Policy & Politics

Law & Courts

Education news, analysis, and opinion about court cases, lawsuits, and regulations affecting schools.

See also: Supreme Court, Court Cases, First Amendment, Student Rights

  • The Latest

    Vector illustration of a large hand holding a contract and a smaller man with a large pen signing the contract while a woman in the background is clutching a gold coin and watching as he signs.
    DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
    Law & Courts Trump Can't Require Schools to Certify They Won't Use DEI, Judge Says
    A federal judge appointed by Trump struck down several efforts made by the U.S. Department of Education to curb educators’ use of DEI.
    Brooke Schultz, August 15, 2025
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    4 min read
    This is the Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building in Washington, D.C., on Monday, May 5, 2025.
    The Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building in Washington is shown on May 5, 2025. A federal judge who ordered the department to restore laid-off staffers to its office for civil rights says the agency hasn't "substantially complied" with his order.
    Gene J. Puskar/AP
    Law & Courts Ed. Dept. Hasn't Complied With Order to Restore Civil Rights Staff, Judge Says
    The judge also said a high court ruling allowing layoffs at the Education Department shouldn't affect a separate case on agency cutbacks.
    Brooke Schultz, August 13, 2025
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    4 min read
    Seen is an image of the hat that was included in the complaint.
    Seen is the “Come and take it” hat, featuring an image of an AR-15 style rifle, that was at the center of the First Amendment lawsuit <i>C.S.</i> v. <i>McCrumb</i>.
    U.S. District Court Eastern District of Michigan Southern Division
    Law & Courts Appeals Court Sides With School in ‘Come and Take It’ Gun Hat Dispute
    A full federal appeals court declined to reconsider a panel's decision backing administrators who required a student to remove her gun hat.
    Mark Walsh, August 13, 2025
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    4 min read
    The headquarters of the U.S. Department of Education pictured on March 12, 2025, in Washington.
    The headquarters of the U.S. Department of Education pictured on March 12, 2025, in Washington. A federal appeals court has now cleared a White House efficiency unit to resume accessing the agency’s records as part of a disputed data-review effort.
    Mark Schiefelbein/AP
    Law & Courts Federal Appeals Court Ruling Allows DOGE Access to Education Department Data
    A federal appeals court ruled for the Trump administration in a case brought by the American Federation of Teachers and other plaintiffs.
    Mark Walsh, August 12, 2025
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    3 min read
    A copy of the Ten Commandments is posted along with other historical documents in a hallway of the Georgia Capitol, Thursday, June 20, 2024, in Atlanta. Civil liberties groups filed a lawsuit Monday, June 24, challenging Louisiana’s new law that requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom.
    A copy of the Ten Commandments is posted along with other historical documents in a hallway of the Georgia Capitol on June 20, 2024, in Atlanta. A judge on Aug. 4 blocked a new Arkansas law requiring a Ten Commandments display in public school classrooms in four districts in the state. Similar laws in Louisiana and Texas are also being challenged in courts.
    John Bazemore/AP
    Law & Courts Judge Blocks Arkansas Law Requiring Ten Commandments Displays in Schools
    A federal judge blocked an Arkansas law requiring Ten Commandments displays in schools. The law is one of three being challenged nationwide.
    Mark Walsh, August 5, 2025
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    6 min read
    Students help put away supplies at the end of a reading and writing lesson at the Head Start program run by Easterseals, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government on Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami.
    Students put away supplies at the end of a lesson at the Head Start program run by Easterseals on Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami. The Trump administration reclassified Head Start as a "federal public benefit" similar to welfare so it can bar undocumented students from the early childhood program, but the policy is now on hold in 20 states and the District of Columbia.
    Rebecca Blackwell/AP
    Law & Courts Trump Admin. Pauses Ban on Undocumented Kids in Head Start in These States
    The administration said July 10 that undocumented immigrants were newly ineligible for a range of federally funded services.
    Brooke Schultz, July 28, 2025
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    2 min read
    Students ride tricycles during aftercare at a Head Start program run by Easterseals, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government, Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami.
    Students ride tricycles at a Head Start program run by Easterseals, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government, on Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami. The Trump administration has reclassified Head Start as a "federal public benefit" similar to welfare so it can bar undocumented students from the early childhood program. Twenty-one attorneys general are now suing over that policy change.
    Rebecca Blackwell/AP
    Law & Courts States Sue Over Trump's Ban on Undocumented Youth in Head Start, Early College
    The cost of compliance is so high, the lawsuit argues, some Head Start programs could be forced to close.
    Matthew Stone, July 21, 2025
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    4 min read
    Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs an education overhaul bill into law, March 8, 2023, at the state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark.
    Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs an education overhaul bill into law on March 8, 2023, at the state Capitol in Little Rock. The law includes a provision targeting critical race theory and other ideologies that state lawmakers considered "discriminatory."
    Andrew DeMillo/AP
    Law & Courts Appeals Court Backs Arkansas Law Targeting Critical Race Theory
    A federal appeals court allowed Arkansas to enforce its law barring teachers from "indoctrination" of students in Critical Race Theory.
    Mark Walsh, July 18, 2025
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    3 min read
    Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon outside of the West Wing following a Cabinet meeting at the White House on April 11, 2025 in Washington.
    U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon outside of the West Wing following a Cabinet meeting at the White House on April 11, 2025, in Washington. McMahon is carrying out a Trump administration plan to lay off roughly 1,400 Education Department employees, a move critics say is aimed at dismantling the agency.
    Lenin Nolly/NurPhoto via AP
    Law & Courts Trump Admin. Can Proceed With Ed. Dept. Layoffs, Supreme Court Rules
    The Trump administration asked the justices to set aside an injunction blocking its layoffs of 1,400 Education Department employees.
    Mark Walsh, July 14, 2025
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    6 min read
    Photo illustration of Supreme Court building and U.S. Constitution.
    Education Week + Getty
    Law & Courts Opinion How the Supreme Court Is Making Public Education Itself Unconstitutional
    In a recent ruling, the high court took a step toward effectively outlawing public schools.
    Johann Neem, July 9, 2025
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    5 min read
    This artist sketch depicts Justice Amy Coney Barrett, from left, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Elena Kagan, Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as the Justices announce opinions at the Supreme Court in Washington, on June 27, 2025.
    An artist sketch depicting Justice Amy Coney Barrett, from left, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., Justice Elena Kagan, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as the Justices announce opinions at the Supreme Court in Washington, on June 27, 2025. The Supreme Court on July 3, 2025, announced it will hear cases challenging Idaho and West Virginia laws that bar transgender students from participating in girls’ or women’s school sports, stepping into a high-profile legal battle over transgender rights in schools.
    Dana Verkouteren via AP
    Law & Courts Supreme Court to Weigh State Laws Barring Transgender Athletes in Girls' Sports
    The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take up transgender sports laws from Idaho and West Virginia, among the 27 states that have such laws.
    Mark Walsh, July 3, 2025
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    5 min read
    A new billboard welcoming visitors to "Florida: The Sunshine 'Don't Say Gay or Trans' State," is seen on April 21, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. Florida's state government and LGBTQ+ advocates have settled a lawsuit challenging a law that bars teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools.
    A billboard welcoming visitors to "Florida: The Sunshine 'Don't Say Gay or Trans' State," is seen on April 21, 2022, in Orlando. The billboard was a commentary by an LGBTQ+ rights group on a controversial law backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis regarding the teaching of certain topics. A federal appeals court on July 2 refused to block a related law, one barring teachers from using pronouns or titles that don't match their sex assigned at birth.
    John Raoux/AP
    Law & Courts Appeals Court Backs Fla. Law Barring Transgender Teacher's Use of Her Pronouns
    A federal court upheld Florida’s ban on K-12 teachers using pronouns that differ from their sex assigned at birth when speaking to students.
    Mark Walsh, July 2, 2025
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    4 min read
    Audience members listen as President Joe Biden speaks during an event to celebrate the passage of the "Bipartisan Safer Communities Act," a law meant to reduce gun violence, on the South Lawn of the White House, July 11, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
    Audience members listen as then-President Joe Biden speaks during an event to celebrate the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act on the South Lawn of the White House on July 11, 2022. The legislation provided funding for two school mental health grants that the Trump administration terminated in late April. Sixteen states are now suing to restore the funding.
    Evan Vucci/AP
    Law & Courts 16 States Sue Trump Admin. to Restore Mental Health Grants for Schools
    Democratic state officials are challenging the Education Department ending mental health funding, which had passed with bipartisan support.
    Brooke Schultz, July 1, 2025
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    3 min read
    The U.S. Supreme Court building is seen May 21, 2025 in Washington, D.C.
    The U.S. Supreme Court building is seen May 21, 2025 in Washington. On Friday, the court limited the ability of lower courts to issue universal injunctions that put a policy on hold nationwide. The ruling could affect how a number of cases challenging Trump administration policies proceed.
    Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images
    Law & Courts What a Supreme Court Ruling Means for All the Education Lawsuits Against Trump
    The decision could change the course of education-related cases that have been trickling through the courts since Trump returned to office.
    Brooke Schultz, June 30, 2025
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    8 min read
    Make America Great Again hats are sold alongside other Trump memorabilia for the inauguration of Donald J. Trump on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
    Make America Great Again hats are sold alongside other Trump memorabilia for the inauguration of Donald J. Trump on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Supreme Court on June 30, 2025, declined to hear two cases involving political speech in public schools, including one centered on a student who alleges he was bullied and harassed by classmates and teachers after wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat.
    Apolline Guillerot-Malick/Sipa via AP Images
    Law & Courts Supreme Court Declines to Hear Cases on Teacher, Student Political Speech
    The justices refused to take up the cases of a teacher fired over social media posts and a student who alleged harassment over his MAGA hat.
    Mark Walsh, June 30, 2025
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    5 min read
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