Policy & Politics

As Democratic governors decide whether to sign their states up for the first major federal foray into private school choice, some say they want public school students to benefit. Here, children play during recess at an elementary school in New Cuyama, Calif., on Sept. 20, 2023.

A sign reading "Protect Neighbors" is posted near a bus stop in Minneapolis on Jan. 30, 2026. A lawsuit from two Minnesota school districts and the state's teachers' union says immigration agents have detained people and staged enforcement actions at or near schools, school bus stops, and daycare centers.

The U.S. Department of Education spent up to $38 million last year to pay civil rights staffers who remained on administrative leave while the agency tried to lay them off.

Enrollment in private school choice programs has grown quickly around the country in recent years. Applications open this month for Texas' newly created private school choice program, the largest such program in the country. Private "microschools"—such as the Humanist Academy in Irving, Texas, shown on Jan. 8, 2026—could benefit.

Congress has passed a budget that rejects the Trump administration’s proposals to slash billions of dollars from federal education investments, ending a partial government shutdown. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and fellow House Republican leaders speak ahead of a key budget vote on Feb. 3, 2026.

Federal education grant terminations and disruptions during the Trump administration's first year touched programs training teachers, expanding social services in schools, bolstering school mental health services, and more. Affected grants were spread across more than a dozen federal agencies.

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.

The U.S. Supreme Court is seen on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. Religious charter advocates are betting a full Supreme Court will side with their efforts to establish religious charter schools.