Policy & Politics

Education news, analysis, and opinion about the legislation, guidance, policies and people involved in federal and state government
States A Unique K-12 Ballot Initiative, and Other 2026 Election Highlights
One state would require 'Spar-Spangled Banner' broadcasts in schools. Others would limit taxes.
Matthew Stone
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10 min read
Federal The Future of Education Research: More Partisan and Largely Left to States?
As Trump administration works to change federal grants, outside researchers try to regroup.
Sarah D. Sparks
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6 min read
Education Funding School Funding at the Heart of Massive Protests in France
Secondary students have called out dilapidated buildings, a lack of air conditioning, and inequities across schools.
The Associated Press
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4 min read
Law & Courts Trump Says Title IX Excludes Trans Girls. The Supreme Court Could Weigh In Next
It's the flip side of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding state laws that bar transgender girls.
Mark Walsh
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7 min read
Becky Pepper-Jackson prepares to throw a discus Tuesday, April 7, 2026, at Bridgeport High School in Bridgeport, W.VA.
Becky Pepper-Jackson prepares to throw a discus on April 7, 2026, at Bridgeport High School in Bridgeport, W.Va. Jackson's challenge of a West Virginia law barring transgender girls from girls' athletic teams ended up before the Supreme Court, which upheld the state's law. Now, the court could take on the question of whether Title IX requires that transgender athletes be excluded from teams that match their gender identity.
John Raby/AP
Federal A Top Democrat Breaks Down His Party's Plans for K-12 in a House Majority
If Democrats retake the House, Rep. Bobby Scott may be in a position to set his chamber’s K-12 agenda.
Alyson Klein
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5 min read
Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., speaks during a prayer vigil held by the Chesapeake Coalition of Black Pastors at The Mount (Mount Lebanon Baptist Church) in Chesapeake, Va., Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022, for the six people killed at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Va., when a manager opened fire with a handgun before an employee meeting Tuesday night.
Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., speaks during a prayer vigil in Chesapeake, Va., on Nov. 27, 2022. Scott is the ranking Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives' education committee and will seek the panel's chairmanship if Democrats win a House majority in next month's elections.
Carolyn Kaster/AP
School Choice & Charters Q&A To Compete With School Choice, This Superintendent Turned to Microschools
More school districts have started microschools. George Philhower has started a network of them.
Arianna Prothero
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4 min read
Creative Minds students find their partners during daily family time in Wichita Kansas.
Students find their partners during daily family time on Sept. 15, 2026, at Creative Minds, a microschool run by the public school district in Wichita, Kan. Interest in microschools has surged in recent years, and some school districts are starting their own. One example is in Indiana, where Superintendent George Philhower of the Eastern Hancock district has started the Indiana Microschool Collaborative.
Melissa Lukenbaugh for Education Week
Federal What a Democratic Congress Could Mean for Trump's K-12 Agenda
They may try to reverse—or at least investigate—the Trump admin.'s efforts to dismantle the Ed. Dept.
Alyson Klein
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9 min read
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., the top Democrat in the Republican-majority House, is joined by Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., chair of the House Democratic Caucus, as they criticize President Donald Trump and his policies while talking to reporters about the approaching midterm election, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 17, 2026. He's joined by Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., who chairs the House Democratic Caucus. If Democrats gain a majority of either chamber of Congress after next month's elections, they'll be able to hold oversight hearings on and launch investigations into the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP

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English Learners Webinar How Can School Districts Better Support English Learners With Disabilities?
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Reading & Literacy Spotlight Building Responsive Literacy Systems for Every Learner
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Answer 7 questions about dual enrollment.
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Science Spotlight From Coding to AI Literacy: Rethinking Computer Science Across K-12
Explore how districts can build more inclusive computer science pathways while supporting the teachers who make them possible.
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Reading & Literacy Whitepaper Doing Less to Achieve More: Eastern U.S. Leaders on Literacy
As districts work to sustain evidence-based literay practices, see what Eastern U.S. literacy leaders are choosing to stop, strengthen, a...
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  • Director of the United States Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought walks down a staircase on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 16, 2026.
    Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, walks down a staircase on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 16, 2026. The OMB withheld millions of dollars from the U.S. Department of Education's research arm for months, raising the possibility it wouldn't spend the money on education research and data collection in time for its Sept. 30, 2026, expiration.
    Allison Robbert/AP
    Education Funding Ed. Dept. Meets Research Spending Deadline—But Bigger Funding Challenges Loom
    The Institute of Education Sciences finished spending more than $170 million set to expire Sept. 30.
    Mark Lieberman, September 30, 2026
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    3 min read
    Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., center, confers with Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, talk following a Senate Democratic Caucus meeting, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026.
    Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, (right, speaking with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer) secured a commitment from Education Secretary Linda McMahon to supply additional funding for Native Hawaiian Education Program grantees when the U.S. Department of Education hadn't launched a competition for new grants. The Trump administration practice of abruptly canceling existing competitive education grants has slowed, but the Education Department is using procedures that result in fewer new grants and less stability for funding recipients.
    J. Scott Applewhite/AP
    Education Funding Trump's Ed. Dept. Is Still Disrupting Grants—Just More Quietly Than Before
    The agency is deploying subtler procedures that result in fewer new grants and less stability for recipients.
    Mark Lieberman, September 30, 2026
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    11 min read
    Giant tax funnel drops money into a public school building. Federal tax scholarships, public schools, private schools, charter schools
    Vanessa Solis/Education Week + Getty
    Federal Opinion Public Educators Are Skeptical of the New Federal Tax Credits. They Needn't Be
    Unlike vouchers, the new scholarships can benefit students choosing to attend public schools.
    Deborah A. Gist & Thomas Arnett, September 29, 2026
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    5 min read
    Russell Vought, acting director, Office of Management and Budget, right, and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin listen during a cabinet meeting, Friday, July 31, 2026, at Camp David, the presidential retreat, near Thurmont, Md., Friday, July 31, 2026.
    Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management, listens during a Cabinet meeting on July 31, 2026, at Camp David, the presidential retreat, near Thurmont, Md. The White House has announced an $810 million package of "pocket rescissions," saying it won't spend the congressionally appropriated funds before the end of the 2026 federal fiscal year, which ends Wednesday. The rescissions include nearly $100 million for U.S. Department of Education program.
    Jacquelyn Martin/AP 
    Education Funding Trump, Bucking Congress Yet Again, Cancels $100 Million for Education
    A "pocket rescission" hits programs for migratory farmworkers and college-level language instruction.
    Mark Lieberman, September 28, 2026
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    7 min read
    WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 10: (L to R) Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and Frank O. Bowman III, professor emeritus of law, University of Missouri School of Law arrive to testify before a House Homeland Security Committee hearing titled "Havoc in the Heartland: How Secretary Mayorkas' Failed Leadership Has Impacted the States," at the U.S. Capitol on January 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. House Republicans have started their hearings into impeaching President Biden's Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas.
    Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, second from left, was a defendant in a lawsuit from the Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation challenging a decision from the state's charter school authorizing board that denied the group's bid to open a charter school.
    Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
    Law & Courts Federal Court Ruling Paves Way for Jewish Charter School in Oklahoma
    A federal judge cleared the way for a Florida-based Jewish charter school network to open in the state.
    Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton, Tulsa World, Okla., September 28, 2026
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    4 min read
    NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 13: Local elementary schools participate in the annual Brooklyn Gay Pride Parade, celebrating its 30th year, June 13, 2026 in the Park Slope neighborhood of the borough of Brooklyn, New York City.
    Local elementary schools participate in the annual Brooklyn Gay Pride Parade, celebrating its 30th year on June 13, 2026, in the Park Slope neighborhood of the borough of Brooklyn, New York City. The Trump administration has officially rescinded a Biden-era regulation that extended Title IX's prohibition on sex discrimination to cover discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
    Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images
    Federal Ed. Dept. Officially Kills Biden Rule That Added LGBTQ+ Protections to Title IX
    The Education Department reinstates 2020 Title IX regulations effectively in place since early 2025.
    Mark Walsh, September 28, 2026
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    4 min read

EdWeek Market Brief

Regulation & Policy Exclusive Data How Widely Influential Are State-Approved Materials Lists? K-12 Officials Weigh In.
Approved materials lists created by state education departments are playing a significant role in determining which curriculum products school districts choose, new EdWeek Market Brief data shows.
Emma Kate Fittes
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8 min read
Regulation & Policy Industry Insight Kentucky K-12 Is at an ‘Inflection Point.’ What Education Companies Should Know
More than three decades after Kentucky enacted sweeping reforms that reshaped its public schools, the state is embarking on another significant overhaul of its K-12 system.
David Saleh Rauf
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7 min read
Meeting District Needs Exclusive Data Security Vendors Are Flooding K-12. Which District Officials Have Influence on What Gets Bought?
Superintendents have the most influence over K-12 security purchases, new EdWeek Research Center data show, but finance, technology, operations, security personnel and school leaders all play significant roles in what gets bought.
David Saleh Rauf
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8 min read
Strategy & Operations K-12 Dealmaking McGraw Hill Acquires TeachFX; Brighteye Ventures Secures $72M
Voice-first AI tutoring platform Aristotle has also raised $5 million in seed funding.
Alexandria Ng
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5 min read
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