Policy & Politics

Education news, analysis, and opinion about the legislation, guidance, policies and people involved in federal and state government
Federal Trump Admin. Sues Minnesota Over Transgender Athletes in Girls' Sports
It's the third state the Trump administration has sued over transgender participation in athletics.
The Associated Press
•
2 min read
Law & Courts Birthright Citizenship Case Raises Stakes for Schools and Undocumented Students
Educators are paying close attention to the case on Trump's birthright citizenship order.
Mark Walsh
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10 min read
States A State Gets Closer to Challenging Undocumented Students' Free Access to School
Lawmakers are debating legislation that would require schools to collect immigration information.
Ileana Najarro
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4 min read
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
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7 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
Law & Courts Supreme Court Seems Poised to Reject Trump's Birthright Order
Trump’s attendance in the birthright citizenship case marked the first time a sitting president has done this.
The Associated Press
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6 min read
President Donald Trump leaves the Supreme Court, on April 1, 2026, in Washington.
President Donald Trump leaves the Supreme Court on April 1, 2026, in Washington. The justices signaled skepticism of Trump’s bid to restrict birthright citizenship.
Anthony Peltier/AP
Federal Tracker See Which Ed. Dept. Programs Are Moving to New Agencies: A Tracker
K-12 and higher education programs are heading to new agencies as part of Trump administration downsizing.
Mark Lieberman
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1 min read
Photo collaged image of the U.S. Department of Education shattering.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + AP + Getty
Federal Meet the Trump Cabinet Secretaries Taking Over Ed. Dept. Programs
The U.S. Department of Education is shifting more than 100 programs to other federal agencies.
Mark Lieberman
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1 min read
President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, on March 26, 2026, in Washington.
President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, on March 26, 2026, in Washington. Six Cabinet members are now on track to have a hand in managing U.S. Department of Education programs.
Alex Brandon/AP

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More Policy & Politics

  • The Capitol Building in Washington on Sept. 1, 2025. Congress returned from August recess this week to tackle several high profile hearings and face a September 30 deadline to fund the federal government.
    The Capitol Building in Washington on Sept. 1, 2025. Congress faces a deadline within weeks to fund the federal government for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1. President Donald Trump has proposed big changes for school funding that lawmakers must decide whether to accept, reject, or modify.
    Aaron Schwartz/SIPA USA via AP
    Education Funding Your Guide to the Evolving Federal Budget and What It Means for Schools
    Lawmakers have a few weeks to agree on a new budget and an approach to Trump's funding uncertainty.
    Mark Lieberman, September 4, 2025
    •
    9 min read
    A LifeWise Academy bus drops off students.
    A LifeWise Academy bus drops off students.
    LifeWise Academy
    States More States Guarantee Students the Right to Religious Instruction Off Campus
    At least 12 states require school districts to offer "released time" religious schooling upon parental request.
    Robbie Sequeira, Stateline.org, September 3, 2025
    •
    6 min read
    House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., discusses the Republican-crafted plan as the House Rules Committee prepares a spending bill that would keep federal agencies funded through Sept. 30, at the Capitol, in Washington on March 10, 2025.
    House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., speaks in the Capitol in Washington on March 10, 2025. A House Appropriations subcommittee has put forward a budget that embraces many of President Donald Trump's proposed cuts to the federal education budget and rejects others.
    J. Scott Applewhite/AP
    Education Funding House Lawmakers Endorse Some—But Not All—of Trump's Education Cuts
    House budget writers are proposing to cut Title I funding by nearly $4 billion.
    Mark Lieberman, September 2, 2025
    •
    5 min read
    Upside down bluish green-colored Dollar symbol and finance graph shaped #2 pencil. On white-colored notepaper background.
    Getty
    Education Funding State Funding for Schools Is a Mess This Year, Too. Here's Why
    The Trump administration's school funding disruptions have drawn significant attention, but schools are challenged by state budgets, too.
    Mark Lieberman, August 29, 2025
    •
    12 min read
    A sign for a newly-constructed gender neutral bathroom is seen at Shawnee Mission East High School on June 16, 2023, in Prairie Village, Kan.
    A sign for a newly-constructed gender neutral bathroom is seen at Shawnee Mission East High School on June 16, 2023, in Prairie Village, Kan. The Trump administration's finding that a northern Virginia school district violated Title IX by allowing students to use restrooms consistent with their gender identity is the subject of a new lawsuit.
    Charlie Riedel/AP
    Law & Courts School Board Sues Trump Admin. to Defend Transgender Student Policy
    The lawsuit challenges the Ed. Dept.'s finding that the district violated Title IX.
    Brooke Schultz, August 29, 2025
    •
    3 min read
    Education Week opinion letters submissions
    Gwen Keraval for Education Week
    Federal Letter to the Editor Why Publish Arguments Hostile to Public Education?
    A reader pushes back against recent essays published in Education Week Opinion in this letter to the editor.
    August 29, 2025
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    1 min read
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School & District Management Quiz Quiz Yourself: How Well Do You Know the K-12 Buying Cycle?
Take this quick quiz to evaluate your understanding of when districts plan, budget, and buy—and how to meet them there.
School Choice & Charters Spotlight Spotlight on The Landscape of Charter Schools
This Spotlight explores the dynamic and evolving world of school choice, focusing on charter schools and private school choice programs.
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  • A commuter walks past the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Eduction, which were ordered closed for the day for what officials described as security reasons amid large-scale layoffs, Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Washington.
    A commuter walks past the Washington headquarters of the U.S. Department of Education on March 12, 2025. The department has imposed financial restrictions on five Virginia school districts for policies allowing transgender students to use bathrooms consistent with their gender identity.
    Mark Schiefelbein/AP
    Federal Ed. Dept. Imposes Funding Restrictions for 5 Districts Over Transgender Policies
    The districts will have to jump through extra hoops to claim their federal funds.
    Brooke Schultz, August 19, 2025
    •
    6 min read
    President Donald Trump, right, speaks during a news conference with Elon Musk in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, May 30, 2025, in Washington.
    President Donald Trump, right, speaks during a news conference with Elon Musk in the Oval Office of the White House on Friday, May 30, 2025, in Washington. Under Musk's leadership, the Department of Government Efficiency spearheaded the abrupt cancellation of dozens of Education Department contracts, including those for the Comprehensive Centers and Regional Educational Laboratories, which a judge found to be illegal.
    Evan Vucci/AP
    Law & Courts Judge Tells Trump Admin. to Restore Some Education Research Programs
    The federal judge found the termination of contracts for the Comprehensive Centers and Regional Educational Laboratories was illegal.
    Matthew Stone, August 18, 2025
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    5 min read
    Students for Life of America hold a rally at Supreme Court with multiple members of Congress the night before the court is hearing Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, Nov. 30, 2021.
    Members of Students for Life of America hold a rally at the U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 30, 2021, the night before the court heard arguments in <i>Dobbs</i> v. <i>Jackson Women's Health Organization</i>, the case in which it removed federal constitutional protection for abortion. This week, a federal appeals court upheld an Indiana school's refusal to allow a student who had started a school chapter of the group to post flyers with anti-abortion messages on school walls.
    Zach D Roberts/NurPhoto via AP
    Law & Courts Appeals Court Backs School in Anti-Abortion Club's Flyer Dispute
    A federal appeals court upheld an Indiana school district's limitation on a Students for Life club's political messages on school walls.
    Mark Walsh, August 15, 2025
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    3 min read
    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
    School children from New Haven Public Schools visit The Human Footprint gallery on opening day of the expanded and enhanced Yale Peabody Museum on March 26, 2024, in New Haven, Conn.
    School children from New Haven Public Schools visit the Yale Peabody Museum on March 26, 2024, in New Haven, Conn. Federal grant cuts could put similar museum trips and educational programs at risk.
    Diane Bondareff/Yale Peabody Museum via AP
    Education Funding How Schools Will Feel the Federal Funding Cuts to Libraries and Museums
    Cuts to library and museum grants threaten school databases, field trips, and teacher training programs nationwide.
    Ciara Meyer, August 14, 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
    •
    4 min read
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EdWeek Market Brief

Strategy & Operations Market Analysis When to Bring in a Consultant — and How to Make it Pay Off
Industry advisors and business officials discuss the factors that contribute to a successful engagement.
Alexandria Ng
•
8 min read
Meeting District Needs K-12 Insider What Made a Middle School's First-Ever ELA Curriculum Launch a Success
The process that Principal Anne Heck led in Lake Geneva Middle School offers one vision for how professional development and procurement can pair to improve student learning.
Emma Kate Fittes
•
10 min read
Education Market Exclusive Data Vendors Are Pairing Assessment And Curriculum. Is That What K-12 Officials Want?
New EdWeek Market Brief data explores the ideal number of companies that district and school leaders say they want to work with, and whether they're open to a single provider for both curriculum and assessment products.
Emma Kate Fittes
•
8 min read
Regulation & Policy K-12 Market News EdMarket Recap: Feds Move to Rewrite Grant Rules; States Pitch Funding Changes
EdWeek Market Brief staff writers dissect significant news of the week and identify the most important takeaways for companies serving K-12 districts.
Scott Elliott
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