State Policy

Read more about state laws, regulations, and programs that impact education
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
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul reads "Snowflakes Fall" to daycare children at the Department of Labor on Dec. 20, 2023, in Albany, N.Y. Hochul on Jan. 3, 2024, said she will push for schools to reemphasize phonics in literacy education programs, a potential overhaul that comes as many states revamp curriculums amid low reading scores.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul reads "Snowflakes Fall" to children on Dec. 20, 2023, in Albany, N.Y. Hochul became the latest Democratic governor to say she'll opt her state in to the federal tax-credit scholarship program that takes effect next year, and will direct federal taxpayer funds to private school scholarships.
Will Waldron/The Albany Times Union via AP
School Choice & Charters A Large Democratic-Led State Says Yes to Trump’s School Choice Program
Thirty-one states are on track to participate in the first major federal foray into private school choice.
Matthew Stone, May 8, 2026
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5 min read
Preschool students run on the new cushioned rubber surface while others use the double slide at Taft Early Learning Center in Uxbridge, Mass., on March 12, 2025.
Preschool students run on the new cushioned rubber surface while others use the double slide at Taft Early Learning Center in Uxbridge, Mass., on March 12, 2025. In Oklahoma, elementary schools will have to provide 40 minutes of recess daily starting this fall.
Brett Phelps for Education Week
Student Well-Being & Movement 40 Minutes of Recess Is Now the Law in This State
Elementary schools will have to provide 40 minutes of recess, after years of declining time nationwide.
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, April 30, 2026
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3 min read
The Plumbing department, located in the school's well-equipped shop facility, alongside other trades including masonry and carpentry.
The plumbing department in a New Jersey technology high school. As the Trump administration invites states to request waivers from federal school accountability requirements, two have proposed changes that would emphasize career-oriented tests as opposed to more traditional academic knowledge tests.
Oliver Farshi for Education Week
Every Student Succeeds Act These States Want to Move Away From a 'College for All' Approach to Testing
Two states have pitched changes to their high school assessments to emphasize workforce preparation.
Alyson Klein, April 28, 2026
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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
School Choice & Charters Opinion A New Federal Education Tax Credit Is Creating a Dilemma for Blue States
A new tax credit is forcing Democrats to navigate the tensions of politics and principles.
Rick Hess, April 28, 2026
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9 min read
Image of a student sitting on a stoop with a school bus in the distance. Ghosted in the background is the Capitol building.
Illustration by Laura Baker/Education Week + Getty + Canva
States With Federal Commitment Shaky, States Move to Codify Protections for Homeless Students
Washington and Oregon have taken action, and others states are considering moves of their own.
Evie Blad, April 23, 2026
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4 min read
In this Oct. 5, 1980, file photo, Nancy Armstrong, a teacher at the Marshall elementary school in Harrisburg, Pa., assists her students in the use of computers to aid them in their studies. Today’s grandparents may have fond memories of the “good old days,” but history tells us that adults have worried about their kids’ fascination with new-fangled entertainment and technology since the days of dime novels, radio, the first comic books and rock n’ roll.
In this Oct. 5, 1980, file photo, Nancy Armstrong, a teacher at Marshall Elementary School in Harrisburg, Pa., assists her students in the use of computers to aid them in their learning. The debate about how much time students should spend using technology to learn has been around for decades, but is now heating up in Congress and state legislatures and creating some unlikely allies.
Paul Vathis/AP
Ed-Tech Policy Welcome to the 'Funky' Politics of the Tech in Schools Debate
The Trump administration is cheerleading AI in schools as GOP lawmakers crack down on ed tech.
Alyson Klein, April 20, 2026
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9 min read
Democratic Senator Raumesh Akbari hugs a young demonstrator as people gather to protest an immigration bill outside 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.
Democratic state Sen. Raumesh Akbari hugs a young demonstrator as people protest an immigration bill outside the Senate chamber at the state Capitol on April 10, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. The legislation is part of a broader push in Tennessee to require schools to collect students’ immigration status, raising concerns among educators about trust, access, and compliance with federal law.
John Amis/AP
States 'Not Our Job': Principals Decry a Proposal to Track Student Immigration Status
A principals group has publicly opposed efforts to require schools to track immigration status.
Ileana Najarro, April 17, 2026
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5 min read
A teacher and rising kindergarten students at Vose Elementary in Beaverton during story time on April 16, 2026. Gov. Tina Kotek asked the State Board of Education on Thursday to prohibit school districts from using student-contact days as furlough days to balance budgets, in order to preserve instructional time.
Story time in a kindergarten class at Vose Elementary School in Beaverton, Ore., on April 16, 2026. Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has issued an executive order in hopes of blocking any further erosion of instructional time in a state that has one of the shortest school years in the country.
Mark Graves/The Oregonian via TNS
States A State With a Short School Year Wants to Stop the 'Bleeding' of Classroom Time
A new order aims to discourage districts from reducing instructional hours to fill budget gaps.
Mark Walsh, April 17, 2026
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4 min read