Federal Policy

News, analysis, and opinion about federal education laws, regulations, and proposals—and their impact
First Lady Melania Trump leaves the East Room after hosting the Inaugural Presidential AI Challenge National Champion Awards Ceremony at the White House on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, in Washington.
First lady Melania Trump leaves the East Room after hosting the inaugural Presidential AI Challenge National Champion Awards Ceremony at the White House on June 9, 2026, in Washington.
John McDonnell/AP
Artificial Intelligence White House Honors AI Challenge Winners as Tech Backlash Grows
Students and teachers submitted projects that use AI to solve problems in their schools and communities.
Lauraine Langreo & Arianna Prothero, June 11, 2026
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5 min read
Graduation cap and dollars. Scholarship or student loan concept.
Getty
School Choice & Charters How Can Public Schools Participate in Trump's Federal Choice Program?
The Trump administration has confirmed public schools can receive federal scholarship funds. Here's how.
Matthew Stone, Evie Blad & Mark Lieberman, June 11, 2026
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7 min read
Cafeteria worker Nuria Alvarenga serves lunch to students through a service window at Firebaugh High School in Lynwood, Calif. on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Demand for school lunches has increased after California guaranteed free meals to all students regardless of their family's income. Now, districts are preparing to compete with the fast food industry for employees after a new law took effect guaranteeing a $20 minimum wage for fast food workers.
A cafeteria worker serves students at Firebaugh High School in Lynwood, Calif., on April 3, 2024. School districts are increasingly uncertain about whether they can rely on federal education funds, $7 billion of which were delayed for weeks last July, prompting a more conservative approach to budgeting in some places.
Richard Vogel/AP
Education Funding Districts Brace for the Unexpected as Federal Funding Troubles Linger
Last year's formula funding delay has prompted some districts to budget more cautiously.
Mark Lieberman, June 11, 2026
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7 min read
WASHINGTON,DC - JUNE 10: Dr. Macquline King, Superintendent and CEO of Chicago Public Schools speaks with Mr. Johnathan Smith, Managing Director, Education and Federal Strategic Advocacy, National Center for Youth Law and Dr. Aaron Spence, Superintendent, Loudoun County Public Schools with US Representative Mark Takano, Democrat from California, before a House Education and Workforce Committee hearing titled “Breaking Trust: Attacks On Parental Rights, Inappropriate Content, And Legal Abuses In America’s Schools” on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, June 10, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Chicago Superintendent Macquline King speaks with Johnathan Smith, the managing director for education and federal strategic advocacy at the National Center for Youth Law, and Loudon County, Va. Superintendent Aaron Spence, before a hearing on parents rights in schools on Capitol Hill on June 10, 2026 in Washington.
Jabin Botsford/For Education Week
Families & the Community Lawmakers Grill Superintendents on Transgender Student Policies
The districts' policies around transgender students were repeatedly questioned.
Evie Blad, June 10, 2026
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5 min read
Adult school student volunteer Starnese Sims, second from right in glasses, sings along with preschool children at Bradley Early Education Center, located on the campus of Maxine Waters Employment Prep Center, in Watts on May 5, 2026 . Adult school student volunteers visit Bradley EEC twice a week for field work as part of a career pathway that will earn them their child development assistant permit. The setup provides the preschool with extra staffing support and allows for collaboration between preschool teachers and adult school staff as students move through the program. The LAUSD early education center is home to the district's first experiment with non-traditional care hours through its expansion this year into evening child care.
A student volunteer sings along with preschool children at Bradley Early Education Center in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles on May 5, 2026. Older students visit the center regularly as part of a career pathway that will earn them their child development assistant permit. A coalition of education groups wants greater federal investment in research aimed at strengthening career-connected education that students are increasingly demanding.
Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via TNS
College & Workforce Readiness Students Want Career Education. More Research Can Improve It, New Report Says
Career education is in demand from students and could be strengthened through research, a coalition says.
Mark Walsh, June 9, 2026
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4 min read
CapHillJune05
Members of the U.S. House appropriations subcommittee for Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education adjourn after approving a 2027 spending bill in an 11-7, party-line vote at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on June 5, 2026. The spending bill from House Republicans cuts $1.6 billion from Title I.
Marvin Joseph/Education Week
Education Funding Congress Is Working on a New K-12 Budget. See What's Proposed for Key Programs
House lawmakers advanced major cuts to Title I and several competitive grant programs.
Mark Lieberman, June 5, 2026
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1 min read
A worker walks amid the Hall of Columns in the House of Representatives at the Capitol in Washington, on Oct. 4, 2023.
A worker walks amid the Hall of Columns in the House of Representatives at the Capitol in Washington, on Oct. 4, 2023. A U.S. House subcommittee has released a budget bill that includes billions of dollars in education cuts.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Education Funding House GOP Endorses Education Cuts as Talks on Trump's Budget Begin
House appropriators want to cut Title I by 9%—a cut President Donald Trump hasn't proposed.
Mark Lieberman, June 4, 2026
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5 min read
Immigration Enforcement Texas 26036856269438
Hutto High School students protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, in Hutto, Texas. New national survey data found that immigration enforcement continues to affect schools.
Jay Janner/STATESMAN.COM via AP
School & District Management From Our Research Center Schools Saw Rising Student Anxiety From Immigration Enforcement in 2025-26
New national survey data from this spring found increased absences due to immigration enforcement.
Ileana Najarro & Alex Harwin, June 2, 2026
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7 min read
Future data arrow concept with student looking out to a tangle of possibilities. Choice. grow chart up decisions. Pathways.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + Getty
Federal Opinion We Need Better Data to Understand What Happens to Students After High School
Here are the two things we need before we can answer how well we’re preparing students.
Jennifer Bell-Ellwanger & Sara Schapiro, May 22, 2026
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4 min read
A pair of Miami Arts Studio students hug as others walk between classes, on World Mental Health Day, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023, at the public 6th-12th grade magnet school, in Miami.
Students hug during World Mental Health Day on Oct. 10, 2023, at a public magnet school in Miami. A coalition of school health professionals are asking Congress to invest in school-based health resources.
Rebecca Blackwell/AP
Student Well-Being & Movement The Hidden Force Behind Student Success: School-Based Health Workers Make Their Case
Organizations representing school-based health workers want legislative support from Congress.
Lauraine Langreo, May 21, 2026
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5 min read
Image of the white house.
The southern facade of the White House in Washington pictured in September 2024. The White House budget office is holding back more than $2 billion in congressionally approved funds from U.S. Department of Education accounts.
Getty
Education Funding White House Blocks $2 Billion for Education: See All the Affected Programs
We're tracking federal education funding that Trump's federal budget office has stalled.
Mark Lieberman, May 21, 2026
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3 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
Federal Opinion How the Institute of Education Sciences Could Better Serve Schools
“It’s been all over the place,” explains the scholar tasked with reimagining IES.
Rick Hess, May 21, 2026
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4 min read
Students attend a 5th grade math class at Lafargue Elementary School in Effie, Louisiana, on Friday, August 22. The state has implemented new professional development requirements for math teachers in grades 4-8 to help improve student achievement and address learning gaps.
Students attend a 5th grade math class in Effie, La., on Aug. 22, 2025. Louisiana has secured new flexibility from the U.S. Department of Education to spend a portion of its federal funds on statewide school improvement activities. It's the second such waiver from Every Student Succeeds Act rules the department has granted under the Trump administration.
Kathleen Flynn for Education Week
Every Student Succeeds Act Trump Admin. OK's Another State's Ask for School Funding Leeway
The Ed. Dept. granted a second request to combine portions of four federal grants into one fund.
Alyson Klein, May 20, 2026
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5 min read
Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department, FBI, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), are seen monitoring a football game between Bell Multicultural and Archbishop Carroll on Sept. 12, 2025, at Cardozo High School in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department, FBI and Homeland Security Investigations monitor a high school football game Sept. 12, 2025, at Cardozo High School in Washington. Heightened immigration enforcement activity has raised concerns about its impact on students’ attendance and well-being.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP
Student Absenteeism Immigrant Students Fear Enforcement and Stay Out of School
An April working paper found that immigration enforcement increased absence rates.
Ileana Najarro, May 20, 2026
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4 min read