In a July 13, 2026 letter to federal legislators, 13 former federal officials who were responsible for overseeing special education implementation in states and districts urged Congress to reject the U.S. Department of Education’s (USDE) plans to move programs serving students with disabilities to another federal agency. The letter’s authors…
On July 10, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) issued a Dear Colleague letter to states and school districts reminding them of their responsibilities to protect students rather than engage in the practice, which it called “a troubling and recurring pattern in schools” nationwide. In addition, on the same…
On July 10, 2026, the attorneys general of 15 states filed a lawsuit alleging the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) is seeking to terminate “some or all” of $1 billion in mental health grants despite a permanent block preventing the USDE from doing so in a case brought last year…
Despite a court order temporarily requiring its continuation in at least one region of the nation, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) is trying another avenue to close Equity Assistance Centers nationwide after the Trump administration’s previous failed attempts. According to a notice posted in the federal register on June…
According to a July 5, 2026 announcement that many missed due to the holiday weekend, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) is planning to make changes to a federal rule that requires states and districts to measure racial disparities in special education. Known as the Equity in IDEA regulation, the…
According to a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released July 2, 2026, between the 2012-13 and 2023-24 school years 42 states and the District of Columbia increased the share of students with disabilities in general education classes. The number of students with disabilities spending some of their school day…
On June, 29, 2026, the U.S. House passed the Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act in a 267-117 vote. The proposed legislation would require additional safeguards for children and teens online, including an update to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) that would expand protections currently available to children…
According to a June 30, 2026 U.S. Supreme Court (Court) decision, girls’ and boys’ sports teams can be separated based on “biological sex." It also allows state laws separating athletics based on “biological sex” to remain in place. The ruling included a West Virginia case (West Virginia v. B.P.J. )…
On June 30, 2026, a coalition of disability and education organizations sued the the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) and the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) over its withholding of almost $2B in USDE funds that were appropriated by Congress for education research, data collection, program evaluation,…
As reported by K-12 Dive, according to a summary of state determinations issued June 18, 2026 by the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) more than half of U.S. states and territories did not meet annual targets for implementing federal special education services for students with disabilities ages 3-21. The recent…
