State Policy

Read more about state laws, regulations, and programs that impact education
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon outside the White House, Wednesday, June 10, 2026, in Washington. Today, the U.S. Department of Education approved Indiana’s Returning Education to the States Waiver, empowering Indiana’s education leaders with greater discretion over their federal education dollars and more flexibility to prioritize college and career readiness in Indiana’s high school accountability system on June 16, 2026.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon outside the White House on June 10, 2026, in Washington. McMahon was in Indiana on Tuesday to announce the state had secured the broadest waiver yet from federal school accountability and funding requirements. It's the third waiver the Trump administration has issued allowing a state relief from federal education requirements.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson /AP
Every Student Succeeds Act Trump Admin. Issues Broadest Waiver Yet on School Accountability, Funding
A third state secured new flexibility on how it spends federal school funds and rates high schools.
Matthew Stone & Stephen Sawchuk, June 16, 2026
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6 min read
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Vanessa Solis/Education Week + iStock/Getty
Student Achievement Opinion Teen Math and Reading Scores Prove It: We Have a Middle School Problem
Younger students show signs of learning recovery, while teens are left behind. How can we fix that?
Kymyona Burk, June 15, 2026
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5 min read
Gov. Tina Kotek speaks at a meeting of the Oregon Prosperity Council in Portland on Jan. 22 . In a new poll of Portland metro area voters, only a third of respondents said they have a positive opinion of Kotek.
Gov. Tina Kotek of Oregon speaks at a meeting of the Oregon Prosperity Council in Portland on Jan. 22. 2026. Kotek said Friday she wouldn't opt Oregon in to a new federal tax credit program that, starting next year, will bankroll scholarships for K-12 students that can cover private school tuition, home-school expenses in some states, and certain expenses for public school students.
Mark Graves/The Oregonian via TNS
School Choice & Charters Another Democratic-Leaning State Will Pass on the Federal School Choice Program
Thirty-one states are on track to participate in the first federal tax-credit scholarship program.
Matthew Stone, June 12, 2026
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4 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 Opinion How State Courts Are Quietly Shaping U.S. Education
In education, the real action is often at the state level, not in Washington, explains Derek Black.
Rick Hess, June 9, 2026
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8 min read
A waterfront home, photographed on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Governor DeSantis has pushed property-tax reform for over a year. “The property tax has become a big, big burden for millions of people in this state,” he said on June 1 in highlighting his proposal, which would expand the homestead exemption for property taxes from the current $25,000 to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028.
A waterfront home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., photographed on Tuesday, May 5, 2026. Gov. Ron DeSantis called a special legislative session this month to consider a major property-tax reduction measure. Lawmakers scaled it back to shield property taxes that make up almost half of school budgets statewide.
Phelan M. Ebenhack via AP
States A State Puts Property-Tax Cuts on the Ballot This Fall—But Shields Schools
Florida lawmakers turned down a more sweeping property-tax reduction plan, leaving school taxes alone.
Mark Walsh, June 8, 2026
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3 min read
The State Board of Education meeting room is pictured on Sept. 26, 2022 inside the William B Travis Building (which houses the Texas Education Agency) in downtown Austin, Texas .
The Texas State Board of Education meeting room is pictured on Sept. 26, 2022, inside the William B. Travis Building in downtown Austin, Texas. The board will vote later this month on revised standards and a required reading list that include biblical passages.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News via TNS
States Texas Considers a Bigger Role for Christianity in Schools This Month. Here's How
The state board will vote on a required reading list that includes biblical passages.
Silas Allen, The Dallas Morning News, June 5, 2026
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7 min read
Vision, goal conquering, on the path to accomplishment, with xxx flags and Doodle math. Algebra and geometry school equation and graphs, hand drawn physics science formulas in the background
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + iStock/Getty Images
Mathematics Opinion How to Overhaul High School Math Pathways (and Why You Should)
What should count for math credit? This state ed. commissioner explains why the answer matters.
Angélica Infante-Green, June 3, 2026
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5 min read
Aspiring Educator Amaya Mills, top left, is working with Amanda Malpaya, top right, during the First graders' reading class at Ponderosa Elementary School in Aurora, Colorado on Oct. 29, 2024. The Cherry Creek School District launched a new, innovative program that offers future educators a transformative pathway to become a teacher that is grounded in hands-on classroom experience paired with high-performing mentors. The Aspiring Educator Pathway Program will adopt a model similar to a medical residency program that incorporates a collaborative team-teaching environment with more than 4,000 hours of experience in the classroom, compared to the typical 700 hours.
Aspiring Educator Amaya Mills, top left, is working with Amanda Malpaya, top right, during the first graders' reading class at Ponderosa Elementary School in Aurora, Colorado on Tuesday, October 29, 2024. The Cherry Creek School District launched a new, innovative program that offers future educators a transformative pathway to become a teacher that is grounded in hands-on classroom experience paired with high-performing mentors.
Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post via Getty Images
Teacher Preparation Inside a State's Yearlong Residency for New Teachers: 'They’re Seeing It All'
The residency model has become a talent pipeline for school districts struggling to recruit teachers.
Marie Fazio, The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La., June 1, 2026
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4 min read
Internal View of the State Capitol. on May 29, 2025, in Albany, New York.
An internal view of the state capitol in Albany, N.Y., on May 29, 2025. Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed a budget into law that lowers the retirement age for teachers to collect a full pension.
Kena Betancur/AP
States New York Teachers Win Lower Retirement Age as Lawmakers Pass Pension Reforms
New York teachers can retire five years earlier under pension changes included in a state budget package.
Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News, May 27, 2026
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3 min read
The Tennessee Capitol is seen on April 23, 2024, in Nashville.
The Tennessee Capitol is seen on April 23, 2024, in Nashville. Twice since 2025, lawmakers in the state have failed to pass legislation limiting undocumented students' access to free, public education.
George Walker IV/AP
States How One State's Efforts to Limit Undocumented Students’ Rights Failed Again
Tennessee lawmakers failed to create legislation directly challenging federal law.
Ileana Najarro, May 22, 2026
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3 min read
Future data arrow concept with student looking out to a tangle of possibilities. Choice. grow chart up decisions. Pathways.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + Getty
Federal Opinion We Need Better Data to Understand What Happens to Students After High School
Here are the two things we need before we can answer how well we’re preparing students.
Jennifer Bell-Ellwanger & Sara Schapiro, May 22, 2026
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4 min read
HOUSTON, TEXAS - MAY 9: Students walk down a hallway outside classrooms at Houston Quran Academy in Houston, Friday, May 9, 2025. (Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
Students walk down a hallway outside classrooms at Houston Quran Academy in Houston on May 9, 2025. Texas initially excluded Islamic schools from its new private school choice program, leading some to wonder if other states might limit the kinds of private schools eligible for state school choice funding.
Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle via Getty
School Choice & Charters Could More States Try to Keep Islamic Schools Out of Their Choice Programs?
A state asserted it could exclude certain schools from its new private school choice program.
Arianna Prothero, May 20, 2026
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10 min read
A kindergartner, 5, stands with her arms crossed as she waits for classmates to use the restroom before they can return to the classroom, on Aug. 14, 2014, at an elementary school in Beecher, Mich.
A kindergartner, 5, stands with her arms crossed as she waits for classmates to use the restroom before they can return to the classroom, on Aug. 14, 2014, at an elementary school in Beecher, Mich.
Jake May/The Flint Journal via AP
Early Childhood Who’s Responsible for Toilet Training? Schools or Families?
Districts grapple with how to respond when students aren't toilet-trained.
Elizabeth Heubeck, May 15, 2026
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4 min read
Illustration of blue and red arrows merging for create purple arrow.
Education Week + Getty
States Opinion How Education Leaders Can Overcome Political Divisions
"Bipartisan education policy is not only possible; it is already happening," say several leaders.
Jose Muñoz, Charlene Russell-Tucker, Eric Mackey & Keven Ellis, May 14, 2026
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4 min read