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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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

  • A student visits a sensory room at a Topeka, KS elementary school, on Nov. 3, 2021.
    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.
    Charlie Riedel/AP
    Education Funding A Guide to Where School Mental Health Grants Stand After a New Legal Twist
    Temporary relief for one set of projects raises questions for other initiatives vying for federal money.
    Matthew Stone, December 8, 2025
    5 min read
    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.
    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.
    John Ehlke/West Bend Daily News via AP
    States States Consider District Consolidations as Student Enrollment Drops
    Rural educators say the decision to combine school districts is a matter of local control.
    Evie Blad, December 5, 2025
    8 min read
    President Donald Trump signs an executive order on birthright citizenship in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington.
    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.
    Evan Vucci/AP
    Law & Courts Supreme Court to Weigh Birthright Citizenship. Why It Matters to Schools
    The justices will review President Trump's bid to end birthright citizenship, a move that could affect schools.
    Mark Walsh, December 5, 2025
    4 min read
    Illustration of dollar symbol in rollercoaster.
    iStock
    Education Funding Funding Ends for School Mental Health Projects After a 'Roller Coaster' Year
    Schools, universities, and others thought they had five years to boost student mental health services.
    Matthew Stone, December 2, 2025
    11 min read
    Education Secretary Linda McMahon appears before the House Appropriation Panel about the 2026 budget in Washington, D.C., on May 21, 2025.
    Education Secretary Linda McMahon appears before a U.S. House of Representatives panel in Washington on May 21, 2025. McMahon's agency has inked seven agreements shifting core functions, including Title I for K-12 schools, to other federal agencies. Those moves, announced in November, have now drawn a legal challenge.
    Jason Andrew for Education Week
    Law & Courts 20 States Push Back as Ed. Dept. Hands Programs to Other Agencies
    The Trump admin. says it wants to prove that moving programs out of the Ed. Dept. can work long-term.
    Matthew Stone, December 1, 2025
    4 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 Should States Mandate Student Testing for Choice Programs?
    There are pros and cons to forcing state tests on private schools receiving tax dollars.
    Rick Hess, November 25, 2025
    7 min read

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  • Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker talks with two crossing guards on Aug. 27, 2025, in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago.
    Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker talks with two crossing guards on Aug. 27, 2025, in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago. On Aug. 15, 2025, he signed into law a bill that protects all students' right to a free, public education regardless of immigration status.
    Erin Hooley/AP
    States How This State Is Protecting Undocumented Students’ Right to an Education
    Illinois lawmakers passed a bill locally codifying the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plyler v. Doe.
    Ileana Najarro, August 28, 2025
    4 min read
    Photo illustration of a 100 dollar bill gradually fading to white
    iStock/Getty
    Education Funding Trump Cancels Dozens of Education Grants—With More Terminations on the Horizon
    More than $1 billion in already-awarded grant funding has yet to flow as expected.
    Mark Lieberman, August 27, 2025
    11 min read
    Penelope Koutoulas holds signs supporting school choice in a House committee meeting on education during a special session of the state legislature Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn.
    Penelope Koutoulas holds signs supporting school choice in a House committee meeting on education during a special session of the Tennessee state legislature on Jan. 28, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. After the passage of the first federal tax-credit scholarship, all states will have to decide whether to opt into the new program.
    George Walker IV/AP
    School Choice & Charters Tracker Federal Private School Choice: Which States Are Opting In?
    Education Week is tracking state decisions on the first major federal program that directs public funds to private schools.
    3 min read
    A newly-constructed gender neutral bathroom is seen at Shawnee Mission East High School, Friday, June 16, 2023, in Prairie Village, Kan.
    A newly-constructed gender-neutral bathroom is seen at Shawnee Mission East High School, Friday, June 16, 2023, in Prairie Village, Kan. The Shawnee Mission school district is one of four in Kansas that the Trump administration has started investigating at the urging of the state's Republican attorney general, Kris Kobach.
    Charlie Riedel/AP
    States Some State Leaders Cheer as Trump's Ed. Dept. Investigates Their Schools
    The use of the office for civil rights for political purposes has been dialed up in the second Trump administration, experts say.
    Brooke Schultz, August 25, 2025
    6 min read
    Jackson County High School in Kentucky posts the Ten Commandments in the front hall of the school, shown here in 2000, and in every classroom, on June 25, 2025. A group of North Texas reverends filed a federal lawsuit this week to challenge a new state law that would require posting the Ten Commandments in each public school classroom.
    The Ten Commandments is seen on display at Jackson County High School in Kentucky in 2000. On Aug. 20, 2025, a federal judge blocked—in 11 school districts for now—a Texas state law requiring similar displays. Similar state laws in Arkansas and Louisiana have also been halted recently in at least part of each state.
    <a href="https://www.gettyimages.com/search/2/image?artistexact=Lexington%20Herald-Leader">Lexington Herald-Leader</a>/Getty Images
    Law & Courts Judge Blocks Texas Law Requiring Ten Commandments in Schools
    A federal district judge ruled that the Texas law requiring Ten Commandments displays is schools likely violates the First Amendment.
    Mark Walsh, August 20, 2025
    4 min read
    Attorneys from the Education Department General Counsel Office Emily Merolli, second left, and Shaw Vanze in the back, second right, are greeted by supporters after retrieving their personal belongings from the Education Department building in Washington, Monday, March 24, 2025.
    Laid-off U.S. Department of Education staff are greeted by supporters after retrieving their personal belongings from the Washington offices on March 24, 2025. The department has announced return dates for a portion of laid-off staffers.
    Jose Luis Magana/AP
    Federal Laid-Off Civil Rights Staff Will Return to Work Next Month, Ed. Dept. Says
    It’s the first time the agency—which has been under court orders to reinstate staff—has said it will actually bring laid-off employees back.
    Brooke Schultz, August 20, 2025
    3 min read

EdWeek Market Brief

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Industry advisors and business officials discuss the factors that contribute to a successful engagement.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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