Policy & Politics

Education news, analysis, and opinion about the legislation, guidance, policies and people involved in federal and state government
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
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
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
Law & Courts School Sports Case Reaches the Supreme Court at a Fraught Time for Trans Rights
The justices will consider state laws that bar transgender girls from participating in female sports.
Mark Walsh
•
8 min read
Fifteen year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson tosses a discus at home in West Virginia.
Fifteen-year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson tosses a discus at home in West Virginia. Her challenge to the state’s ban on transgender girls in school sports is now before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Scout Tufankjian/ACLU
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
•
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
•
5 min read
The end of a bar chart made of pencils with a line graph drawn over it.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty + Education Week

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More Policy & Politics

  • Phil Rosenfelt, center, an attorney with the Office of the General Counsel at the Department of Education, is greeted by supporters after retrieving personal belongings from the Education Department building in Washington on March 24, 2025.
    Phil Rosenfelt, center, an attorney with the office of general counsel at the U.S. Department of Education, is greeted by supporters after retrieving personal belongings from the Education Department building in Washington on March 24, 2025, the last day of work for hundreds of agency employees. The Trump administration has had to bump back the day it planned to stop paying laid-off staff.
    Jose Luis Magana/AP
    Federal Trump Admin. Pauses Ed. Dept. Layoffs After Judge's Order
    The U.S. Department of Education is slowly complying with a federal court order to reinstate staff.
    Brooke Schultz, June 6, 2025
    •
    3 min read
    Members of the City Year program work at Isaac Newton Middle School for Math and Science in East Harlem during the MLK Day of Service on Jan. 20, 2025, in New York City.
    Members of the City Year program work at Isaac Newton Middle School for Math and Science in East Harlem during the MLK Day of Service on Jan. 20, 2025, in New York City. City Year places AmeriCorps volunteers in underserved schools, but cuts to the federal service agency have led City Year to scale back some of its AmeriCorps volunteer-powered programs.
    Courtesy of City Year New York
    Federal Tutoring, After-School, and Other Student Services at Risk as Trump Cuts AmeriCorps
    Deep cuts to programs across the federal government have left students without programming they'd come to count on.
    Brooke Schultz, June 6, 2025
    •
    8 min read
    Attorneys from the Education Department's 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 on March 24, 2025.
    Attorneys from the U.S. Education Department's 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 department's headquarters in Washington on March 24, 2025. The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to undo a federal district court injunction that would reinstate some 1,400 employees laid off from the department.
    Jose Luis Magana/AP
    Law & Courts Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Reinstate Ed. Dept. Layoffs
    The administration asks the U.S. Supreme Court to remove an injunction blocking the layoffs of nearly 1,400 department employees
    Mark Walsh, June 6, 2025
    •
    4 min read
    Deputy Secretary of Education nominee Penny Schwinn, left, and Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights nominee Kimberly Richey prior to testifying before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee about their nominations for the Department of Education in Washington, D.C., on June 5, 2025.
    Penny Schwinn, left, and Kimberly Richey speak prior to testifying before the U.S. Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee in Washington on June 5, 2025. Schwinn is President Donald Trump's nominee to serve as deputy secretary in the U.S. Department of Education. Richey is Trump's nominee to lead the department's office for civil rights.
    Jason Andrew for Education Week
    Federal Republicans Press Top Ed. Dept. Nominees to Commit to Trump's Agenda
    Penny Schwinn and Kimberly Richey appeared before lawmakers for leadership in the department.
    Brooke Schultz, June 5, 2025
    •
    6 min read
    Illustration of a budget sheet, pencil, and calculator.
    Maxim Basinski/iStock/Getty
    Education Funding Trump Wants to Cut More Than 40 Federal K-12 Programs. See Which Ones
    The president's detailed budget, released Friday, proposes eliminating dozens of programs as part of a nearly $13 billion cut.
    Mark Lieberman & Matthew Stone, June 4, 2025
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    2 min read
    Supporters hold signs and cheer Education Department employees as they leave after retrieving their personal belongings from the Education Department building in Washington, Monday, March 24, 2025.
    Supporters hold signs and cheer Education Department employees as they leave after retrieving their personal belongings from the Education Department building in Washington, Monday, March 24, 2025. A judge has ordered the reinstatement of terminated department employees, but they have yet to return to work.
    Jose Luis Magana/AP
    Law & Courts A Court Told Trump to Reverse Ed. Dept. Layoffs. Will It Happen?
    A judge ruled May 22 that the Trump administration had to reinstate laid-off Ed. Dept. staffers. They're still not back on the job.
    Brooke Schultz, June 3, 2025
    •
    6 min read
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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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  • Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., Chair of the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, speaks during a hearing on antisemitism in K-12 public schools, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
    Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., chair of the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, speaks during a hearing on antisemitism in K-12 public schools on May 8, 2024, in Washington. At a hearing on Dec. 4, 2024, the subcommittee discussed civics and government curriculum.
    Jacquelyn Martin/AP
    Federal Republicans Preview Their Education Priorities in a Second Trump Term
    In a hearing, Republicans called for more civics education and expressed concerns over "critical race theory" in schools.
    Brooke Schultz, December 4, 2024
    •
    5 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
    Federal Opinion The Trump Administration Should 'Devolve the Ed Dept.'s Responsibilities to the States'
    After six years helming the House ed. committee, U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx cuts loose on high points and frustrations of her tenure.
    Rick Hess, December 3, 2024
    •
    8 min read
    A high school principal displays vaping devices that were confiscated from students in such places as restrooms or hallways at a school in Massachusetts on April 10, 2018.
    A high school principal in Massachusetts displays vaping devices that were confiscated from students in restrooms or hallways on April 10, 2018.
    Steven Senne/AP
    Law & Courts How a Supreme Court Case on Vaping Stands to Impact Schools
    The U.S. Supreme Court heard an important case about federal regulation of flavored e-cigarettes, which remain a concern for schools.
    Mark Walsh, December 2, 2024
    •
    6 min read
    Small Business Administration administrator Linda McMahon attends a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on Aug. 16, 2018, in Washington.
    Linda McMahon attends a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on Aug. 16, 2018, in Washington. McMahon, then head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, is President-elect Donald Trump's choice to lead the Education Department in his new administration.
    Andrew Harnik/AP
    Federal What's in the Lawsuit That Alleges Linda McMahon Failed to Protect Children
    The lawsuit filed by former World Wrestling Entertainment workers alleges a culture of acceptance of sexual misconduct.
    Mark Walsh, December 2, 2024
    •
    8 min read
    Image of a student desk sitting on top of a pile of books
    Collage via iStock/Getty
    Education Funding Trump's Plans Would Disrupt Funding for Schools. What Would It Look Like?
    School districts are bracing for a period of fiscal turbulence and whiplash that could strain their efforts to meet students’ complex needs.
    Mark Lieberman, November 27, 2024
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    12 min read
    Cafeteria workers serve student lunches at Firebaugh High School in Lynwood, Calif. on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Demand for school lunches has increased after California guaranteed free meals to all students regardless of their family's income.
    Cafeteria workers serve lunches at Firebaugh High School in Lynwood, Calif., on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Demand for school lunches has increased after California guaranteed free meals to all students regardless of their family's income. A federal school lunch provision that makes it easier for public schools to provide universal free meals may be a target for elimination in President-elect Donald Trump's upcoming term if some conservative activists and lawmakers get their way.
    Richard Vogel/AP
    Federal How Trump Could Roll Back Access to Free School Lunches
    Project 2025 and a GOP budget proposal call for axing a federal rule that allows public schools to serve free meals to all students.
    Evie Blad, November 26, 2024
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    5 min read
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