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…
According to the Learning Policy Institute (LPI), 45 states reported special education teacher shortages in 2024-25 based on data reported to the Education Department. An LPI analysis shows that 48 states and the District of Columbia had 365,967 teachers who were not fully certified for their positions. Teacher preparation enrollment…
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 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…
On July 25, 2025. the Trump administration announced plans to release more than $5 billion in funding to public schools that it has withheld for nearly a month. According to the U.S. Education Department (USDE), the funds will be released starting the week of Monday July 28, 2025. Legislators from…
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…
