Policy & Politics

Federal

Education news, analysis, and opinion about federal education policies and federal officials.
  • 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
    •
    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
    •
    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
    •
    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
    •
    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
    •
    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
    •
    8 min read
    Deputy Secretary of Education nominee Penny Schwinn, left, and Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights nominee Kimberly Richey prior to testifying before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee about their nominations for the Department of Education in Washington, D.C., on June 5, 2025.
    Penny Schwinn, left, and Kimberly Richey speak prior to testifying before the U.S. Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee in Washington on June 5, 2025. Schwinn is President Donald Trump's nominee to serve as deputy secretary in the U.S. Department of Education. Richey is Trump's nominee to lead the department's office for civil rights.
    Jason Andrew for Education Week
    Federal Republicans Press Top Ed. Dept. Nominees to Commit to Trump's Agenda
    Penny Schwinn and Kimberly Richey appeared before lawmakers for leadership in the department.
    Brooke Schultz, June 5, 2025
    •
    6 min read
    A hand on the scale weighed against a pile of books.
    DigitalVision Vectors/Getty + Education Week
    Federal Opinion 'Narrower, Meaner, and More Loyal:' Trump’s Ed. Agenda Hurts Students Like Me
    How President Trump is weaponizing education policy—and why it matters.
    J.T. Vazquez, June 3, 2025
    •
    4 min read
    Education Week opinion letters submissions
    Gwen Keraval for Education Week
    Federal Letter to the Editor We Need More Options, Not Bureaucracy, For a Better Educated Public
    More federal involvement won’t fix what ails education, says this policy analyst.
    June 3, 2025
    •
    1 min read
    A marquee outside the Massapequa High School is backdropped by a "Chiefs" mascot mural, in Massapequa, N.Y., on April 25, 2025.
    A marquee outside Massapequa High School in Massapequa, N.Y., is backdropped by a Chiefs mascot mural on April 25, 2025. The U.S. Department of Education is backing the district's attempts to hold onto the mascot despite state rules forbidding such depictions of Native Americans.
    Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
    Federal Trump Admin. Gives New York 10 Days to End Its Ban on Native American Mascots
    The decision marks a reversal in a nationwide effort to retire Native American school mascots.
    Brooke Schultz, May 30, 2025
    •
    8 min read
    Tennessee Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn is greeted by students at Fairmount Elementary in Bristol, Tenn., on Monday morning, June 14, 2021, during her "Accelerating TN Tour 2021." The students at Fairmount are taking part in the Summer S.T.R.E.A.M. Camp.
    Penny Schwinn, then the commissioner of education in Tennessee, is greeted by students at Fairmount Elementary in Bristol, Tenn. on June 14, 2021. Schwinn, President Donald Trump's nominee to serve as deputy secretary of education, will appear before senators on June 5 for her confirmation hearing.
    David Crigger/Bristol Herald Courier via AP
    Federal Top Trump Ed. Dept. Nominee Penny Schwinn Makes Her Case to Senators Next Week
    Schwinn, a former Tennessee state schools chief who has drawn bipartisan praise, has a confirmation hearing scheduled for June 5.
    Brooke Schultz, May 29, 2025
    •
    5 min read
    Tue., May 27, 2025, 2:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. ET
    Federal Webinar The Trump Budget and Schools: 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
    May 27, 2025
    Trump legal lawsuits
    Laura Baker/Education Week via Canva
    Federal What 100 Ed. Dept. Investigations Say About Trump's Agenda for Schools
    Education Week has confirmed 100 Education Department investigations aligned with key Trump administration priorities.
    Brooke Schultz, May 22, 2025
    •
    10 min read
    Alejandra Rodriguez, 9, of Key Largo, Fla., watches as college students protest in support of the Department of Education, Thursday, March 20, 2025, outside the department in Washington.
    Nine-year-old Alejandra Rodriguez of Key Largo, Fla., watches as college students protest in support of the Department of Education on March 20, 2025, outside the federal agency in Washington. A federal judge has ordered the department to reinstate all staff it has terminated since President Donald Trump's inauguration.
    Jacquelyn Martin/AP
    Federal Judge Tells Trump Admin. to Reverse Education Department Layoffs
    The order also blocks the transfer of department functions to other agencies as well as an executive order aimed at dismantling the agency.
    Brooke Schultz, May 22, 2025
    •
    7 min read
    Load More ▼