Policy & Politics

Federal

Education news, analysis, and opinion about federal education policies and federal officials.
  • Demonstrators advocating for transgender rights and healthcare stand outside of the Ohio Statehouse on Jan. 24, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio. The rights of LGBTQ+ students will be protected by federal law and victims of campus sexual assault will gain new safeguards under rules finalized Friday, April19, 2024, by the Biden administration. Notably absent from Biden’s policy, however, is any mention of transgender athletes.
    Demonstrators advocating for transgender rights and healthcare stand outside of the Ohio Statehouse on Jan. 24, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio. The rights of LGBTQ+ students will be protected by federal law and victims of campus sexual assault will gain new safeguards under rules finalized Friday, April19, 2024, by the Biden administration. Notably absent from Biden’s policy, however, is any mention of transgender athletes.
    Patrick Orsagos/AP
    Federal New Title IX Rule Has Explicit Ban on Discrimination of LGBTQ+ Students
    The new rule, while long awaited, stops short of addressing the thorny issue of transgender athletes' participation in sports.
    Libby Stanford, April 19, 2024
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    6 min read
    Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
    DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
    Federal Opinion 'Jargon' and 'Fads': Departing IES Chief on State of Ed. Research
    Better writing, timelier publication, and more focused research centers can help improve the field, Mark Schneider says.
    Rick Hess, April 8, 2024
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    7 min read
    Stockton Unified School District's new electric bus fleet reduces over 120,000 pounds of carbon emissions and leverages The Mobility House's smart charging and energy management system.
    A new rule from the Environmental Protection Agency sets higher fuel efficiency standards for heavy-duty vehicles. By 2032, it projects, 40 percent of new medium heavy-duty vehicles, including school buses, will be electric.
    Business Wire via AP
    Federal Electric School Buses Get a Boost From New State and Federal Policies
    New federal standards for emissions could accelerate the push to produce buses that run on clean energy.
    Mark Lieberman, April 2, 2024
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    3 min read
    Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, March 9, 2024, in Rome Ga.
    Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, March 9, 2024, in Rome, Ga. Allies of the former president have assembled a detailed policy agenda for every corner of the federal government with the idea that it would be ready for a conservative president to use at the start of a new term next year.
    Mike Stewart/AP
    Federal What Would Happen to K-12 in a 2nd Trump Term? A Detailed Policy Agenda Offers Clues
    A conservative policy agenda could offer the clearest view yet of K-12 education in a second Trump term.
    Matthew Stone, March 25, 2024
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    8 min read
    Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
    DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
    Federal Opinion Student Literacy Rates Are Concerning. How Can We Turn This Around?
    The ranking Republican senator on the education committee wants to hear from educators and families about making improvements.
    Rick Hess, March 25, 2024
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    6 min read
    President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol on March 7, 2024, in Washington.
    President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol on March 7, 2024, in Washington.
    Shawn Thew/Pool via AP
    Federal Biden Calls for Teacher Pay Raises, Expanded Pre-K in State of the Union
    President Joe Biden highlighted a number of his education priorities in a high-stakes speech as he seeks a second term.
    Evie Blad, March 7, 2024
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    5 min read
    A group of silhouettes looks across a grid with a public school on the other side.
    Vanessa Solis/Education Week via Canva
    Federal Low-Performing Schools Are Left to Languish by Districts and States, Watchdog Finds
    Fewer than half of district plans for improving struggling schools meet bare minimum requirements.
    Alyson Klein, February 23, 2024
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    11 min read
    U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona participates in a roundtable discussion with students from Dartmouth College on Jan. 10, 2024, on the school's campus, in Hanover, N.H.
    U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona participates in a roundtable discussion with students from Dartmouth College on Jan. 10, 2024, on the school's campus, in Hanover, N.H.
    Steven Senne/AP
    Federal Biden Admin. Says New K-12 Agenda Tackles Absenteeism, Tutoring, Extended Learning
    The White House unveiled a set of K-12 priorities at the start of an election year.
    Libby Stanford, January 17, 2024
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    4 min read
    Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., left, joins Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., left, as Starbucks founder Howard Schultz answers questions about the company's actions during an ongoing employee unionizing campaign, at the Capitol in Washington, on March 29, 2023.
    Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., left, joins Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., left, at the Capitol in Washington, on March 29, 2023. The two lawmakers sponsored a bill to reauthorize the Education Sciences Reform Act.
    J. Scott Applewhite/AP
    Federal Lawmakers Want to Reauthorize a Major Education Research Law. What Stands in the Way?
    Lawmakers have tried and failed to reauthorize the Education Sciences Reform Act over the past nearly two decades.
    Libby Stanford & Sarah D. Sparks, December 12, 2023
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    7 min read
    Photo illustration of Capitol building and closed sign.
    iStock
    Federal Will the Government Actually Shut Down This Time? What Educators Should Know
    The federal government is once again on the verge of shutting down. Here's why educators should care, but shouldn't necessarily worry.
    Mark Lieberman, November 13, 2023
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    1 min read
    Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office at the Department of Education on Sept. 20, 2023 in Washington.
    Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during an interview in his office at the U.S. Department of Education on Sept. 20, 2023 in Washington.
    Mark Schiefelbein/AP
    Federal Biden Admin. Warns Schools to Protect Students From Antisemitism, Islamophobia
    The U.S. Department of Education released a "Dear Colleague" letter reminding schools of their obligation to address discrimination.
    Libby Stanford, November 7, 2023
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    3 min read
    House Speaker-elect Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., addresses members of Congress at the Capitol in Washington on Oct. 25, 2023. Republicans eagerly elected Johnson as House speaker on Wednesday, elevating a deeply conservative but lesser-known leader to the seat of U.S. power and ending for now the political chaos in their majority.
    House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., addresses members of Congress at the Capitol in Washington on Oct. 25, 2023. Johnson has a supported a number of conservative Republican education priorities in his time in Congress.
    J. Scott Applewhite/AP
    Federal What Educators Should Know About Mike Johnson, New Speaker of the House
    Johnson has supported restructuring federal education funding, as well as socially conservative policies that have become GOP priorities.
    Libby Stanford, October 25, 2023
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    4 min read
    Kimberly Robinson speaks at the kickoff event for the new Education Rights Institute at the University of Virginia School of Law in Charlottesville, Va., on Oct. 16, 2023.
    Kimberly Robinson speaks at the kickoff event for the new Education Rights Institute at the University of Virginia School of Law in Charlottesville, Va., on Oct. 16, 2023.
    Julia Davis, University of Virginia School of Law
    Federal America's Children Don't Have a Federal Right to Education. Will That Ever Change?
    An education scholar is launching a new research and advocacy institute to make the case for a federal right to education.
    Mark Lieberman, October 24, 2023
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    6 min read
    Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office at the Department of Education on Sept. 20, 2023 in Washington.
    Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office at the Department of Education on Sept. 20, 2023, in Washington. In an interview with Education Week, Cardona said "there hasn’t been another president in our lifetime that has spoken so much on providing dollars for education but also having education be central to the growth of this country."
    Mark Schiefelbein/AP
    Federal Q&A Miguel Cardona: There's No 'Magic Strategy' to Help Students Get Back on Track
    Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said he's focused on supporting schools on work they're already doing to help students achieve.
    Libby Stanford, October 19, 2023
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    8 min read
    President Joe Biden greets students at Eliot-Hine Middle School in Washington on Aug. 28, 2023. Biden visited the school, located east of the U.S. Capitol, to mark the District of Columbia's first day of school for the 2023-24 year.
    President Joe Biden greets students at Eliot-Hine Middle School in Washington on Aug. 28, 2023. Biden visited the school, located east of the U.S. Capitol, to mark the District of Columbia's first day of school for the 2023-24 year.
    Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
    Federal The Biden Administration Still Hasn't Defined Its K-12 Agenda. Why?
    With achievement in math and reading hitting its lowest point in decades, some want to see more urgency from the Biden administration.
    Libby Stanford, October 18, 2023
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    11 min read
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