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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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  • 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 The 2026 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Scoring Formula
    Rick Hess unveils the 2026 RHSU Edu-Scholar rankings tomorrow. Here's his methodology.
    Rick Hess, January 6, 2026
    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?
    Rick Hess, January 5, 2026
    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
    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, January 2, 2026
    3 min read
    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.
    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

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  • The headquarters of the U.S. Department of Education pictured on March 12, 2025, in Washington.
    The headquarters of the U.S. Department of Education pictured on March 12, 2025, in Washington. A federal appeals court has now cleared a White House efficiency unit to resume accessing the agency’s records as part of a disputed data-review effort.
    Mark Schiefelbein/AP
    Law & Courts Federal Appeals Court Ruling Allows DOGE Access to Education Department Data
    A federal appeals court ruled for the Trump administration in a case brought by the American Federation of Teachers and other plaintiffs.
    Mark Walsh, August 12, 2025
    3 min read
    Gabe Kidner and Lilly Petersen, along with classmates from Highmark Charter School in South Weber, Utah, release small trout that they worked to raise at Adams Reservoir in Layton, Utah, on May 15, 2017.
    Students from Highmark Charter School in South Weber, Utah, release small trout that they worked to raise at Adams Reservoir in Layton, Utah, on May 15, 2017. The number of rural states that now allow charter schools has increased significantly over the past 10 years.
    Scott G. Winterton/The Deseret News via AP
    School Choice & Charters Are Charter Schools the Right Fit for Rural Communities?
    Rural charter leaders face challenges growing student enrollment and providing access to services.
    Ciara Meyer, August 8, 2025
    6 min read
    Federal Opinion Two Former Trump and Biden Appointees Hash Out What’s Ahead in Ed. Policy
    They held the same job in the Education Department—under two very different administrations. Watch their conversation.
    2 min read
    President Donald Trump hands a pen to professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau after Trump signed an executive order restarting the Presidential Fitness Test in public schools as Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, from left, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Vice President JD Vance watch, July 31, 2025, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington.
    President Donald Trump hands a pen to professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau after Trump signed an executive order restarting the Presidential Fitness Test in public schools as Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Vice President JD Vance watch on July 31, 2025, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.
    Jacquelyn Martin/AP
    Federal Trump Revives the Presidential Fitness Test. Will It Look the Same?
    A new generation of students could be tested on how fast they run the mile and how many pushups they can do.
    Brooke Schultz, August 7, 2025
    6 min read
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    Taylor Callery for Education Week
    Education Funding One Casualty of Trump's $6.8 Billion Funding Freeze: Schools' Trust in the Feds
    Some district leaders are now wary of relying on federal funding—even when Congress has already approved it.
    Mark Lieberman, August 6, 2025
    11 min read
    A copy of the Ten Commandments is posted along with other historical documents in a hallway of the Georgia Capitol, Thursday, June 20, 2024, in Atlanta. Civil liberties groups filed a lawsuit Monday, June 24, challenging Louisiana’s new law that requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom.
    A copy of the Ten Commandments is posted along with other historical documents in a hallway of the Georgia Capitol on June 20, 2024, in Atlanta. A judge on Aug. 4 blocked a new Arkansas law requiring a Ten Commandments display in public school classrooms in four districts in the state. Similar laws in Louisiana and Texas are also being challenged in courts.
    John Bazemore/AP
    Law & Courts Judge Blocks Arkansas Law Requiring Ten Commandments Displays in Schools
    A federal judge blocked an Arkansas law requiring Ten Commandments displays in schools. The law is one of three being challenged nationwide.
    Mark Walsh, August 5, 2025
    6 min read

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