I’ve been writing annual roundups of the best and worst education news for the past 13 years.

Here’s a look at my choices for the education highlights and lowlights from the past 12 months. And do let me know on X (formerly Twitter) @Larryferlazzo, on BlueSky larryferlazzo.bsky.social/, or via email at lferlazzo@educationweek.org what you agree or disagree with or what you think I’m missing. Chances are I’m missing a lot!

These are not published in any particular order.

Look for my 2026 education predictions soon!

The Best Education News

• Recent polling has found that two groups of people most involved with public schools—students and their parents—give their school very high marks. In those same polls, those without a direct connection to schools didn’t share those same high opinions, giving credence to the saying that not knowing much about a subject never stops an American from giving a strongly held opinion on it.

• Kudos to the unions, states, and organizations fighting against the Trump administration’s dismantling of the Department of Education, its attack on DEI programs, and its attempts to “disappear” transgender youth. From Maine to California, Pennsylvania to Illinois, New York to Massachusetts, opposition to Trump has been forceful and has scored many victories.

• And many cheers to the educators, schools, city officials, and students who have stood up against ICE abducting students and their families. Teachers have gone on patrols, parents and neighbors have stood watch, and community members have escorted students to school. This kind of resistance to injustice is likely a lesson that will inspire students for the rest of their lives.

• Let’s hear it for voters throughout the country who defeated school board candidates that supported the Trump administrations destructive agenda against students and their families.

• In one of the few pieces of positive news out of the Supreme Court this year, a 4-4 deadlock results in the blocking of the nation’s first religious public school. Let’s hope they don’t get another chance.

• One of the final acts of the Biden administration was changing Social Security rules so that second-career teachers could receive their appropriate SS benefits and not have them reduced because of their pensions. Many educators, including me, will have slightly more comfortable retirements because of this action.

• Teachers across the country rejoiced this year as laws swept the country, many accompanied with additional resources, banning student cellphone use in the classroom. These restrictions have dramatically improved life in the classroom for everyone.

• In the midst of an almost hysteria about lower student-test scores, along with supposed “miracles,” there have been some outstanding voices of reason. Many of these voices can be found in Ed Week articles and columns and also in articles written by educator Michael Pershan and journalist Matt Barnum, along with work from thoughtful researchers. Perhaps complicated issues may not lend themselves to simple explanations and solutions? And, speaking of voices of reason, the Association for Education, Finance and Policy created the “go-to” source for objective education policy research by unveiling their freely available Live Handbook. And you’re unlikely to find more clear-headed commentary about artificial intelligence in education than from Dan Meyer.

• There’s a long way to go, but chronic absenteeism in schools is trending downward—finally. We can only hope that ICE crackdowns don’t reverse this positive trend.

• There is some justice in our world: Alex Jones’ appeal of the $1.4 billion judgment against him in the Sandy Hook defamation suit was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court, and Ryan Walters resigned his position as Oklahoma state schools superintendent. Walters’ resignation is great news for the teachers and students of that state and is great news for everyone else, too, because we won’t have to hear his ridiculous pronouncements.

• New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani brought needed attention to gifted-and-talented programs by questioning that city’s kindergarten entry to them. Kindergarten? Really? On the broader topic of these kinds of these so-called accelerated classes, I loved the way the International Baccalaureate program runs at my old high school. Yes, we have IB Diploma candidates who take all IB classes. But anyone else can opt into taking any IB class, and we specifically recruit students who are not taking any IB courses. I hope Mamdani’s efforts result in a national conversation on the topic.

The Worst Education News

Where to begin? 2025 has not been a good year for education...

• The dismantling of the federal Department of Education, including its research infrastructure. The Trump administration’s efforts to “farm out” various department functions has already run into difficulties (surprise!), and its plan to reduce restrictions and push out responsibilities to states will have terrible implications for vulnerable populations, especially in red states. If you believe that the rights of low-income, English learner, and learning disabled students will be zealously safeguarded in those areas, then I have a bridge that I’d like to sell you.

• Of course, the Trump administration’s freeze of $6.8 billion dollars for education was a big blow for many school districts. The administration backed down three months later in the face of legal challenges, but the uncertainty and lateness of releasing the funds put additional unneeded pressure on already stressed educators.

• The Trump administration’s unjust and illegal attacks on anything remotely connected to DEI have also resulted in headaches and stress for teachers and their students. Even though most of the administration’s and its supporters’ efforts have been derailed—for now—conservative states have used them as an excuse to try to stamp out even the smallest efforts by teachers to promote a sense of belonging, including tearing down a classroom sign saying “Everyone Is Welcome Here.” How many teachers have altered their actions as a form of “anticipatory obedience” in fear of their jobs?

• The Trump administration’s attacks on immigrant communities have reverberated in schools and their communities throughout the United States. Hundreds of thousands of students have missed countless days of school, their families devastated by arrests and deportations, trauma pressed into the fabrics of their lives. So much for “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

• If the news of government-sponsored abductions isn’t enough to depress you, note that a survey done by The Center for Democracy & Technology found that 9% of teachers in their survey said that someone employed at their school reported a student or their family member to ICE. That’s not a huge percentage, but any percentage is depressing.

• School vouchers have continued to suck money out of public schools, not for the benefit of low-income families, but more often than not, to be used by families who already had their children enrolled in private schools. That’s been the story in Arizona (the voucher poster child) and in other states, and you can bet dollars to donuts that will be the case in the newest state to buy into the program, Texas. And all of this happens even though voters don’t want them. A national voucher bill was passed, and it’s still to be seen what impact it will have on schools.

• Standardized-test scores are not great, though there are some signs of a recovery. See the “Best News” section for some voices of reason offering thoughtful analyses about why this is the case and what can be done about it.

• The Trump administration’s decision to stop funding SNAP benefits during the federal government shutdown put even more pressure on schools and their students. It’s pretty hard for a hungry child to focus on that day’s lesson. Just another Trump-created crisis that teachers had to deal with.

• Conservative states have escalated campaigns to push their political agenda and propaganda into the classroom. Whether it’s educational efforts around the 250th anniversary of the United States, a Texas-sponsored English curriculum highlighting the Bible, or new Florida teaching standards downplaying McCarthyism, teachers are being pushed to “toe the line.”

• There have been countless instances of people and institutions not demonstrating courage in the face of Trump administration attacks, but I continue to be incredulous that there are some major education organizations that have not spoken out against the many federal assaults on our schools, teachers, students, and their families.

• The concentrated efforts by corporations to infiltrate K-12 education and the absence of professional development and guidance to teachers on dealing with it are combining to create a potential disaster in many school districts. Artificial intelligence can be helpful to English learners, to students enrolled in special education programs, to all teachers who are creating and modifying materials, and in assessing low-stakes online games and grammar practice. Those benefits are “not nothing,” but I fear AI proponents won’t be satisfied with them and that we have the beginnings of a cellphone problem on steroids facing education.

• Teachers’ salaries are continuing to fall behind the income of other college graduates, most teachers are taking second jobs, and the RAND Corp. found that: “Teachers were more likely in 2025 than similar working adults to report experiencing poor well-being on every indicator.” Other than these challenges, teachers are in great shape.