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,…
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 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 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…
