Policy & Politics

Education news, analysis, and opinion about the legislation, guidance, policies and people involved in federal and state government
Law & Courts Judge Ends School Desegregation Order at Trump Administration's Request
The decision ends decades of federal oversight to ensure schools' compliance with the order to desegregate.
Patrick Wall, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate
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4 min read
Policy & Politics Opinion Who Are the Nation's Top Education Scholars?
The RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings recognize researchers who shape practice and policy.
Rick Hess
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2 min read
Law & Courts Appeals Court Blocks Ruling Bolstering Parental Rights Over Gender Identity
A federal appeals court blocked a groundbreaking ruling over the disclosure of students' gender identities.
Mark Walsh
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4 min read
Federal Opinion The Federal Government Hasn’t Been Meeting Our Need for Unbiased Ed. Research
Trump’s attacks on data collection are misguided—but that doesn’t mean it was working before.
Rick Hess
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5 min read
The end of a bar chart made of pencils with a line graph drawn over it.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty + Education Week
Policy & Politics Opinion Who Tops Their Field in the 2026 RHSU Edu-Scholar Rankings?
A scholar's rank within a discipline may be more telling than their place in the overall rankings.
Rick Hess
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1 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
States States Are Banning Book Bans. Will It Work?
Approved legislation aims to stop school libraries from removing books for partisan reasons.
Sarah Schwartz
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5 min read
Amanda Darrow, director of youth, family and education programs at the Utah Pride Center, poses with books that have been the subject of complaints from parents in Salt Lake City on Dec. 16, 2021. The wave of attempted book banning and restrictions continues to intensify, the American Library Association reported Friday. Numbers for 2022 already approach last year's totals, which were the highest in decades.
Eight states have passed legislation restricting school officials from pulling books out of school libraries for partisan or ideological reasons. In the past five years, many such challenges have focused on books about race or LGBTQ+ people. Amanda Darrow, the director of youth, family and education programs at the Utah Pride Center, poses with books that have been the subject of complaints from parents in Salt Lake City on Dec. 16, 2021. (Utah is not one of the eight states.)
Rick Bowmer/AP
States McMahon Touts Funding Flexibility for Iowa That Falls Short of Trump Admin. Goal
The Ed. Dept. is allowing the state education agency to consolidate small sets of funds from four grants.
Mark Lieberman
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6 min read
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon is interviewed by Indiana’s Secretary of Education Katie Jenner during the 2025 Reagan Institute Summit on Education in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 18, 2025.
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, pictured here in Washington on Sept. 18, 2025, has granted Iowa a partial waiver from provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act, saying the move is a step toward the Trump administration's goal of "returning education to the states." The waiver allows Iowa some additional flexibility in how it spends the limited portion of federal education funds used by the state department of education.
Leah Millis for Education Week

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More Policy & Politics

  • Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
    Sonia Pulido for Education Week
    Policy & Politics Opinion Larry Ferlazzo’s 10 Education Predictions for 2026
    Gazing into his crystal ball, Larry Ferlazzo divines what's ahead for education next year.
    Larry Ferlazzo, December 18, 2025
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    3 min read
    A vial of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is on display at the Lubbock Health Department, Feb. 26, 2025, in Lubbock, Texas.
    A vial of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is on display at the Lubbock Health Department on Feb. 26, 2025, in Lubbock, Texas. A new study examined the degree to which school absences surged during a measles outbreak earlier this year in West Texas.
    Mary Conlon/AP
    States A Study Shows Just How Much School Absences Soar in a Measles Outbreak
    The research offers a glimpse at the toll on student learning from the spread of measles.
    The Associated Press, December 17, 2025
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    4 min read
    Parents attend a basic facts bee at Stevenson Elementary School in Southfield, Mich., on Feb. 28, 2024.
    Parents attend a "basic facts" bee at Stevenson Elementary School in Southfield, Mich., on Feb. 28, 2024. The school has been a recipient of a federal Full-Services Community Schools grant that has allowed it to add an on-site health clinic, a parent-resource room, a therapy dog, and other services parents would otherwise have to seek elsewhere.
    Samuel Trotter for Education Week
    Education Funding Federal Funds for Community Schools Fall Victim to a New Round of Trump Cuts
    The latest round of grant cuts hits a program that helps schools provide more social services on site.
    Mark Lieberman, December 15, 2025
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    6 min read
    Roman Martinez, an attorney with Latham & Watkins, is featured in the Bloomberg Law documentary 'Supreme Advocacy.'
    Roman Martinez, a Washington lawyer who has played a role in four U.S. Supreme Court cases about the rights of special education students, is featured in the Bloomberg Law documentary "Supreme Advocacy."
    via YouTube
    Law & Courts How One Lawyer Helped Reshape Special Education at the Supreme Court
    A documentary follows a lawyer behind major Supreme Court wins for students with disabilities.
    Mark Walsh, December 15, 2025
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    9 min read
    Salt Lake Education Association Vice President Chelsie Acosta cheers with other educators and union members in opposition to HB 267: Public Sector Labor Union Amendments, at the Capitol in Salt Lake City, Utah, Jan. 31, 2025.
    Salt Lake Education Association Vice President Chelsie Acosta cheers with other educators and union members in opposition to HB 267: Public Sector Labor Union Amendments, at the Capitol in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Jan. 31, 2025. HB 267 banned collective bargaining by teachers and many other public-sector workers. The Utah legislature has repealed the law.
    Laura Seitz/Deseret News via AP
    States Utah Repeals Ban on Collective Bargaining for Teachers and Other Workers
    Gov. Spencer Cox approved the repeal of a policy experts called one of the country's most restrictive labor laws.
    The Associated Press, December 15, 2025
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    2 min read
    Learning helps to achieve goals and success, motivation or ambition to learn new skills, business education concept, smart businessman climbing on a stack of books to see the future.
    Fahmi Ruddin Hidayat/iStock/Getty
    Federal The Ed. Dept.'s Research Clout Is Waning. Could a Bipartisan Bill Reinvigorate It?
    Advanced education research has bipartisan support even as the federal role in it is on the wane.
    Sarah D. Sparks, December 12, 2025
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    5 min read
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Test your knowledge and explore what sets high-impact math instruction apart from traditional methods.
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Reading & Literacy Spotlight From Decoding to Growth: Every Student’s Journey Forward
This Spotlight highlights what students need to become confident and capable readers, starting with a strong foundation in decoding.
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  • Visitors pose for photographs at the U.S. Supreme Court on June 18, 2024, in Washington.
    Visitors pose for photographs at the U.S. Supreme Court on June 18, 2024, in Washington. The high court on June 28 overruled a longtime precedent and held that courts, not federal agencies, have the primary authority to interpret ambiguous federal statutes.
    Jose Luis Magana/AP
    Law & Courts What the Supreme Court's Chevron Decision Could Mean for Biden's Title IX Rule
    The decision overrules a 40-year-old precedent and could impact lawsuits challenging the final Title IX rule.
    Mark Walsh, June 28, 2024
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    5 min read
    President Joe Biden, right, and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, left, during a presidential debate hosted by CNN, Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Atlanta.
    President Joe Biden, right, and former President Donald Trump, left, face off on stage during a presidential debate hosted by CNN, June 27, 2024, in Atlanta. Not a single question was asked about K-12 education and neither candidate raised the issue.
    Gerald Herbert/AP
    Federal The Topic That Didn't Get a Single Mention in Biden-Trump Debate
    K-12 schools—after animating state and local elections in recent years—got no airtime.
    Libby Stanford, June 27, 2024
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    2 min read
    The Oklahoma Supreme Court is pictured in the state Capitol building in Oklahoma City, May 19, 2014. The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, June 25, 2024, that the approval of the nation's first state-funded Catholic charter school, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School, is unconstitutional.
    The Oklahoma Supreme Court is pictured in the state Capitol building in Oklahoma City, May 19, 2014. The high court ruled Tuesday, June 25, 2024, that the approval of the nation's first state-funded Catholic charter school, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School, is unconstitutional.
    Sue Ogrocki/AP
    Law & Courts Religious Charter School Is Unconstitutional, Oklahoma Supreme Court Rules
    The state high court says the planned Catholic virtual charter school violates a state provision against aid to 'sectarian' institutions.
    Mark Walsh, June 25, 2024
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    4 min read
    FILE - The Supreme Court is seen under stormy skies in Washington, June 20, 2019. In the coming days, the Supreme Court will confront a perfect storm mostly of its own making, a trio of decisions stemming directly from the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
    The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up a case about a state law that bars certain medical care for transgender minors, with the legal issues holding potential implications for schools.
    J. Scott Applewhite/AP
    Law & Courts Supreme Court Case on Transgender Youth Medical Care May Impact Schools
    The justices will decide whether a Tennessee law that bars certain treatments for transgender minors violates the equal-protection clause.
    Mark Walsh, June 24, 2024
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    5 min read
    Photo of high school girls working on building project in class.
    Globally, 15-year-old girls outpaced their male peers in a new international test of creative thinking.
    E+
    Federal What the Research Says What Schools Can Learn From a Global Assessment on Creative Thinking
    Not all creativity is the same for student achievement, the latest Program for International Student Assessment data show.
    Sarah D. Sparks, June 18, 2024
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    4 min read
    Image of social media icons and warning label.
    iStock + Education Week
    Federal Social Media Should Come With a Warning, Says U.S. Surgeon General
    A surgeon general's warning label would alert users that “social media is associated with significant mental health harms in adolescents.”
    Arianna Prothero, June 17, 2024
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    4 min read
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