Congress

Read more about members of Congress and the polices they enact that impact K-12 education
Molly Kaldahl (right) and Ava Nkwocha, who attend Millard South High School in Omaha, Neb., meet with their senator’s legislative staff to discuss the National Student Council’s federal legislative agenda on Oct. 28, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Molly Kaldahl, right, and Ava Nkwocha, who attend Millard South High School in Omaha, Neb., meet with the legislative staff of U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., to discuss the National Student Council’s federal legislative agenda on Oct. 28, 2025, in Washington.
Courtesy of Allyssa Hynes/NASSP
Education Funding Students Make Appeals to Congress to Protect K-12 Funding
National Student Council representatives shared perspectives on challenges schools are facing.
Lauraine Langreo, October 30, 2025
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6 min read
Photo of the United States Capitol with overlayed computer circuitry and the letters "AI".
iStock/Getty
Artificial Intelligence Congress Wants to Protect Kids Using AI. Are Their Ideas the Right Ones?
Two bills in Congress aim to build guardrails for kids' use of artificial intelligence.
Alyson Klein, October 30, 2025
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5 min read
North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction Kirsten Baesler announces the gathering of a task force to look into future options the state has for the assessment of students during a press conference May 8, 2015, at the state Capitol in Bismarck, N.D.
North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction Kirsten Baesler speaks at a press conference on May 8, 2015, at the state capitol in Bismarck, N.D. Baesler will serve as assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education after her Tuesday confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
Mike McCleary/The Bismarck Tribune via AP
Federal Senate Confirms Longtime North Dakota Schools Chief for Top Ed. Dept. Role
Senators approved a batch of Trump nominees that also included others to top Education Department posts.
Brooke Schultz, October 7, 2025
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3 min read
The Capitol is seen during rainy weather just days before federal money runs out which could trigger a government shutdown, in Washington, Sept. 25, 2025.
The Capitol is seen during rainy weather on Sept. 25, 2025, just days before federal money runs out, which could trigger a government shutdown. A shutdown that lasts even a few days could have ripple effects for schools across the nation.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Federal How Will a Federal Shutdown Affect Schools? 5 Big Questions, Answered
School funding could experience yet another setback this year if the federal government closes up shop.
Mark Lieberman, September 29, 2025
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9 min read
The Capitol Building in Washington on Sept. 1, 2025. Congress returned from August recess this week to tackle several high profile hearings and face a September 30 deadline to fund the federal government.
The Capitol Building in Washington on Sept. 1, 2025. Congress faces a deadline within weeks to fund the federal government for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1. President Donald Trump has proposed big changes for school funding that lawmakers must decide whether to accept, reject, or modify.
Aaron Schwartz/SIPA USA via AP
Education Funding Your Guide to the Evolving Federal Budget and What It Means for Schools
Lawmakers have a few weeks to agree on a new budget and an approach to Trump's funding uncertainty.
Mark Lieberman, September 4, 2025
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9 min read
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., discusses the Republican-crafted plan as the House Rules Committee prepares a spending bill that would keep federal agencies funded through Sept. 30, at the Capitol, in Washington on March 10, 2025.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., speaks in the Capitol in Washington on March 10, 2025. A House Appropriations subcommittee has put forward a budget that embraces many of President Donald Trump's proposed cuts to the federal education budget and rejects others.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Education Funding House Lawmakers Endorse Some—But Not All—of Trump's Education Cuts
House budget writers are proposing to cut Title I funding by nearly $4 billion.
Mark Lieberman, September 2, 2025
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5 min read
From left, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., confer as the panel marks up the FY2026 spending bill at the Capitol in Washington on July 24, 2025.
From left, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee; Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla.; and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., confer as the panel marks up the fiscal 2026 spending bill at the Capitol in Washington on July 24, 2025. The appropriations panel approved an education budget Thursday that rejects most of the Trump administration's proposed cuts.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Education Funding Senators—Including Republicans—Reject All of Trump's Proposed Education Cuts
The budget bill could go before the full Senate as early as September.
Mark Lieberman, July 31, 2025
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6 min read
Penny Schwinn, nominee for deputy secretary of education for the Department of Education, and Kimberly Richey, nominee for assistant secretary for civil rights in the Department of Education, appear before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee in Washington, D.C., on June 5, 2025.
Penny Schwinn appears before the U.S. Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee in Washington on June 5, 2025, for her confirmation hearing to serve as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. Schwinn plans to withdraw her nomination for that role.
Jason Andrew for Education Week
Federal Penny Schwinn Drops Bid to Serve as No. 2 in Education Department
The former Tennessee state education chief had cleared a committee vote but faced skepticism from some conservatives.
Brooke Schultz, July 31, 2025
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5 min read
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., left, speaks with Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., right, after a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee business meeting on Sept. 19, 2024, in Washington.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., left, speaks with Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., right, after a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee business meeting on Sept. 19, 2024, in Washington. Sanders and Markey have reintroduced two bills that would increase salaries and wages for teachers and support staff, as policy changes have affected the K-12 landscape.
Mariam Zuhaib/AP
Federal The Push for a $60K Minimum Salary for Teachers Has Reached Congress—Again
Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Edward Markey, D-Mass., have reintroduced education bills that would increase minimum salaries for teachers and the minimum wage for support staff.
Jennifer Vilcarino, July 28, 2025
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4 min read
The U.S. Capitol is reflected in a puddle outside of the Rayburn House Office Building on July 16, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
The U.S. Capitol is reflected in a puddle outside of the Rayburn House Office Building on July 16, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Education Week contacted hundreds of lawmakers to determine their feelings on the unprecedented step taken by the Trump Administration to withhold education funds approved by Congress.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
Education Funding We Asked Congress Whether Trump Withholding School Funds Is Legal. Here's What They Said
All but a few members who voted in March to allocate now-withheld funding didn't respond to the question.
Mark Lieberman & Maya Riser-Kositsky, July 18, 2025
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9 min read
Scenes from the National Education Association Representative Assembly on July 3, 2025, in Portland, Ore.
Scenes from the National Education Association Representative Assembly on July 3, 2025, in Portland, Ore. GOP lawmakers have ramped up attacks on the nearly 3 million member union.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
Teaching Profession GOP Renews Push to Revoke Federal Charter for Nation's Largest Teachers' Union
Lawmakers announce repeal bill amid conservative protests against National Education Association.
Sarah D. Sparks, July 16, 2025
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5 min read
Photo of frozen money,
Gary Alvis / iStock
Education Funding What's the Latest on Trump's School Funding Freeze? What We Know and Don't Know
Billions of federal dollars for education are on hold and might not show up at all.
Mark Lieberman, July 16, 2025
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12 min read
Sen. Susan Collins, R,Maine, with Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., left, and Shelly Moore Capito, R-W.Va., center, question Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., during a Senate Committee on Appropriations subcommittee hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2026 for the Department of Health and Human Services, on Capitol Hill, May 20, 2025, in Washington.
Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, (right) and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., (center) are shown during a Senate subcommittee hearing on May 20, 2025, in Washington. They're among 10 Republican senators who have signed a letter urging the Trump administration to release $6.8 billion in federal education funds it's withheld from states. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., (left) was among 32 Democratic senators to sign a letter urging the same.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
Education Funding Republicans Urge Trump to Release $6.8 Billion in School Funding He's Held Back
The funds that were supposed to go out July 1 pay for teacher training, English learner services, after-school programs, and more.
Mark Lieberman, July 16, 2025
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4 min read
The Senate side of the Capitol is seen in Washington, early Monday, June 30, 2025, as Republicans plan to begin a final push to advance President Donald Trump's big tax breaks and spending cuts package.
The Senate side of the Capitol is seen in Washington early on June 30, 2025, hours before Republicans narrowly passed President Donald Trump's big tax breaks and spending cuts package. The bill includes the first major federal private school choice program.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Federal The Senate Passed a Federal Voucher Program. What's in It?
The measure would create a national program funding private school tuition through tax credits, though states would have to opt in.
Brooke Schultz, July 2, 2025
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7 min read
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