Federal Policy

News, analysis, and opinion about federal education laws, regulations, and proposals—and their impact
Illustration of 2 hands cutting paper dolls with scissors, representing staffing layoffs.
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Law & Courts Judge Halts Trump Admin.'s Layoffs at Ed. Dept. and Other Agencies
More than 400 workers at the diminished agency had been told their last day would be Dec. 9.
Brooke Schultz, October 15, 2025
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5 min read
Students from Rosebud Elementary School perform in a drum circle during a meeting about abusive conditions at Native American boarding schools at Sinte Gleska University on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in Mission, S.D., on Oct. 15, 2022.
Students from Rosebud Elementary School perform in a drum circle on Oct. 15, 2022. The Todd County district, which includes the Rosebud school, relies on the federal Impact Aid program for nearly 40 percent of its annual budget. Impact Aid payments are on hold during the federal shutdown, and the Trump administration has laid off the federal employees who administer the program.
Matthew Brown/AP
Education Funding Many Districts Will Lose Federal Funds Until the Shutdown Ends
And if federal layoffs go through, the Ed. Dept. would lack staff to send out the funds afterward, too.
Mark Lieberman, October 15, 2025
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7 min read
The exterior of the U.S. Department of Education building is pictured on Oct. 11, 2025, in Washington.
The exterior of the U.S. Department of Education building is pictured on Oct. 11, 2025, in Washington. The agency on Tuesday told more than 250 office for civil rights employees they've been laid off, just days after starting another round of layoffs during the federal government shutdown.
Aaron M. Sprecher via AP
Federal Ed. Dept. Tells More Than 250 Civil Rights Staff They've Been Laid Off
The layoffs come just days after the agency began a new round of staff reductions during the shutdown.
Brooke Schultz, October 14, 2025
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4 min read
Itinerant teacher April Wilson works with Zion Stewart at Bond County Early Childhood Center in Greenville, Ill., on Sept. 29, 2025.
Teacher April Wilson, who works with visually impaired students, works with a student at Bond County Early Childhood Center in Greenville, Ill., on Sept. 29, 2025. The latest round of layoffs at the U.S. Department of Education will leave the federal office of special education programs with few staffers.
Michael B. Thomas for Education Week
Federal Ed. Dept. Offices Will Be Virtually Wiped Out in Latest Layoffs
The U.S. Department of Education is losing about a fifth of its already diminished workforce.
Mark Lieberman & Brooke Schultz, October 13, 2025
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9 min read
Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought speaks to reporters after Democratic and Republican Congressional leaders met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Sept. 29, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought speaks to reporters after Democratic and Republican congressional leaders met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Sept. 29, 2025. Vought announced Friday that federal layoffs during the shutdown have begun, and those layoffs will hit the U.S. Department of Education.
Allison Bailey/NurPhoto via AP
Federal A New Wave of Federal Layoffs Will Hit the Education Department
Multiple divisions will lose staff members, according to the union representing agency staffers.
Brooke Schultz, October 10, 2025
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3 min read
Penelope Koutoulas holds signs supporting school choice in a House committee meeting on education during a special session of the state legislature Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn.
Penelope Koutoulas holds signs supporting school choice in a House committee meeting on education during a special session of the state legislature on Jan. 28, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. The federal government has made its biggest push yet for school choice under the Trump administration.
George Walker IV/AP
School Choice & Charters Private School Choice Gets Supercharged in Trump's 2nd Term
At the same time, his administration is pledging to dial back the federal role in education.
Brooke Schultz, October 9, 2025
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6 min read
Itinerant teacher April Wilson works with student Ryker Elam at Greenville Elementary on Sept. 29, 2025 in Greenville, Ill.
Ryker Elam works with itinerant teacher April Wilson at Greenville Elementary on Sept. 29, 2025, in Greenville, Ill. Wilson is a teacher of the visually impaired who works at schools across rural Illinois. A Braille training program Wilson enrolled in this fall was among dozens of special education-related programs for which the U.S. Department of Education has ended grant funding.
Michael B. Thomas for Education Week
Special Education Trump Funding Cuts Hit Particularly Hard for Deaf and Blind Children
Programs supporting students with rare, complex disabilities have lost millions of federal dollars.
Mark Lieberman, October 7, 2025
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13 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
School Choice & Charters Opinion What Could the New Federal Tuition Tax Credit Mean for School Choice?
Just what this new program will mean for your state is still uncertain.
Rick Hess, October 7, 2025
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7 min read
School entrance with a flag in background.
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Federal How the Federal Government Shutdown Is Affecting Schools: A Tracker
Education Week monitored how the federal government's shutdown affected schools and other education functions.
Mark Lieberman, October 3, 2025
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1 min read
A tangle of wires and missed connections among institutions.
Islenia Mil for Education Week
Leadership 5 Big Ideas That Will Define the Future of Education
With massive federal changes and looming questions about AI, K-12 education is at a crossroads.
Elizabeth Rich, October 3, 2025
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1 min read
AB Hernandez, a transgender student at Jurupa Valley High School, competes in the high jump at the California high school track-and-field championships in Clovis, Calif., May 31, 2025.
AB Hernandez, a transgender female student at Jurupa Valley High School, competes in the high jump at the California high school track and field championships in Clovis, Calif., on May 31. The U.S. Supreme Court in its new term will consider state laws that prohibit transgender girls and women from competing in female athletics.
Jae C. Hong/AP
Law & Courts New Supreme Court Term Puts Transgender Student Rights in the Spotlight
The justices will weigh state laws that bar transgender girls from female athletics, amid other issues of interest to educators in new term
Mark Walsh, October 2, 2025
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8 min read
A leader standing at the bow of a ship looks into a telescope and through the fog.
iStock/Getty Images
School & District Management Opinion 3 Tips to Help Principals Handle the Government Shutdown
When the federal government shuts down, the ripple effects eventually reach schools.
Meagan Booth, October 2, 2025
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3 min read
People stop to take photos of the U.S. Capitol building on Oct. 2, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
People stop to take photos of the U.S. Capitol building on Oct. 2, 2025, in Washington. Out-of-office email messages from U.S. Department of Education employees during the government shutdown blame Democrats for the lapse in funding. Employees said the messages were set without their permission.
Samuel Corum/Sipa via AP
Federal Ed. Dept. Out-of-Office Emails Changed to Blame Democrats for Shutdown, Staff Say
Staffers say they were instructed to use nonpartisan messages, then they were changed.
Brooke Schultz, October 2, 2025
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4 min read
Eleazar Sepulveda, an educator from Chile, teaches kindergarten at Veteran’s Hill Elementary School in Round Rock, Texas.
Eleazar Sepulveda, an educator from Chile, teaches kindergarten at Veteran’s Hill Elementary School in Round Rock, Texas. U.S. school districts hire international teachers to fill staffing gaps using J-1 and H-1B visas. A new $100,000 fee for H-1B visas has some concerned about future hiring plans.
Lauren Santucci/Education Week
Recruitment & Retention Behind the Push to Exempt International Teachers from a New $100,000 Visa Fee
Lawmakers are pressing to exempt international teachers from a new $100,000 visa fee.
Evie Blad, September 30, 2025
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5 min read
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