Federal Policy

News, analysis, and opinion about federal education laws, regulations, and proposals—and their impact
Image of a student's silhouette with a sunrise in it. Overlay is a medical file.
Illustration with Laura Baker/Education Week + Getty
Special Education Opinion Why Moving Special Education Out of the Ed. Dept Will Not Help Students
We shouldn’t redefine special education as a medical service. What to know as it moves to HHS.
Jerell Hill, June 22, 2026
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5 min read
Letters on the Department of Education building are missing after removal of America 250 banners, which included those of Booker T. Washington, Catharine Beecher and Charlie Kirk, March 18, 2026, in Washington.
Letters on the U.S. Department of Education building are missing in this March 18, 2026, photo in Washington. The agency last week announced it's transferring day-to-day management of special education and civil rights enforcement to different Cabinet agencies, the latest push by the Trump administration to dismantle the Education Department.
Allison Robbert/AP Photo
Federal Special Ed. and Civil Rights: What We Know About the Ed. Dept.'s Latest Moves
Special education is moving to HHS, and civil rights enforcement is moving to DOJ.
Mark Lieberman, June 22, 2026
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6 min read
TahSoGhay Collah, right, teaches a third-grade English learners class at the 700-student intermediate school that serves grades 3 through 5, in Worthington, Minn., on Oct. 22, 2024.
TahSoGhay Collah, right, teaches a third-grade English learners class at the 700-student intermediate school that serves grades 3 through 5, in Worthington, Minn., on Oct. 22, 2024. The Education Department discontinued grants last year that would help develop teachers of English learners.
Jessie Wardarski/AP
Education Funding Federal Grant Cuts for English Learners Face Lawsuit
Last year, the federal agency ended 28 grants for training teachers working with English learners.
Ileana Najarro, June 17, 2026
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5 min read
readingPanel
A copy of one of the National Reading Panel's work products is shown in this June 17, 2026 photo. The influential report, now more than 25 years old, has long served as a cornerstone of the “science of reading” movement, shaping state legislation, curriculum, and teacher professional development.
Marvin Joseph/Education Week
Reading & Literacy Is It Time for Another National Reading Panel?
The panel's 2000 report on reading has influenced policy for years. Now, Congress is calling for an update.
Sarah Schwartz, June 17, 2026
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7 min read
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon outside the White House, Wednesday, June 10, 2026, in Washington. Today, the U.S. Department of Education approved Indiana’s Returning Education to the States Waiver, empowering Indiana’s education leaders with greater discretion over their federal education dollars and more flexibility to prioritize college and career readiness in Indiana’s high school accountability system on June 16, 2026.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon outside the White House on June 10, 2026, in Washington. McMahon was in Indiana on Tuesday to announce the state had secured the broadest waiver yet from federal school accountability and funding requirements. It's the third waiver the Trump administration has issued allowing a state relief from federal education requirements.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson /AP
Every Student Succeeds Act Trump Admin. Issues Broadest Waiver Yet on School Accountability, Funding
A third state secured new flexibility on how it spends federal school funds and rates high schools.
Matthew Stone & Stephen Sawchuk, June 16, 2026
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6 min read
The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating how 43 school districts in three states teach about sexuality and gender identity and whether they give parents the opportunity to opt their children out of lessons that conflict with their religious beliefs on June 16, 2026.PICTURED, Protesters gather outside the Glendale Unified School District headquarters in Glendale, California, on June 20, 2023. Over 300 people gathered outside the Glendale Unified School District headquarters, as protests continued over the issue of teaching children about same-sex parents and queer issues.
Protesters gather outside the Glendale school district in Glendale, California, on June 20, 2023 over the issue of teaching children about same-sex parents and queer issues. The U.S. Department of Justice is now investigating three other school districts over LGBTQ+ themes in sex ed. and beyond. (The Glendale district is not one of them.)
DAVID SWANSON / AFP via Getty Images
Federal Trump's Justice Dept. Investigates Dozens of Districts Over LGBTQ+ Curricula
The investigations target how schools discuss sexuality and gender identity and whether parents can opt their children out of lessons.
Evie Blad, June 16, 2026
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8 min read
A banner featuring a photo of President Donald Trump hangs outside the Department of Justice in Washington on Monday, June 15, 2026.
A banner featuring a photo of President Donald Trump hangs outside the Department of Justice in Washington on Monday, June 15, 2026. The U.S. Department of Education is moving its office for civil rights to the Justice Department as part of a fresh wave of outsourcing.
Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP
Federal Education Department Moves Special Ed. and Civil Rights to Other Agencies
Special education programs help schools serve more than seven million K-12 students with disabilities nationwide.
Mark Lieberman, June 16, 2026
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9 min read
Gov. Tina Kotek speaks at a meeting of the Oregon Prosperity Council in Portland on Jan. 22 . In a new poll of Portland metro area voters, only a third of respondents said they have a positive opinion of Kotek.
Gov. Tina Kotek of Oregon speaks at a meeting of the Oregon Prosperity Council in Portland on Jan. 22. 2026. Kotek said Friday she wouldn't opt Oregon in to a new federal tax credit program that, starting next year, will bankroll scholarships for K-12 students that can cover private school tuition, home-school expenses in some states, and certain expenses for public school students.
Mark Graves/The Oregonian via TNS
School Choice & Charters Another Democratic-Leaning State Will Pass on the Federal School Choice Program
Thirty-one states are on track to participate in the first federal tax-credit scholarship program.
Matthew Stone, June 12, 2026
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4 min read
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