State Policy

Read more about state laws, regulations, and programs that impact education
Hand holding sieve to filter truth from lies, facts from fakes. Concept of media literacy, fake news detection, and critical thinking in digital age.
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Classroom Technology More States Are Pairing Cellphone Bans With Media Literacy Instruction
Students need to develop the skills to critically analyze the content they view on their phones.
Alyson Klein, January 21, 2026
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2 min read
Ten Commandments Texas 25322117067170
A Ten Commandments poster is seen with boxes of others before they were delivered to local public schools in New Braunfels, Texas, on Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. A federal appeals court appears open to reviving blocked Ten Commandments school laws in Louisiana and Texas.
AP Photo/Eric Gay
Law & Courts Full Appeals Court Signals Openness to Ten Commandments Classroom Laws
The full 5th Circuit seemed sympathetic to unblocking two laws requiring Ten Commandments displays.
Mark Walsh, January 21, 2026
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5 min read
Image of students working at desks, wearing black and white school uniforms.
iStock/Getty
School Choice & Charters As School Choice Goes Universal, What New Research Is Showing
New analyses shed light on the students using state funds for private school and the schools they attend.
Matthew Stone & Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, January 15, 2026
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9 min read
As the teaching workforce increasingly skews younger, paying for educator's parental leave increases the financial pressure on districts.
As the teaching workforce increasingly skews younger, paying for educator's parental leave increases the financial pressure on districts.
LM Otero/AP
Teaching Profession What the Research Says How Much Would It Cost States to Support Parental Leave for Teachers?
Two-thirds of states do not guarantee teachers parental leave, a new national study finds.
Sarah D. Sparks, January 13, 2026
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2 min read
President Donald Trump signs his signature bill of tax breaks and spending cuts at the White House on July 4, 2025, in Washington.
President Donald Trump signs his signature bill of tax breaks and spending cuts, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, at the White House on July 4, 2025, in Washington. States are considering whether to incorporate the tax changes into their own tax codes, which will results in lower state revenue collections that could strain school budgets.
Evan Vucci/AP
Education Funding Schools Brace for Mid-Year Cuts as 'Big, Beautiful Bill' Changes Begin
State decisions on incorporating federal tax cuts into their own tax codes could strain school budgets.
Mark Lieberman, January 13, 2026
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7 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 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, January 9, 2026
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8 min read
The Instagram logo is seen on a cell phone, Oct. 14, 2022, in Boston.
The Instagram logo is seen on a cell phone. New York is the third state, after California and Minnesota, to pass a law requiring social media warning labels.
Michael Dwyer/AP
States Scroll With Caution: Another State Requires Social Media Warning Labels
Backers of New York's law, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, have likened tech's addictiveness to tobacco.
Jennifer Vilcarino, January 8, 2026
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4 min read
Amanda Darrow, director of youth, family and education programs at the Utah Pride Center, poses with books that have been the subject of complaints from parents in Salt Lake City on Dec. 16, 2021. The wave of attempted book banning and restrictions continues to intensify, the American Library Association reported Friday. Numbers for 2022 already approach last year's totals, which were the highest in decades.
Eight states have passed legislation restricting school officials from pulling books out of school libraries for partisan or ideological reasons. In the past five years, many such challenges have focused on books about race or LGBTQ+ people. Amanda Darrow, the director of youth, family and education programs at the Utah Pride Center, poses with books that have been the subject of complaints from parents in Salt Lake City on Dec. 16, 2021. (Utah is not one of the eight states.)
Rick Bowmer/AP
States States Are Banning Book Bans. Will It Work?
Approved legislation aims to stop school libraries from removing books for partisan reasons.
Sarah Schwartz, January 7, 2026
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5 min read
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon is interviewed by Indiana’s Secretary of Education Katie Jenner during the 2025 Reagan Institute Summit on Education in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 18, 2025.
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, pictured here in Washington on Sept. 18, 2025, has granted Iowa a partial waiver from provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act, saying the move is a step toward the Trump administration's goal of "returning education to the states." The waiver allows Iowa some additional flexibility in how it spends the limited portion of federal education funds used by the state department of education.
Leah Millis for Education Week
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, January 7, 2026
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6 min read
Two girls using dice in math lesson.
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Early Childhood Play-Based Learning Yields More Joy, Higher Scores at This Elementary School
Teachers who have incorporated guided play into their lessons say they've seen students thrive.
Elizabeth Heubeck, December 29, 2025
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7 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
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5 min read
Vector illustration of an open laptop on a blue background. Out from the laptop screen flows a long trail of paper of which shows a sample graphic and multiple choice question from the WIDA ACCESS online quiz.
iStock/Getty + WIDA ACCESS online exam
English Learners Thousands More English Learners Will Soon Be Taking a Popular Language Exam
New York to end its traditional language-proficency exam in favor of a digital test.
Ileana Najarro, December 19, 2025
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4 min read
Two teachers having conversation in office.
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Recruitment & Retention Inside One State's Bold Plan to Keep Special Education Teachers
Pennsylvania's training and mentoring program works to retain teachers serving students with disabilities.
Sarah D. Sparks, December 19, 2025
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6 min read
President Donald Trump speaks during an address to the nation from the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House on Dec. 17, 2025, in Washington.
President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House on Dec. 17, 2025, in Washington. Some experts on K-12 education are concerned that Trump wants to unleash the use of AI with very little regulation.
Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP
Artificial Intelligence K-12 World Reacts to Trump’s Executive Order to Block State AI Regulations
The president says the patchwork of regulations across the states impedes AI companies’ growth.
Lauraine Langreo, December 18, 2025
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2 min read
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