As a result of a July 20, 2026 immigration-related final rule issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, agency officials will be allowed to deny applications for permanent residency or visa extensions to noncitizens who use school meals and other public benefits like Medicaid or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance…
As reported by K-12 Dive, on July 23, 2026 the U.S. Department of Education’s (USDE) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that it has rescinded regulations to implement disparate impact provisions under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Those regulations have been used to investigate school districts…
According to NBC News, on July 24, 2026 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the U.S. has logged 2,318 measles cases in the first seven months of this year, surpassing last year’s total of 2,289. It’s the largest number of measles cases the U.S. has seen in…
As reported by CBS News, a coalition of 25 states and the District of Columbia is suing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, accusing the Trump administration of withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in disaster-preparedness and homeland security grants to force states…
On July 22, 2026, special education professionals and advocates warned that moving special education functions out of the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) would be detrimental to students with disabilities. Citing the likelihood that the move would cause disparities in services across the states and reduce accountability measures, along with…
On July 17, 2026, a federal judge ruled in favor of a coalition of 21 attorneys general and three governors who sued over the Trump administration’s approach to grant terminations. According to the lawsuit, since the Trump administration began its second term, it has terminated billions of dollars in federal…
On a monthly basis the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) receives on average nearly 300 requests for data under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). However, under the Trump administration the USDE has only responded to about 3% of those requests. and staffing issues have been a major hurdle. For…
On July 15, 2026, the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee approved 10 Republican-led bills that are the first steps in eventually closing the U.S. Department of Education (USDE). The bills would codify several interagency agreements the USDE already has in place that move core education-related functions, but not the…
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…
