According to a 234-page report recently released by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), active shooter drills — while intended to make schools safer for students and staff — can cause mental, emotional and behavioral harm for the very populations they seek to protect. As a result,…
In June 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court (Court) ruled to restrict gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors. In that case, the Court’s decision said a person’s identification as “transgender” is distinct from their “biological sex.” It did not touch on whether discrimination against transgender people amounts to sex-based discrimination. However,…
A federal judge is standing by his June 2025 decision requiring the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) to restore its Office for Civil Rights (OCR) “to the status-quo” so that it can “carry out its statutory functions.” The order, which prevents the USDE from laying off OCR employees, comes despite…
According to a Federal Register notice published August 7, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) is proposing to abandon data collection on transgender and nonbinary students, including on whether they are victims of harassment and bullying and whether school districts have policies prohibiting those incidents. The changes come as…
On August 7, 2025, Illinois became the first state to require school districts to provide universal mental health screenings for students when SB 1560 was passed into law. Under the law, which goes into effect for the 2027-28 school year, Illinois schools will receive access to free screening tools and…
Teen rates of suicidal thoughts and depression declined between 2021 and 2024, according to survey results released Monday by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows a 3-percentage-point decline to 10% in serious thoughts of suicide among youth ages…
According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in a July 23, 2025 statement, the Trump administration violated the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 by withholding funds meant for early childhood education Head Start programs. GAO cited several actions taken by the Trump administration from January through April that strained…
During a July 14, 2025 session at a legislative summit hosted by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and the Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE), special education professionals from across the country urged the federal government to make investments in student mental health, citing the dire need for…
On June 26, 2025 the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) reversed prior guidance that canceled spending extensions for federal K-12 pandemic relief funds. States that were preapproved for the extended spending deadlines can now request reimbursements and liquidate their funds. In a letter to states not suing over the USDE’s…
A DHS spokesperson recently clarified to K-12 Dive that immigration enforcement activity in schools should be “extremely rare” and would first require “secondary supervisor approval.” The DHS comment was in response to a lawsuit dismissed this month and filed originally in February by Denver Public Schools over DHS’ policy memo…
