Policy & Politics

Members of the U.S. Supreme Court sit for a new group portrait following the addition of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, at the court building in Washington, Oct. 7, 2022. On Feb. 20, 2026, the court ruled 6-3 to strike down President Donald Trump's broad tariff policies, ruling that they were not authorized by the federal statute that he cited for them.

Caps and gowns at the June 10, 2025, graduation at Francis T. Maloney High School in Meriden, Conn., bore stickers reading “WE STAND TOGETHER” and “ESTAMOS UNIDOS” after a graduating student and his father were detained by federal immigration officers days before the ceremony. A new analysis reveals both progress and a persistent gap, presenting an opportunity for schools to close the gap of undocumented students not graduating.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks to reporters outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on Nov. 5, 2025, with Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield behind him. Bonta this week sued the U.S. Department of Education, asking a court to block the agency's finding that the state is violating FERPA by <ins data-user-label="Matt Stone" data-time="02/13/2026 4:22:45 PM" data-user-id="00000185-c5a3-d6ff-a38d-d7a32f6d0001" data-target-id="">not requiring schools to disclose</ins> students’ gender transitions <ins data-user-label="Matt Stone" data-time="02/13/2026 4:22:45 PM" data-user-id="00000185-c5a3-d6ff-a38d-d7a32f6d0001" data-target-id="">to</ins> parents.

Football players at Bob Jones High School in Madison, Ala., pray after morning workouts before the rest of the school day on March 29, 2024. New guidance from the U.S. Department of Education says students and educators can pray at school, as long as the prayer isn't school-sponsored and disruptive to school and classroom activities, and students aren't coerced to participate.

Ben Gamla Charter Schools founder and former U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch, right, speaks with Brett Farley, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Oklahoma, before a Jan. 12, 2026, meeting of the Statewide Charter School Board in Oklahoma City. The board rejected the proposed Jewish charter school on Feb. 9, 2026.

A U.S. Supreme Court police officer walks in front of the court amid renovations in Washington, on Dec. 8, 2025. The court took several actions in education cases, including ordering a lower court to take a fresh look at a lawsuit challenging a New York state law that ended religious exemptions to school vaccinations.

A student visits a sensory room at an elementary school in Topeka, Kan., on Nov. 3, 2021. Schools have expanded their student mental health services in recent years, many with support from hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants that the Trump administration pulled earlier this year and have since been caught up in legal proceedings.

First-grade student Brennen Marquardt, 6, looks out the bus window at Friess Lake Middle School on Sept. 4, 2018, the first year of operations for the newly consolidated Holy Hill district in Richfield, Wis. The district was the most recent to consolidate in Wisconsin, which is among the states where lawmakers are exploring ways to force or incentivize district mergers.

President Donald Trump signs an executive order to on birthright citizenship in the Oval Office on Jan. 20, 2025. The U.S. Supreme Court will consider the legality of Trump's effort to limit birthright citizenship, another immigration policy that could affect schools.