According to an analysis from nonprofit group Education Resource Strategies (ERS), fiscal uncertainty due to a state's reliance on federal money, their proportions of high-need school districts, and the number of students living in poverty are key risk factors for how federal funding cuts will affect each state. Upon analyzing…
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 July 31, 2025, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee (Committee) approved a bipartisan spending bill for fiscal year 2026 (FY26) that would prevent the executive branch from removing Title I and special education programs to agencies outside the U.S. Department of Education (USDE). The legislation also rejects several other funding…
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…
As it continues its efforts to hand over more authority to states regarding how they spend their federal funds, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) encouraged all states to seek waivers from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). On July 29, 2025 the USDE stated the requirements under that…
As it continues its efforts to hand over more authority to states regarding how they spend their federal funds, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) encouraged all states to seek waivers from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). On July 29, 2025 the USDE stated the requirements under that…
As reported by K-12 Dive, on July 30, 2025 the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released a sweeping guidance document that could impact school district hiring and training practices, as well as the programming available to students. The document says how school districts could be exposed to legal liability by…
On July 22, 2025 the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) sent a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) to school district and state leaders encouraging and guiding them on how to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) in schools through existing federal grants. The letter form U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon said that grantees…
On July 25, 2025 the Trump administration signed on to a court-approved agreement temporarily pausing enforcement of recent policy changes that restrict some education-related federal programs (i.e., Head Start, dual enrollment, adult education, and CTE) based on students’ immigration or citizenship status. The agreement, filed in U.S. District Court for…
