Policy & Politics

Education news, analysis, and opinion about the legislation, guidance, policies and people involved in federal and state government
School Choice & Charters Opinion Microschools Are Booming. Will They Have the Funds to Grow?
This venture can help “small schools” secure space, improve facilities, and grow enrollment.
Rick Hess
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6 min read
School Choice & Charters Another Democratic-Leaning State Will Pass on the Federal School Choice Program
Thirty-one states are on track to participate in the first federal tax-credit scholarship program.
Matthew Stone
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4 min read
School Choice & Charters How Can Public Schools Participate in Trump's Federal Choice Program?
The Trump administration has confirmed public schools can receive federal scholarship funds. Here's how.
Matthew Stone, Evie Blad & Mark Lieberman
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7 min read
Education Funding Federal Grant Cuts for English Learners Face Lawsuit
Last year, the federal agency ended 28 grants for training teachers working with English learners.
Ileana Najarro
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5 min read
TahSoGhay Collah, right, teaches a third-grade English learners class at the 700-student intermediate school that serves grades 3 through 5, in Worthington, Minn., on Oct. 22, 2024.
TahSoGhay Collah, right, teaches a third-grade English learners class at the 700-student intermediate school that serves grades 3 through 5, in Worthington, Minn., on Oct. 22, 2024. The Education Department discontinued grants last year that would help develop teachers of English learners.
Jessie Wardarski/AP
Every Student Succeeds Act Trump Admin. Issues Broadest Waiver Yet on School Accountability, Funding
A third state secured new flexibility on how it spends federal school funds and rates high schools.
Matthew Stone & Stephen Sawchuk
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6 min read
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon outside the White House, Wednesday, June 10, 2026, in Washington. Today, the U.S. Department of Education approved Indiana’s Returning Education to the States Waiver, empowering Indiana’s education leaders with greater discretion over their federal education dollars and more flexibility to prioritize college and career readiness in Indiana’s high school accountability system on June 16, 2026.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon outside the White House on June 10, 2026, in Washington. McMahon was in Indiana on Tuesday to announce the state had secured the broadest waiver yet from federal school accountability and funding requirements. It's the third waiver the Trump administration has issued allowing a state relief from federal education requirements.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson /AP
Federal Trump's Justice Dept. Investigates Dozens of Districts Over LGBTQ+ Curricula
The investigations target how schools discuss sexuality and gender identity and whether parents can opt their children out of lessons.
Evie Blad
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8 min read
The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating how 43 school districts in three states teach about sexuality and gender identity and whether they give parents the opportunity to opt their children out of lessons that conflict with their religious beliefs on June 16, 2026.PICTURED, Protesters gather outside the Glendale Unified School District headquarters in Glendale, California, on June 20, 2023. Over 300 people gathered outside the Glendale Unified School District headquarters, as protests continued over the issue of teaching children about same-sex parents and queer issues.
Protesters gather outside the Glendale school district in Glendale, California, on June 20, 2023 over the issue of teaching children about same-sex parents and queer issues. The U.S. Department of Justice is now investigating three other school districts over LGBTQ+ themes in sex ed. and beyond. (The Glendale district is not one of them.)
DAVID SWANSON / AFP via Getty Images
Federal Education Department Moves Special Ed. and Civil Rights to Other Agencies
Special education programs help schools serve more than seven million K-12 students with disabilities nationwide.
Mark Lieberman
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9 min read
A banner featuring a photo of President Donald Trump hangs outside the Department of Justice in Washington on Monday, June 15, 2026.
A banner featuring a photo of President Donald Trump hangs outside the Department of Justice in Washington on Monday, June 15, 2026. The U.S. Department of Education is moving its office for civil rights to the Justice Department as part of a fresh wave of outsourcing.
Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP

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What happens before day one matters. Discover how districts are improving the new hire experience.
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Teaching Profession K-12 Essentials Forum Supporting the New K-12 Workforce: What Teachers Need to Stay at School
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More Policy & Politics

  • Cafeteria worker Nuria Alvarenga serves lunch to students through a service window at Firebaugh High School in Lynwood, Calif. on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Demand for school lunches has increased after California guaranteed free meals to all students regardless of their family's income. Now, districts are preparing to compete with the fast food industry for employees after a new law took effect guaranteeing a $20 minimum wage for fast food workers.
    A cafeteria worker serves students at Firebaugh High School in Lynwood, Calif., on April 3, 2024. School districts are increasingly uncertain about whether they can rely on federal education funds, $7 billion of which were delayed for weeks last July, prompting a more conservative approach to budgeting in some places.
    Richard Vogel/AP
    Education Funding Districts Brace for the Unexpected as Federal Funding Troubles Linger
    Last year's formula funding delay has prompted some districts to budget more cautiously.
    Mark Lieberman, June 11, 2026
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    7 min read
    Education Funding Video Tornado Threats Are a Constant. But Funding for a Safe Room Is Lagging
    A school district has waited four years and counting to begin work on a tornado shelter funded with federal dollars.
    Mark Lieberman & Yi-Jo Shen, June 11, 2026
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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
    Law & Courts Opinion How State Courts Are Quietly Shaping U.S. Education
    In education, the real action is often at the state level, not in Washington, explains Derek Black.
    Rick Hess, June 9, 2026
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    8 min read
    President Donald Trump talks with reporters before boarding Air Force One at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, early on June 9, 2026, as Environmental Protection Agency director Lee Zeldin, left, and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum listen.
    President Donald Trump talks with reporters before boarding Air Force One at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York early on June 9, 2026 as Environmental Protection Agency director Lee Zeldin, left, and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum listen. A federal judge in Boston has struck down Trump's elevated, $100,000 fee for H-1B visas that employers use to hire foreign workers for hard-to-fill positions.
    Mark Schiefelbein/AP
    Law & Courts Federal Judge Strikes Down Trump's $100,000 Fee on New H-1B Visas
    Schools and states say filling teacher and doctor vacancies was hard enough before the fee hike.
    The Associated Press, June 9, 2026
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    3 min read
    A waterfront home, photographed on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Governor DeSantis has pushed property-tax reform for over a year. “The property tax has become a big, big burden for millions of people in this state,” he said on June 1 in highlighting his proposal, which would expand the homestead exemption for property taxes from the current $25,000 to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028.
    A waterfront home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., photographed on Tuesday, May 5, 2026. Gov. Ron DeSantis called a special legislative session this month to consider a major property-tax reduction measure. Lawmakers scaled it back to shield property taxes that make up almost half of school budgets statewide.
    Phelan M. Ebenhack via AP
    States A State Puts Property-Tax Cuts on the Ballot This Fall—But Shields Schools
    Florida lawmakers turned down a more sweeping property-tax reduction plan, leaving school taxes alone.
    Mark Walsh, June 8, 2026
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    3 min read
    The State Board of Education meeting room is pictured on Sept. 26, 2022 inside the William B Travis Building (which houses the Texas Education Agency) in downtown Austin, Texas .
    The Texas State Board of Education meeting room is pictured on Sept. 26, 2022, inside the William B. Travis Building in downtown Austin, Texas. The board will vote later this month on revised standards and a required reading list that include biblical passages.
    Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News via TNS
    States Texas Considers a Bigger Role for Christianity in Schools This Month. Here's How
    The state board will vote on a required reading list that includes biblical passages.
    Silas Allen, The Dallas Morning News, June 5, 2026
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    7 min read

Resources

Assessment Spotlight From Data to Decisions: How Data Should Shape Instruction, Not Just Measure It
Find out how educators are shifting to real-time, strengths-based data to guide teaching, differentiation, and support.
School & District Management Quiz Quiz Yourself: How Much Do You Know About Events and PD for K-12 Educators?
From peer-led sessions to AI training, see how well you understand today’s K-12 professional development priorities.
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Student Achievement Whitepaper Driving Literacy Outcomes Through Effective Implementation
This practical guide helps district and school leaders identify and address implementation challenges, prioritize what matters most using...
Content provided by EPS Learning
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Artificial Intelligence Whitepaper AI in K-12: From Permission to Purpose
AI is already showing up across district workflows — often faster than guidance, alignment, or visibility. Explore new insights from 1,05...
Content provided by Frontline Education
  • CapHillJune05
    Members of the U.S. House appropriations subcommittee for Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education adjourn after approving a 2027 spending bill in an 11-7, party-line vote at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on June 5, 2026. The spending bill from House Republicans cuts $1.6 billion from Title I.
    Marvin Joseph/Education Week
    Education Funding Congress Is Working on a New K-12 Budget. See What's Proposed for Key Programs
    House lawmakers advanced major cuts to Title I and several competitive grant programs.
    Mark Lieberman, June 5, 2026
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    1 min read
    A worker walks amid the Hall of Columns in the House of Representatives at the Capitol in Washington, on Oct. 4, 2023.
    A worker walks amid the Hall of Columns in the House of Representatives at the Capitol in Washington, on Oct. 4, 2023. A U.S. House subcommittee has released a budget bill that includes billions of dollars in education cuts.
    J. Scott Applewhite/AP
    Education Funding House GOP Endorses Education Cuts as Talks on Trump's Budget Begin
    House appropriators want to cut Title I by 9%—a cut President Donald Trump hasn't proposed.
    Mark Lieberman, June 4, 2026
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    5 min read
    Thomas Chalmers Public School sign is seen outside of school in Chicago, Wednesday, July 13, 2022. America's big cities are seeing their schools shrink, with more and more of their schools serving small numbers of students. Those small schools are expensive to run and often still can't offer everything students need (now more than ever), like nurses and music programs. Chicago and New York City are among the places that have spent COVID relief money to keep schools open, prioritizing stability for students and families. But that has come with tradeoffs. And as federal funds dry up and enrollment falls, it may not be enough to prevent districts from closing schools.
    Children are seen outside the Thomas Chalmers Public School in Chicago on July 13, 2022. Under the Trump administration, efforts to address deep-rooted inequities for students of color are being cast as discriminatory against white students. The administration withheld more than $20 million from Chicago schools when the district refused to end its Black Student Success Program.
    Nam Y. Huh/AP
    Federal Trump's Ed. Dept. Backs Away From Addressing Civil Rights for Black Students
    Civil rights attorneys describe the administration’s actions as an inversion of legal history.
    The Associated Press, June 3, 2026
    •
    6 min read
    Image of blurry data and a school building.
    Laura Baker/Education Week + Canva
    Federal Interactive Feds Issue a Slimmed-Down Data Release on U.S. Schools
    The Condition of Education highlights school enrollment, finance, and graduation data.
    Sarah D. Sparks & Maya Riser-Kositsky, May 29, 2026
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    3 min read
    Internal View of the State Capitol. on May 29, 2025, in Albany, New York.
    An internal view of the state capitol in Albany, N.Y., on May 29, 2025. Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed a budget into law that lowers the retirement age for teachers to collect a full pension.
    Kena Betancur/AP
    States New York Teachers Win Lower Retirement Age as Lawmakers Pass Pension Reforms
    New York teachers can retire five years earlier under pension changes included in a state budget package.
    Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News, May 27, 2026
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    3 min read
    The Tennessee Capitol is seen on April 23, 2024, in Nashville.
    The Tennessee Capitol is seen on April 23, 2024, in Nashville. Twice since 2025, lawmakers in the state have failed to pass legislation limiting undocumented students' access to free, public education.
    George Walker IV/AP
    States How One State's Efforts to Limit Undocumented Students’ Rights Failed Again
    Tennessee lawmakers failed to create legislation directly challenging federal law.
    Ileana Najarro, May 22, 2026
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    3 min read

EdWeek Market Brief

Meeting District Needs Exclusive Data Can Vendor-Provided Professional Development Compete With Internal PD?
How useful educators and K-12 leaders find vendor PD can vary by their level of influence on the purchasing decision, as well as what grade level they're focused on, the data show.
Michelle Caffrey
•
7 min read
Sales & Marketing Industry Insight Sales Strategies for a 'Weird' Market: How to Get in the Door with A District Leader
Capitalizing on new opportunities may call for a sales strategy refresh in this market. Getting creative can help unblock a bottleneck.
Scott Elliott
•
6 min read
Education Market Exclusive Data School Districts Are Making Cuts. Here's What Is Being Reduced This Budget Cycle
New EdWeek Market Brief survey data shows the majority of administrators are reducing spending in some categories, and the impact is spread across a broad range of areas that vendors target.
Emma Kate Fittes
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4 min read
Education Market K-12 Market News Join EdWeek Market Brief’s Intel Briefings at ISTE
EdWeek Market Brief's editorial team will offer insights on trends in district policy and purchasing at the upcoming mega ed-tech show.
Scott Elliott
•
2 min read
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