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
•
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
•
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
•
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
•
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
•
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
•
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
•
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

Events

Wed., January 28, 2026, 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
College & Workforce Readiness Webinar Smarter Tools, Stronger Outcomes: Empowering CTE Educators With Future-Ready Solutions
Open doors to meaningful, hands-on careers with research-backed insights, ideas, and examples of successful CTE programs.
Content provided by Pearson
Register
Thu., January 15, 2026, 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. ET
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar Improve Reading Comprehension: Three Tools for Working Memory Challenges
Discover three working memory workarounds to help your students improve reading comprehension and empower them on their reading journey.
Content provided by Solution Tree
Register
Wed., January 21, 2026, 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET
Recruitment & Retention Webinar EdRecruiter 2026 Survey Results: How School Districts are Finding and Keeping Talent
Discover the latest K-12 hiring trends from EdWeek’s nationwide survey of job seekers and district HR professionals.
Register
See More Events

More Policy & Politics

  • Zohran Mamdani speaks during a victory speech at a mayoral election night watch party on Nov. 4, 2025, in New York.
    Zohran Mamdani speaks during a victory speech at a mayoral election night watch party on Nov. 4, 2025, in New York. The new mayor named a former teacher and principal and current superintendent as chancellor of the city’s public schools.
    Yuki Iwamura/AP
    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, December 31, 2025
    •
    2 min read
    Randi Weingarten speaks at a press conference at Murrell Dobbins Career & Technical Education High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 2, 2025.
    Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, speaks at a press conference in Philadelphia on Sept. 2, 2025. Weingarten says that cuts to federal education funds by the Trump administration "are only hurting young people."
    Rachel Wisniewski for Education Week
    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.
    Lauraine Langreo & Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, December 30, 2025
    •
    4 min read
    Demonstrators hold up signs protesting an immigration bill as it is discussed in the Senate chamber at the state Capitol Thursday in Nashville, Tenn. The bill would allow public school systems in Tennessee to require K-12 students without legal status in the country to pay tuition or face denial of enrollment, which is a challenge to the federal law requiring all children be provided a free public education regardless of legal immigration status.
    Demonstrators hold up signs protesting an immigration bill as it was discussed in the Senate chamber at the state Capitol in Nashville, Tenn., on April 10, 2025. The bill, which legislators paused, would have allowed schools in the state to require undocumented students to pay tuition. It was one of six efforts taken by states in 2025 to limit undocumented students' access to free, public education.
    John Amis/AP
    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.
    Ileana Najarro, December 29, 2025
    •
    5 min read
    Reducing, removing or overcoming financial barriers, financial concept : US dollar bag on a maze puzzle.
    William Potter/iStock
    Education Funding School Mental Health Projects Canceled by Trump Might Still Survive
    The end of funding could still be days away, but a new court order offers some hope for grantees.
    Matthew Stone, December 24, 2025
    •
    6 min read
    Teacher’s aide Amelia Mester, wrapped in a Pride flag, urges Escondido Union High School District not to have employees notify parents if they believe a student may be transgender in November 2025. A policy on the issue in the city’s elementary school district is the subject of a federal class-action lawsuit in which a judge just sided against the district.
    Teacher’s aide Amelia Mester, wrapped in a Pride flag, urges Escondido Union High School District not to have employees notify parents if they believe a student may be transgender. A policy on the issue in the city’s elementary school district is the subject of a federal class-action lawsuit in which a judge just ruled against the district.
    Charlie Neuman for The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS
    Law & Courts Schools Can’t Bar Teachers From Telling Parents If Kids Are Transgender, Judge Rules
    The injunction bans any public school employee from misleading parents about their child’s gender presentation at school.
    Kristen Taketa, The San Diego Union-Tribune, December 24, 2025
    •
    5 min read
    Photo of stone columns.
    E+
    Law & Courts Federal Appeals Court Upholds 8th Grader's Expulsion Over Gun Comments in Class
    Shortly after a nearby mass school shooting, a student allegedly discussed bringing a gun to school.
    Mark Walsh, December 22, 2025
    •
    3 min read
    Load More ▼

Resources

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Budget & Finance Whitepaper Beyond the Buy: Strategic Purchasing in Postsecondary Education
This whitepaper, based on in-depth interviews with procurement professionals at colleges and universities, explores how strategic vendor ...
Content provided by Amazon Business
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Student Well-Being & Movement Whitepaper See the Signs: A Linewize by Qoria Insights Paper
Qoria’s See the Signs Report brings together insights, trends, and signals from 1,000 schools with practical strategies to help communiti...
Content provided by Linewize
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Mathematics Quiz Quiz Yourself: How Much Do You Know About Today’s Most Effective Math Practices?
Test your knowledge and explore what sets high-impact math instruction apart from traditional methods.
Content provided by MIND Education
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.
Load More ▼
  • Spike the Fine Motor Hedgehog and Botley the Coding Robot (bottom right), two educational toys created by Learning Resources Inc.
    Spike the Fine Motor Hedgehog and Botley the Coding Robot (bottom right), two educational toys created by Learning Resources Inc. The Illinois company is one of two related educational toy makers challenging President Donald Trump’s tariffs before the U.S. Supreme Court.
    Courtesy of Learning Resources
    Law & Courts Educational Toy Companies Lead Supreme Court Battle Over Trump Tariffs
    Two Illinois family-owned educational toy companies are challenging the president’s tariff policies.
    Mark Walsh, October 28, 2025
    •
    8 min read
    Peggy Carr, Commissioner of the National Center for Education, speaks during an interview about the National Assessment of Education Process (NAEP), on Oct. 21, 2022, in Washington.
    Peggy Carr, the former commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, speaks during an interview about the National Assessment of Education Process, on Oct. 21, 2022, in Washington. Carr shared her thoughts about the Trump administration's massive staff cuts to the Education Department in a recent webinar.
    Alex Brandon/AP
    Federal Fired NCES Chief: Ed. Dept. Cuts Mean 'Fewer Eyes on the Condition of Schools'
    Experts discuss how federal actions have impacted equity and research in the field of education.
    Jennifer Vilcarino, October 22, 2025
    •
    3 min read
    Vector illustration of two diverse professionals wearing orange workman vests and hard hats as they carry and connect a very heavy, oversized text bubble bringing the two pieces shaped like puzzles pieces together as one. One figure is a dark skinned male and the other is a lighter skinned female with long hair.
    DigitalVision Vectors
    Federal What Should Research at the Ed. Dept. Look Like? The Field Weighs In
    The agency requested input on the Institute of Education Sciences' future. More than 400 comments came in.
    Brooke Schultz, October 21, 2025
    •
    7 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
    Education Funding Opinion The Federal Shutdown Is a Rorschach Test for Education
    Polarization, confusion, and perverse incentives turn a serious discussion into a stylized debate.
    Rick Hess, October 20, 2025
    •
    7 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 U.S. House of Representatives members to discuss the 2026 budget in Washington on May 21, 2025. The U.S. Department of Education laid off 465 employees during the federal government shutdown. The layoff, if it goes through, will virtually wipe out offices in the agency that oversee key grant programs.
    Jason Andrew for Education Week
    Federal Education Department Layoffs Would Affect Dozens of Programs. See Which Ones
    Entire teams that work on key funding streams may not return to work even when the shutdown ends.
    Mark Lieberman, October 16, 2025
    •
    3 min read
    A Let's Go Brandon flag and an American flag fly during the NASCAR Cup Series M&M'S Fan Appreciation 400 on July 24, 2022, at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa.
    A Let's Go Brandon flag and an American flag fly during the NASCAR Cup Series on July 24, 2022, at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. The slogan originated at a 2021 NASCAR race in Talladega, Ala., and quickly became a coded way of criticizing then-President Joe Biden. An appeals court in a free speech case said school administrators were within bounds insisting a student not wear a shirt with the slogan because of its implied vulgarity.
    Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via AP Images
    Law & Courts Appeals Court Backs School Administrators Who Banned 'Let's Go Brandon!' Shirts
    A coded message of political criticism was vulgar and can be barred in schools.
    Mark Walsh, October 16, 2025
    •
    5 min read
    Load More ▼

EdWeek Market Brief

Read More