Policy & Politics

Federal

Education news, analysis, and opinion about federal education policies and federal officials.
  • 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
    From left, Quentin J. Lee, superintendent of Talladega City Schools, Keith Konyk, superintendent of Elizabeth Forward School District, and Eric Mackey, Alabama's state superintendent of education, discuss the latest K-12 policy changes at the ISTELive 25 + ASCD Annual Conference 25 on July 2, 2025.
    From left, Quentin J. Lee, superintendent of Talladega City Schools in Alabama; Keith Konyk, superintendent of Elizabeth Forward School District in Pennsylvania; and Eric Mackey, Alabama's state superintendent of education, discuss the latest K-12 policy changes at the ISTELive 25 + ASCD Annual Conference 25 on July 2, 2025.
    Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
    Federal What Superintendents Think About a Steady Clip of Federal K-12 Changes
    A state superintendent and two district leaders shared their thoughts on the latest changes coming from Washington.
    Jennifer Vilcarino, July 3, 2025
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    4 min read
    The Senate side of the Capitol is seen in Washington, early Monday, June 30, 2025, as Republicans plan to begin a final push to advance President Donald Trump's big tax breaks and spending cuts package.
    The Senate side of the Capitol is seen in Washington early on June 30, 2025, hours before Republicans narrowly passed President Donald Trump's big tax breaks and spending cuts package. The bill includes the first major federal private school choice program.
    J. Scott Applewhite/AP
    Federal The Senate Passed a Federal Voucher Program. What's in It?
    The measure would create a national program funding private school tuition through tax credits, though states would have to opt in.
    Brooke Schultz, July 2, 2025
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    7 min read
    Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., center, joined from left by, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the GOP whip, Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks to reporters after passage of the budget reconciliation package of President Donald Trump's signature bill of big tax breaks and spending cuts, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on July 1, 2025.
    Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., center, joined from left by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the GOP whip; Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho; and Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks to reporters after passage of the budget reconciliation package of President Donald Trump's signature bill of big tax breaks and spending cuts, at the U.S. Capitol on July 1, 2025. The bill includes the first major federal investment in a private school choice program.
    J. Scott Applewhite/AP
    Federal Senate Narrowly Passes Trump’s Big Tax Breaks and Spending Cuts Bill
    The bill goes back to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson warned off big revisions from his chamber’s version.
    The Associated Press, July 1, 2025
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    5 min read
    Penny Schwinn, nominee for deputy secretary of education for the Department of Education, and Kimberly Richey, nominee for assistant secretary for civil rights in the Department of Education, appear before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee in Washington, D.C., on June 5, 2025.
    Penny Schwinn, the nominee for deputy secretary of education for the U.S. Department of Education, appears before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee in Washington on June 5, 2025. Both she and the Trump administration's nominee for the agency's office of civil rights are now cleared for a full vote by the Senate.
    Jason Andrew for Education Week
    Federal Penny Schwinn Advances for Full Senate Approval for Ed. Dept.'s No. 2 Job
    A U.S. Senate education committee advanced the nominations of Schwinn and Kimberly Richey for a full chamber vote.
    Brooke Schultz, June 27, 2025
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    2 min read
    Image of a bulb ("idea") with a broken piece that is shining bright.
    shinpanu thamvisead/iStock/Getty
    Federal Opinion The U.S. Department of Education Could Be Dismantled. This Is Good News
    Reenvisioning the federal government’s role will not undermine teachers’ work—and might well improve it.
    Jim Blew, June 25, 2025
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    4 min read
    AB Hernandez, center, claps with Kira Gant Hatcher, right, during a medal ceremony for the triple jump at the California high school track-and-field championships in Clovis, Calif., on May 31, 2025.
    AB Hernandez, a transgender teen athlete, center, claps during a medal ceremony for the triple jump at the California high school track-and-field championships in Clovis, Calif., on May 31, 2025. The U.S. Department of Education has found the state in violation of Title IX for its transgender athlete policy.
    Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP
    Federal California Violated Title IX Over Transgender Athletes, Ed. Dept. Concludes
    The U.S. Department of Education said the state's school sports policies for transgender athletes violated female students' rights.
    Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times, June 25, 2025
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    2 min read
    The rainbow Pride flag flutters from the flag pole at the state Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., on June 17, 2019.
    The rainbow Pride flag flutters from the flag pole at the state Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., on June 17, 2019. The Trump administration has ordered California to remove all references to gender identity from a sex education curriculum or risk losing federal funds.
    Rich Pedroncelli/AP
    Federal Trump Admin. Orders California to Remove Gender Identity From Sex Ed Curriculum
    The state has 60 days to make the change or it risks losing federal funds.
    Brooke Schultz, June 24, 2025
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    4 min read
    Jane Hodgdon, a former 25 year employee of the US Department of Education, stands for a portrait with her dog Maxine, while touring Shelby County Public Schools’ Magic School Bus summer program on Thursday, June 5, 2025 in Simpsonville, Kentucky.
    Jane Hodgdon stands with her dog Maxine while touring Shelby County Public Schools’ Magic School Bus summer program on Thursday, June 5, 2025 in Simpsonville, Ky. After an abrupt end to her 25-year career at the U.S. Department of Education, Hodgdon embarked on a road trip to visit schools and educators she had worked with during her time at the federal agency.
    Luke Sharrett for Education Week
    Federal An Ed. Dept. Staffer's 6,000-Mile Journey to Find Closure After Abrupt Job Loss
    Jane Hodgdon took to the road to visit schools she had worked with in her 25 years at the U.S. Department of Education.
    Caitlynn Peetz, June 20, 2025
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    7 min read
    Runners take off from the starting line for the 2A girls championship cross country race on Oct. 28, 2023, at the Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
    Runners take off from the starting line for the 2A girls championship cross-country race on Oct. 28, 2023, at the Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Trump administration is proposing a change to a school athletics rule under Title IX, but doing it through the U.S. Department of Energy rather than the Department of Education.
    Parker Seibold/The Gazette via AP
    Federal The U.S. Department of Energy Is Trying to Change a Title IX Rule. Why?
    Proposals from the U.S. Department of Energy show buy-in from across the administration for the president's view of gender identity.
    Brooke Schultz, June 19, 2025
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    6 min read
    Tue., June 17, 2025, 2:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. ET
    Federal Webinar Keeping Up with the Trump Administration's Latest K-12 Moves: Subscriber-Exclusive Quick Hit
    EdWeek subscribers, join this 30-minute webinar to find out what the latest federal policy changes mean for K-12 education.
    Register
    June 17, 2025
    A Morehouse College student lines up before the school commencement, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. The Education Department announced on July 18, 2024, that it is cancelling an additional $1.2 billion in student loans for borrowers who work in public service.
    A Morehouse College student lines up before the school commencement on May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. The U.S. Department of Education had started to work with the U.S. Department of the Treasury on transferring its student loan portfolio, a new court filing shows.
    Seth Wenig/AP
    Federal Trump Admin. Was Moving Ed. Dept. Programs Elsewhere Before a Court Intervened
    The department had penned agreements with the U.S. departments of Labor and the Treasury to move programs, but was halted by court order.
    Brooke Schultz, June 11, 2025
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    8 min read
    A copy of Project 2025 is held during the Democratic National Convention, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago.
    A copy of Project 2025 is held during the Democratic National Convention, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. The Trump administration has added the author of the conservative policy document's chapter on education to the U.S. Department of Education's staff.
    J. Scott Applewhite/AP
    Federal Trump Admin. Adds Project 2025 Author to Education Department Staff
    The appointment comes as Trump has already begun to embrace plans outlined in the controversial 900-page conservative policy agenda.
    Brooke Schultz, June 9, 2025
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    4 min read
    Phil Rosenfelt, center, an attorney with the Office of the General Counsel at the Department of Education, is greeted by supporters after retrieving personal belongings from the Education Department building in Washington on March 24, 2025.
    Phil Rosenfelt, center, an attorney with the office of general counsel at the U.S. Department of Education, is greeted by supporters after retrieving personal belongings from the Education Department building in Washington on March 24, 2025, the last day of work for hundreds of agency employees. The Trump administration has had to bump back the day it planned to stop paying laid-off staff.
    Jose Luis Magana/AP
    Federal Trump Admin. Pauses Ed. Dept. Layoffs After Judge's Order
    The U.S. Department of Education is slowly complying with a federal court order to reinstate staff.
    Brooke Schultz, June 6, 2025
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    3 min read
    Members of the City Year program work at Isaac Newton Middle School for Math and Science in East Harlem during the MLK Day of Service on Jan. 20, 2025, in New York City.
    Members of the City Year program work at Isaac Newton Middle School for Math and Science in East Harlem during the MLK Day of Service on Jan. 20, 2025, in New York City. City Year places AmeriCorps volunteers in underserved schools, but cuts to the federal service agency have led City Year to scale back some of its AmeriCorps volunteer-powered programs.
    Courtesy of City Year New York
    Federal Tutoring, After-School, and Other Student Services at Risk as Trump Cuts AmeriCorps
    Deep cuts to programs across the federal government have left students without programming they'd come to count on.
    Brooke Schultz, June 6, 2025
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    8 min read
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