Policy & Politics

Education news, analysis, and opinion about the legislation, guidance, policies and people involved in federal and state government
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
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
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
Law & Courts Judge Bars Trump Admin. From Purging DEI Terms From Head Start Funding Requests
The federal judge also prohibited further layoffs of staff from the federal Office of Head Start.
The Associated Press
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2 min read
Students ride tricycles during aftercare at a Head Start program run by Easterseals, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government, Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami.
Students ride tricycles during aftercare at a Head Start program run by Easterseals, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government, Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami.
Rebecca Blackwell/AP
Federal A Major Democratic Group Thinks This Education Policy Is a Winning Issue
An agenda from center-left Democrats could foreshadow how they discuss education on the campaign trail.
Alyson Klein
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4 min read
Students in Chad Wright’s construction program work on measurements at the Regional Occupational Center on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, in Bakersfield, Calif.
Students in Chad Wright’s construction program work on measurements at the Regional Occupational Center on Jan. 11, 2023, in Bakersfield, Calif. A newly released policy agenda from a coalition of center-left Democrats focuses heavily on career training.
Morgan Lieberman for Education Week
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

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    Federal How the Federal Government Shutdown Is Affecting Schools: A Tracker
    Education Week monitored how the federal government's shutdown affected schools and other education functions.
    Mark Lieberman, October 3, 2025
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    1 min read
    AB Hernandez, a transgender student at Jurupa Valley High School, competes in the high jump at the California high school track-and-field championships in Clovis, Calif., May 31, 2025.
    AB Hernandez, a transgender female student at Jurupa Valley High School, competes in the high jump at the California high school track and field championships in Clovis, Calif., on May 31. The U.S. Supreme Court in its new term will consider state laws that prohibit transgender girls and women from competing in female athletics.
    Jae C. Hong/AP
    Law & Courts New Supreme Court Term Puts Transgender Student Rights in the Spotlight
    The justices will weigh state laws that bar transgender girls from female athletics, amid other issues of interest to educators in new term
    Mark Walsh, October 2, 2025
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    8 min read
    People stop to take photos of the U.S. Capitol building on Oct. 2, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
    People stop to take photos of the U.S. Capitol building on Oct. 2, 2025, in Washington. Out-of-office email messages from U.S. Department of Education employees during the government shutdown blame Democrats for the lapse in funding. Employees said the messages were set without their permission.
    Samuel Corum/Sipa via AP
    Federal Ed. Dept. Out-of-Office Emails Changed to Blame Democrats for Shutdown, Staff Say
    Staffers say they were instructed to use nonpartisan messages, then they were changed.
    Brooke Schultz, October 2, 2025
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    4 min read
    A commuter walks past the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Education on March 12, 2025, in Washington.
    A commuter walks past the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Education in Washington on March 12, 2025. A federal court sided with the Trump administration this week, allowing it to proceeds with laying off half of the department's office for civil rights.
    Mark Schiefelbein/AP
    Law & Courts Appeals Court Says Ed. Dept. Can Fire Civil Rights Staff
    Office for civil rights employees had already begun returning to work under a court order
    Brooke Schultz, September 30, 2025
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    4 min read
    The Capitol is seen during rainy weather just days before federal money runs out which could trigger a government shutdown, in Washington, Sept. 25, 2025.
    The Capitol is seen during rainy weather on Sept. 25, 2025, just days before federal money runs out, which could trigger a government shutdown. A shutdown that lasts even a few days could have ripple effects for schools across the nation.
    J. Scott Applewhite/AP
    Federal How Will a Federal Shutdown Affect Schools? 5 Big Questions, Answered
    School funding could experience yet another setback this year if the federal government closes up shop.
    Mark Lieberman, September 29, 2025
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    9 min read
    Protesters gather at the State Capitol in Salem, Ore., on Feb. 18, 2019, calling for education funding during the "March for Our Students" rally.
    Protesters call for education funding in Salem, Ore., on Feb. 18, 2019. The Trump administration has relaunched two school mental health grant programs after abruptly discontinuing the awards in April. Now, the grants will only support efforts to boost the ranks of school psychologists, and not school counselors, social workers, or any other types of school mental health professionals.
    Alex Milan Tracy/Sipa via AP
    Education Funding Trump Admin. Relaunches School Mental Health Grants It Yanked—With a Twist
    The administration abruptly discontinued the grant programs in April, saying they reflected Biden-era priorities.
    Matthew Stone, September 26, 2025
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    6 min read
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