Federal Policy

News, analysis, and opinion about federal education laws, regulations, and proposals—and their impact
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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9 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
Amelia, 16, sits for a portrait in a park near her home in Illinois on Friday, March 24, 2023. “We are so strong and we go through so, so much," says the teenage girl who loves to sing and wants to be a surgeon. Amelia has also faced bullying, toxic friendships, and menacing threats from a boy at school who said she “deserved to be raped."
Education Secretary Linda McMahon speaks during a Senate Appropriations hearing on June 3, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The U.S. Department of Education has revealed new priorities for two mental health grants after it abruptly canceled awards the Biden administration made.
Erin Hooley/AP
Federal No 'Gender Ideology': Ed. Dept.'s New Focus for Mental Health Grants It Yanked
The Trump administration abruptly canceled $1 billion in mental health grants in April that it said reflected Biden-era priorities.
Brooke Schultz, July 16, 2025
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5 min read
Angela Hayes, a nurse practitioner with Jefferson County Public Schools, prepares vaccines for students at Newcomer Academy in Louisville, Ky., on Aug. 8, 2024.
Angela Hayes, a nurse practitioner with the Jefferson County public schools, prepares vaccines for students at Newcomer Academy in Louisville, Ky., on Aug. 8, 2024.
Mary Conlon/AP
Student Well-Being Why RFK Jr.'s Vaccine Views Matter for Schools
This year could bring significant changes to how school-age kids are protected from many viruses.
Arianna Prothero, July 15, 2025
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7 min read
Students make measurements to wood to add to a tiny home project during their shop class at Carrick High School in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Dec. 13, 2022.
Students make measurements to wood to add to a tiny home project during their shop class at Carrick High School in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Dec. 13, 2022. The Trump administration is shifting management of career and technical education programs to the U.S. Department of Labor now that the Supreme Court have given the go-ahead to proceed with downsizing of the U.S. Department of Education.
Nate Smallwood for Education Week
Federal Trump Admin. Starts Moving CTE to Labor Dept. After Supreme Court Order
The Education Department put arrangements to move some of its programs on hold while court battles over downsizing played out.
Brooke Schultz, July 15, 2025
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4 min read
Supporters hold signs and cheer Education Department employees as they leave after retrieving their personal belongings from the Education Department building in Washington on March 24, 2025.
Supporters hold signs and cheer Education Department employees as they leave after retrieving their personal belongings from the Education Department building in Washington on March 24, 2025. The Supreme Court on July 14, 2025, allowed the Trump administration to proceed with department layoffs that a lower-court judge had put on hold.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Federal Hope Shattered for Laid-Off Ed. Dept. Staff After Supreme Court Order
The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to proceed with 1,400 Education Department layoffs.
Brooke Schultz, July 14, 2025
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6 min read
Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon outside of the West Wing following a Cabinet meeting at the White House on April 11, 2025 in Washington.
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon outside of the West Wing following a Cabinet meeting at the White House on April 11, 2025, in Washington. McMahon is carrying out a Trump administration plan to lay off roughly 1,400 Education Department employees, a move critics say is aimed at dismantling the agency.
Lenin Nolly/NurPhoto via AP
Law & Courts Trump Admin. Can Proceed With Ed. Dept. Layoffs, Supreme Court Rules
The Trump administration asked the justices to set aside an injunction blocking its layoffs of 1,400 Education Department employees.
Mark Walsh, July 14, 2025
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6 min read
President Donald Trump speaks at an event to promote his domestic policy and budget agenda in the East Room of the White House on June 26, 2025, in Washington.
President Donald Trump speaks at an event to promote his domestic policy and budget agenda in the East Room of the White House on June 26, 2025, in Washington. Two dozen states have sued the president and others in his administration over its withholding of $6.8 billion in education funds that were supposed to go out to states on July 1.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Education Funding Two Dozen States Sue Trump Over $6.8 Billion School Funding Freeze
The Trump administration violated the U.S. Constitution when it withheld billions from schools in early July, the lawsuit alleges.
Mark Lieberman, July 14, 2025
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7 min read
Photo of U.S. Capitol building.
Education Week + Getty
Teaching Profession Opinion What Teachers Need to Know About Navigating Political Turmoil
Educators share guidance on how to deal with the present moment.
Larry Ferlazzo, July 14, 2025
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1 min read
Concept of the remedy for melancholy and happiness, with a painter who transforms a brick wall into a sunny sky.
iStock/Getty
Education Funding Opinion Trump's Cuts to Schools Will Hit Hard. But Leaders Need More Than Just Money
The federal funding chaos highlights a perennial dynamic in public schools.
Joshua P. Starr, July 11, 2025
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5 min read
Children play during aftercare for the Head Start program at Easterseals South Florida, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government, on Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami.
Children play during aftercare for the Head Start program at Easterseals South Florida, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government, on Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami. The Trump administration said Thursday that undocumented children are ineligible for Head Start and a number of other federally funded programs that the administration is classifying as similar to welfare benefits.
Rebecca Blackwell/AP
Federal Trump Admin. Says Undocumented Students Can't Attend Head Start, Early College
The administration issued notices saying undocumented immigrants don't qualify for Head Start and some Education Department programs.
Brooke Schultz, July 10, 2025
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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 at the White House on July 4, 2025, in Washington. The bill cuts federal spending for Medicaid and food stamps—cuts that stand to affect students and trickle down to schools.
Evan Vucci/AP
Federal How Medicaid, SNAP Changes in Trump's Big Budget Bill Could Affect Schools
The bill will stress a major funding stream schools rely on, leading to ripple effects that make it harder for schools to offer free meals.
Brooke Schultz, July 9, 2025
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6 min read
Collage of images: scissors cutting money, with multicultural kids in background; blue theme.
Liz Yap/Education Week and Getty/E+
Education Funding Interactive See How Much Federal Money Trump Is Holding Back From Your District
Hundreds of districts will lose more than $1 million each, according to a new analysis.
Mark Lieberman, July 8, 2025
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1 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 A D.C. Insider Explains What’s Changed in Education Policy
The biggest thing that people don’t understand about federal education policy? How much the details really matter.
Rick Hess, July 8, 2025
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7 min read
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