Policy & Politics

Education news, analysis, and opinion about the legislation, guidance, policies and people involved in federal and state government
Federal Ed. Dept. Moves to Shutter Its Office for English Learners
Officials plan to move all federal English-learner programs and duties out of a standalone office.
Ileana Najarro
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6 min read
Law & Courts Minn. Districts Ask Judge to Restore Immigration Enforcement Limits by Schools
Two districts say the policy change hurt attendance and cost them students.
The Associated Press
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3 min read
States Texas' Bible-Infused Reading List Gets an Earful at Public Hearing
The proposal to add Bible stories reflects increasing debate over religion in public school classrooms.
The Associated Press
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4 min read
States 'Not Our Job': Principals Decry a Proposal to Track Student Immigration Status
A principals group has publicly opposed efforts to require schools to track immigration status.
Ileana Najarro
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5 min read
Democratic Senator Raumesh Akbari hugs a young demonstrator as people gather to protest an immigration bill outside the Senate chamber at the state Capitol Thursday, in Nashville, Tenn. The bill would allow public school systems in Tennessee to require K-12 students without legal status in the country to pay tuition or face denial of enrollment, which is a challenge to the federal law requiring all children be provided a free public education regardless of legal immigration status.
Democratic state Sen. Raumesh Akbari hugs a young demonstrator as people protest an immigration bill outside the Senate chamber at the state Capitol on April 10, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. The legislation is part of a broader push in Tennessee to require schools to collect students’ immigration status, raising concerns among educators about trust, access, and compliance with federal law.
John Amis/AP
States A State With a Short School Year Wants to Stop the 'Bleeding' of Classroom Time
A new order aims to discourage districts from reducing instructional hours to fill budget gaps.
Mark Walsh
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4 min read
A teacher and rising kindergarten students at Vose Elementary in Beaverton during story time on April 16, 2026. Gov. Tina Kotek asked the State Board of Education on Thursday to prohibit school districts from using student-contact days as furlough days to balance budgets, in order to preserve instructional time.
Story time in a kindergarten class at Vose Elementary School in Beaverton, Ore., on April 16, 2026. Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has issued an executive order in hopes of blocking any further erosion of instructional time in a state that has one of the shortest school years in the country.
Mark Graves/The Oregonian via TNS
Law & Courts Opinion Why the Supreme Court’s Ruling on Conversion Therapy Matters for Schools
A recent case puts religiously motivated speech ahead of the well-being of LGBTQ+ youth.
Jonathon E. Sawyer
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5 min read
lgbtq student backpack with rainbow spectrum flag on stairs isolated
Education Week + iStock/Getty
States The K-12 Issues That Top Governors' Agendas
Governors' priorities include early literacy, career education, and teacher recruitment.
Evie Blad
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7 min read
MVCS 5100
A classroom is bathed in light in Colorado Springs, Colo., Feb. 12, 2026.
Kevin Mohatt for Education Week

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More Policy & Politics

  • Large hand making pressure over group of small, silhouetted figures. Oppressions, manipulation. Contemporary art collage. Photocopy effect. Concept of world crisis, business, economy, control
    Education Week + iStock
    Federal Opinion We Shouldn’t Have to Choose Between Federal Overreach and Abandonment in K-12
    Why is federal power being used to occupy our cities but not protect our students’ civil rights?
    Sally Iverson, March 4, 2026
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    4 min read
    US NEWS TEXAS SCHOOL VOUCHERS DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT DA
    Kelly Hancock, Texas' acting state comptroller, speaks alongside Gov. Greg Abbott in Richland Hills, Texas, on May 17, 2022, when Hancock was a state senator. Hancock has excluded Islamic schools from Texas' new, $1 billion private school choice program, which he now oversees, according to a new lawsuit.
    Elias Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News via TNS
    School Choice & Charters The Nation's Largest School Choice Program Excludes Muslim Schools, Lawsuit Says
    The largest state to allow public funds for private schooling faces its first legal challenge.
    Jennifer Vilcarino, March 3, 2026
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    4 min read
    Teacher’s aide Amelia Mester, wrapped in a Pride flag, urges Escondido Union High School District not to have employees notify parents if they believe a student may be transgender in November 2025. A policy on the issue in the city’s elementary school district is the subject of a federal class-action lawsuit in which a judge just sided against the district.
    Teacher’s aide Amelia Mester, wrapped in a Pride flag, urges Escondido Union High School District not to have employees notify parents if they believe a student may be transgender at a meeting in November 2025. Two parents and two teachers from the district sued in 2023, challenging California state guidance concerning student gender transitions and parental notification. The U.S. Supreme Court has now reinstated a lower-court decision overturning those state policies.
    Charlie Neuman for The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS
    Law & Courts Supreme Court Backs Parents in School Gender Disclosure Fight
    The Supreme Court restored an injunction blocking California policies on student gender transitions
    Mark Walsh, March 2, 2026
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    8 min read
    New banners of Booker T. Washington, Catharine Beecher and Charlie Kirk hang from the Department of Education, Sunday, March 1, 2026, in Washington.
    New banners of Booker T. Washington, Catharine Beecher, and Charlie Kirk hang from the U.S. Department of Education on March 1, 2026, in Washington.
    Allison Robbert/AP
    Federal Ed. Dept. Hangs Banner of Charlie Kirk Alongside MLK Jr., Ben Franklin
    It's part of a celebration of the nation's 250th anniversary.
    Matthew Stone, March 2, 2026
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    1 min read
    A first grade classroom at a school in Colorado Springs, on Feb. 12, 2026.
    A 1st grade classroom at a school in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Feb. 12, 2026. The U.S. Department of Education released a proposal to rework a decades-old program charged with helping states and school districts problem-solve and deploy new initiatives, calling the current structure “duplicative” and “confusing.”
    Kevin Mohatt for Education Week
    Federal Ed. Dept. Wants to Revamp Assistance Program It Calls 'Duplicative,' 'Confusing'
    The department's Comprehensive Centers have already been through a year of shakeups.
    Matthew Stone, March 2, 2026
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    3 min read
    The U.S. Department of Education building is pictured on Oct. 24, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
    The U.S. Department of Education building in Washington is pictured on Oct. 24, 2025. A new report from a department adviser calls for major overhauls to the agency's research arm to facilitate timely research and easier-to-use guides for educators and state leaders.
    Maansi Srivastava for Education Week
    Federal Will the Ed. Dept. Act on Recommendations to Overhaul Its Research Arm?
    An adviser's report called for more coherence and sped-up research awards at the Institute of Education Sciences.
    Stephen Sawchuk & Matthew Stone, February 27, 2026
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    6 min read
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Resources

Student Well-Being & Movement Spotlight Spotlight on Creating Safe Havens: Confronting Digital Threats and Supporting Student Well-Being
This Spotlight explores how creating safe havens and confronting digital threats supports student and staff well-being.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
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Artificial Intelligence Sponsor Assessing Students When AI Has All the Answers
How can we ensure students are truly learning and expressing their own understanding, not just outsourcing their thinking to AI?
Content provided by ViewSonic
Special Education Spotlight Spotlight on Unlocking Potential: Building Resilience and Support for Students with Dyslexia
This Spotlight examines dyslexia, the need for social-emotional support, the value of early screening, and the key role teachers and schools play.
Artificial Intelligence Spotlight Spotlight on AI in Education: Save Time, Scale Programs, and Prioritize The Human Connection
This Spotlight will explore how AI is helping educators save time, scale programs, and refocus on what matters most—students.
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  • A third-grade teacher at the Mountain View Elementary School's Global Immersion Academy in Morganton, N.C. works with her students in the Spanish portion of the program. With the inaugural class of the Global Immersion Academy (GIA) at at the school entering fourth grade this year, Burke County Public Schools is seeing more signs of success for its dual language program.
    A teacher in a North Carolina dual-language program works with her students. In his latest budget proposal, President Donald Trump once again proposes to eliminate the $890 million fund that pays for supplemental services for English learners. Schools can use Title III funds for costs tied to dual-language programs that educate English learners.
    Jason Koon/The News-Herald via AP
    Education Funding Trump's Budget Proposes Billions in K-12 Cuts. Will They Happen?
    Trump is proposing level funding for Title I, a modest boost for special education, and major cuts elsewhere.
    Mark Lieberman, April 7, 2026
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    6 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
    School Choice & Charters Opinion Can School Choice Programs Stamp Out Fraud While Staying Flexible?
    With the rollout of the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program, transparency is vital.
    Rick Hess, April 7, 2026
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    7 min read
    AB Hernandez, a transgender student at Jurupa Valley High School, packs up her belongings under a canopy as athletes compete in the boys 4x800 meter relay at the California high school track-and-field championships in Clovis, Calif., Saturday, May 31, 2025.
    AB Hernandez, a transgender student at Jurupa Valley High School, packs up her belongings under a canopy as athletes compete at the California high school track-and-field championships in Clovis, Calif., on May 31, 2025. The Trump administration said Monday it has terminated agreements previous administrations reached with five school districts and a college aimed to uphold rights and protections for transgender students.
    Jae C. Hong/AP
    Federal Trump Admin. Terminates Several Agreements to Protect Transgender Students
    The Education Department terminated civil rights agreements under Title IX with five school districts and a college.
    The Associated Press, April 6, 2026
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    1 min read
    Tina Descovich poses for a portrait Monday, March 23, 2026, in Washington.
    Tina Descovich poses for a portrait Monday, March 23, 2026, in Washington. The co-founder of Moms for Liberty estimates she's been to the White House a dozen times since the start of the second Trump administration, which has leaned in to many of the culture war battles the organization started fighting at the school board level five years ago.
    Allison Robbert/AP
    Federal Moms for Liberty Wanted School Board Seats. They Got a Voice in the White House
    Moms for Liberty is being embraced by the Trump administration and gaining new influence in national decisions.
    The Associated Press, April 6, 2026
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    6 min read
    Illustration of a child with a backpack looking at game pieces and board from THE GAME OF LIFE.
    Laura Baker/Education Week + iStock
    States 'Success Sequence' Urges Marriage, Then Parenthood. These States Want Schools to Teach It
    The decades-old concept is getting new attention, largely from Republican lawmakers.
    Evie Blad, April 3, 2026
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    6 min read
    The Senate and the Capitol Dome are illuminated in Washington, early Thursday, April 2, 2026, as Congress meets in a short, pro forma session.
    The Senate and the Capitol dome are illuminated in Washington early in the day on Thursday, April 2, 2026. For the second year in a row, the White House budget proposes major cuts to federal education programs that the Republican-led Congress rejected last year.
    J. Scott Applewhite/AP
    Education Funding Trump Again Proposes Major Education Cuts in New Budget Proposal
    The president again wants lawmakers to consider billions in K-12 spending cuts and program eliminations.
    Mark Lieberman, April 3, 2026
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    7 min read
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EdWeek Market Brief

Education Market Tracker Curriculum Adoption Cycles: Which States Are Building Approved Lists?
A state-by-state look at which curriculum adoption cycles are up next, and which subjects will be up for review and approvals, tracked by EdWeek Market Brief
Emma Kate Fittes & Maya Riser-Kositsky
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2 min read
Regulation & Policy Industry Insight The Education Industry is Losing its 'Social License' to Innovate With Tech. Here's How to Earn it Back
For Erin Mote, the widespread sentiment that kids spend too much time on their screens, and the sweeping push in statehouses across the country to quickly create laws to set hard limits on technology use at school, has meant a busy start to 2026.
Scott Elliott
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9 min read
Strategy & Operations Exclusive Data What Actually Gets Educators’ Attention at K-12 Conferences
EdWeek Market Brief survey data asks educators about the types of interactions that would lead them to want to learn more about a product.
Alexandria Ng
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6 min read
Regulation & Policy K-12 Market News 3 Ways State ESSA Waivers May Change the K-12 Market — And 3 Ways They Don't
Two experts weigh in on how the new federal funding waivers in two states may — or may not — affect the K-12 market.
Emma Kate Fittes
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6 min read
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