Policy & Politics

Education news, analysis, and opinion about the legislation, guidance, policies and people involved in federal and state government
States Zohran Mamdani Picks Manhattan Superintendent as NYC Schools Chancellor
Kamar Samuels is a veteran educator of the nation's largest school system.
Cayla Bamberger & Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News
2 min read
Education Funding ‘Terminated on a Whim’: The AFT Sues Trump’s Ed. Dept. Over Funding Cuts
The AFT and a Chicago-area nonprofit argue the cuts happened without following required procedures.
States Undocumented Students Still Have a Right to Education. Will That Change in 2026?
State-level challenges to a landmark 1982 Supreme Court ruling are on the rise.
4 min read
Policy & Politics Opinion The 2026 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Scoring Formula
Rick Hess unveils the 2026 RHSU Edu-Scholar rankings tomorrow. Here's his methodology.
8 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
Policy & Politics Opinion What It Takes to Be an Effective Education Scholar
The 2026 RHSU Scholar Rankings will be released soon. How do the top researchers attain influence?
3 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
Law & Courts Appeals Court Halts Ruling Letting Teachers Disclose Students' Gender Identity
A federal appeals court has temporarily paused enforcement of the ruling but has not yet decided whether to grant a longer-term stay.
Kristen Taketa, The San Diego Union-Tribune
3 min read
Students carrying pride and transgender flags leave Great Oak High School in Temecula, Calif., on Sept. 22, 2023, after walking out of the school in protest of the Temecula school district policy requiring parents to be notified if their child identifies as transgender.
Students carrying pride and transgender flags leave Great Oak High School in Temecula, Calif., on Sept. 22, 2023, after walking out of the school in protest of the Temecula school district policy requiring parents to be notified if their child identifies as transgender.
Anjali Sharif-Paul/The Orange County Register via AP

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More Policy & Politics

  • Image of the White House, Capitol, the Supreme Court building, and a school.
    Laura Baker/Education Week via Canva.
    Federal How Trump Has Changed Schools in His First 100 Days: A Timeline
    Schools have experienced an unprecedented quantity and velocity of K-12 policy shifts in President Donald Trump’s first 100 days.
    Jennifer Vilcarino, April 29, 2025
    1 min read
    Chiefs signs and logos are at Massapequa High School in Massapequa, N.Y., on April 25, 2025.
    Chiefs signs and logos are at Massapequa High School in Massapequa, N.Y., on April 25, 2025.
    Ted Shaffrey/AP
    Federal Trump Wades Into DEI Fight Over Native American Mascots in Schools
    Scholars and Native American activists have long pushed back on schools’ use of such images.
    Brooke Schultz, April 28, 2025
    6 min read
    The Tharpe family, pictured outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, on April 28, 2025.
    Gina and Aaron Tharpe appear outside the U.S. Supreme Court on April 28 with their daughter Ava, who has a severe form of epilepsy. The court is weighing what liability standard should apply to the suit for damages they filed against their school district.
    Mark Walsh/Education Week
    Law & Courts Supreme Court Poised to Back Student in Key Disability-Rights Case
    The U.S. Supreme Court considered what liability standard should apply for cases brought by students under two key federal disability laws.
    Mark Walsh, April 28, 2025
    6 min read
    Willow Palmer, 5, at right, comforts classmate River Yang, 3, as he sits in the safe place nook at the Meadow Lakes CCS Early Learning, a Head Start center, May 6, 2024, in Wasilla, Alaska.
    Willow Palmer, 5, at right, comforts classmate River Yang, 3, as he sits in the safe place nook at the Meadow Lakes CCS Early Learning, a Head Start center, on May 6, 2024 in Wasilla, Alaska. Since the start of the Trump administration, Head Start programs have had difficulty accessing their funding and have lost many of the federal contacts they worked with due to layoffs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Now, they're anticipating a budget proposal from the White House that eliminates funding for the early childhood program.
    Lindsey Wasson/AP
    Education Funding Trump Wants to Gut Head Start. He's Already Begun
    More than 800,000 students would lose access to early childhood education if Trump's draft budget proposal is enacted.
    Mark Lieberman, April 28, 2025
    11 min read
    Supreme Court 25091823131249
    The U.S. Supreme Court is seen in Washington on April 1, 2025. The court on April 30 will take up a much-debated case about whether a state must allow a religious charter school.
    Law & Courts Supreme Court Case Could Reshape Landscape for Charter and Religious Schools
    The U.S. Supreme Court on April 30 will take up the much-debated case of a Roman Catholic charter school in Oklahoma.
    Mark Walsh, April 28, 2025
    9 min read
    The U.S. Department of Education in Washington pictured on Friday, March 28, 2025, during a rally to support departing employees.
    The U.S. Department of Education in Washington pictured on Friday, March 28, 2025, during a rally to support departing employees. A federal judge on Friday questioned the Trump administration's arguments in favor of dismantling the federal agency.
    Moriah Ratner for Education Week
    Law & Courts Judge Casts Doubt on Trump’s Authority to Gut Education Dept. Staff
    Twenty-one states and a coalition of unions and school districts are challenging the president's dismantling of the Education Department.
    Mark Lieberman, April 25, 2025
    3 min read

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  • IQ test, paper sheet with test answer on the table
    iStock/Getty
    Law & Courts Supreme Court Weighs IQ Tests and Other School Records in Key Death Penalty Case
    The court weighs the proper role of IQ tests for defendants claiming an intellectual disability.
    Mark Walsh, December 11, 2025
    8 min read
    Education Secretary Rod Paige talks to reporters during a hastily called news conference at the Department of Education in Washington Wednesday, April 9, 2003, regarding his comments favoring schools that appreciate "the values of the Christian community." Paige said he wasn't trying to impose his religious views on others and said "I don't think I have anything to apologize for. What I'm doing is clarifying my remarks."
    Education Secretary Rod Paige speaks to reporters during a news conference at the U.S. Department of Education in Washington on April 9, 2003. Paige, who led the department during President George W. Bush's first term, died Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, at 92.
    Gerald Herbert/AP
    Federal Obituary Rod Paige, Nation's First African American Secretary of Education, Dies at 92
    Under Paige’s leadership, the Department of Education rolled out the landmark No Child Left Behind law.
    The Associated Press, December 10, 2025
    4 min read
    Attendees listen to a eulogy during a memorial for Charlie Kirk hosted by the University of Texas at Dallas chapter of Turning Point USA, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Richardson, Texas.
    Attendees listen to a eulogy during a memorial for Charlie Kirk hosted by the University of Texas at Dallas chapter of Turning Point USA, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Richardson, Texas.
    Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News via TNS
    States Texas Gov. Abbott Wants 'Disciplinary Action' for Schools That Resist Turning Point USA
    He endorsed growing the footprint of the late Charlie Kirk's organization in the state's high schools.
    Philip Jankowski, The Dallas Morning News, December 9, 2025
    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
    Policy & Politics Opinion Standing Up to Education Groupthink
    Why is it so hard to push back on popular ideas in education, even when it’s sorely needed?
    Rick Hess, December 9, 2025
    7 min read
    A U.S. Supreme Court police officer walks in front of the Supreme Court amid renovations as the justices hear oral arguments on President Donald Trump's push to expand control over independent federal agencies in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 8, 2025.
    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.
    J. Scott Applewhite/AP
    Law & Courts Supreme Court Orders New Review of Religious Exemptions to School Vaccines
    The U.S. Supreme Court ordered a new look in a school vaccination case and declined to review library book removals.
    Mark Walsh, December 8, 2025
    6 min read
    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

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