject of complaints from parents in Salt Lake City on Dec. 16, 2021. The wave of attempted book banning and restrictions continues to intensify, the American Library Association reported Friday. Numbers for 2022 already approach last year's totals, which were the highest in decades.
    Eight states have passed legislation restricting school officials from pulling books out of school libraries for partisan or ideological reasons. In the past five years, many such challenges have focused on books about race or LGBTQ+ people. Amanda Darrow, the director of youth, family and education programs at the Utah Pride Center, poses with books that have been the subject of complaints from parents in Salt Lake City on Dec. 16, 2021. (Utah is not one of the eight states.)
    Rick Bowmer/AP
    States States Are Banning Book Bans. Will It Work?
    Approved legislation aims to stop school libraries from removing books for partisan reasons.
    Sarah Schwartz, January 7, 2026
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    5 min read
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EdWeek Market Brief

Regulation & Policy Market Analysis Texas’ Revamped Adoption System Raises Stakes for Publishers, With First Curriculum Bans Looming
The latest twist for publishers navigating Texas’ still-evolving curriculum adoption process comes via a new state law that bans curriculum placed on the state’s rejected list.
David Saleh Rauf
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7 min read
Strategy & Operations Industry Insight As States Push More Purchasing Decisions to Parents, Here's What Companies Need to Know
Fintech company Odyssey was selected to help Texas build a new program that will allow parents to apply to receive public education funds for their children to support a range of education expenses.
Scott Elliott
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12 min read
Meeting District Needs Market Analysis Six Superintendents of the Year Tell K-12 Vendors What They Need
They Were Named Superintendents of the Year. Here’s What They Want From Vendors
David Saleh Rauf
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13 min read
Strategy & Operations K-12 Market News American Student Assistance Rebrands as Britebound
The new name is part of Britebound's efforts to better reflect its shift from being a student loan guarantor to a post-secondary pathways nonprofit.
Michelle Caffrey
•
2 min read
Read More