The U.S. Department of Education’s (USDE) professional degree definition is now being challenged in court as 25 states and the District of Columbia sued the USDE on May 19, 2026 for excluding graduate nursing and other major fields, including education. The plaintiffs, led by Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, said…
According to a May 20, 2026 announcement from the U.S. Department of Education (USDE), Louisiana became the second state to receive a federal waiver from certain K-12 funding requirements, allowing the state to consolidate funding streams. Louisiana’s waiver is similar to the one approved in January 2026 for Iowa. The…
On May 6, 2026, a federal judge denied two Minnesota school districts’ request to temporarily stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity on school grounds in a lawsuit that ultimately seeks to overturn a Trump administration policy allowing such enforcement. The case was filed by Duluth Public Schools and Fridley…
Through the use of universal screenings, schools have discovered a deeper pool of gifted students from populations like English learners, those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and those whose parents didn’t know how to advocate for them. They’ve also noted “twice exceptional” students whose challenges, such as dyslexia, might have masked…
Despite a proposed $539 million dollar increase over the FY 2026 budget, special education administrative organizations and disability rights advocacy groups say the federal spending plan zero funds and consolidates several programs for FY 2027, similar to the administration’s FY 26 proposal. Those changes would make states less accountable for…
On March 18, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education’s (USDE) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced the District of Columbia Public Schools violated the civil rights of students with disabilities by denying timely evaluations, individualized placements and reliable transportation, according to results of a year-long investigation. OCR said the district…
As reported by K-12 Dive, amid funding challenges some state leaders draw attention to budgets and programs that support students with disabilities. In fact, special education initiatives were a priority for several governors in their annual state of state addresses — including in Idaho, Kansas, New Mexico and Pennsylvania —…
Although the recently passed fiscal year 2026 (FY26) budget for the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) did not ban the outsourcing of certain education programs to other federal agencies, it strongly condemned and discouraged the transfer of key programs out of the USDE. The bicameral and bipartisan statement said that…
On February 17, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Division announced the dismissal of a 60-year-old desegregation case in Tennessee’s Dyersburg City Schools, continuing the Trump administration’s efforts to end school desegregation orders. A DOJ press release said that the school district “no longer operates as a…
Narrowing federal and state policies are fueling uncertainty about life after graduation for “unauthorized” immigrant students in high school, according to a new analysis from the Migration Policy Institute. For instance, most of today’s high-schoolers cannot qualify for the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which delays the deportation…
