Education policy, funding, and data across the country.
A September 2026 memo orders every Education Department grantee to submit a short written justification with each payment request. Education groups say it adds redundant paperwork; the agency points to a low flag rate at the Labor Department.
Bipartisan bill offers grants for secure storage containers and directs a two-year study on mobile device impacts, as 26 states have already enacted their own restrictions.
A Massachusetts district court ruled the department's mass termination of TQP and SEED grants was arbitrary and capricious, vacating the directive nationwide. The practical effect on already-terminated funds remains unresolved.
A late-September rescission package targets congressionally appropriated funds for migrant student programs under a method the GAO says is illegal and courts have not fully resolved.
The National Assessment Governing Board voted May 15 to update the civics framework for the first time in 30 years, while the 2028 test will allow state-by-state comparisons for the first time.
A compromised credential without multi-factor authentication let a hacker steal personal data from the student information system used by more than 40 states, triggering state investigations, a Texas lawsuit, and a guilty plea in federal court.
A September 2026 ruling in Massachusetts strikes down the February 2025 DEI directive as unlawful, but leaves the fate of terminated teacher preparation grants unresolved pending further claims.
The measure now heads to the Senate, where a broader counterpart bill has already cleared committee with bipartisan support.
The Administration for Children and Families ended three grants after California refused to remove references to gender identity, citing federal statute. California may appeal.
Five major Jewish organizations released a six-point framework for K-12 schools on September 9, 2026, as previously released ADL data showed K-12 antisemitic incidents remained flat in 2025 even as overall incidents fell 33 percent.
The agreement bars AI training on student data, bans companion chatbots, and requires human oversight; districts can opt in starting November 1.
Kelly Rogers steps down just as physical staff transfers begin, leaving the special education transition without a designated leader. Congress is weighing bills to block the move.
A coalition of states says the department is evading a December injunction by relabeling the cancellations, while the department says it has no finalized plan and the proper venue lies elsewhere.
U.S. 15-year-olds' reading scores fell 14 points on the 2025 PISA, matching a broad OECD decline, while math and science held steady.
The American Psychological Association's inaugural report synthesizes evidence that rising classroom temperatures impair cognition and recommends heat thresholds, monitoring, and a shift in scheduling.
The Live Real Life campaign, backed by a Surgeon General's advisory, recommends bell-to-bell cellphone bans and computer labs over 1-to-1 devices, as the NTIA separately examines federal broadband's role in school screen use.
The data collection includes new fields on nonbinary students, but the numbers were replaced with a suppression code, citing President Trump's executive order. The release is the first without a First Look Report in over a decade.
A proposed federal rule would target racial preferences in admissions, scholarships, and programs at private K-12 schools and colleges, citing Brown, Bob Jones, and SFFA.
A June 2026 DOJ memo and July Federal Register notice declare the Olmstead Guidance 'not enforceable.' IDEA transition requirements remain law, but advocates warn districts may lower expectations for independent living goals for students with disabilities.
The new federal tax credit scholarship program under P.L. 119-21 allows donations to fund K-12 expenses including public school services. With Treasury rules pending, a national nonprofit and some districts are setting up scholarship organizations to participate.
The multistate agreement requires Meta to disable teen push notifications from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on school days, impose daily time limits, and send billions to states for phone-free schools and mental health services.
A proposed rule would codify termination for convenience on discretionary awards, end multiyear funding obligations, limit appeal avenues, and apply executive orders to formula funds like Title I.
An Aug. 26 Dear Colleague letter from the Student Privacy Policy Office says opt-out policies are not enough under PPRA. It also addresses parental access to student gender plans.
A new Dear Colleague Letter from the U.S. Department of Education argues that instructional technology should be evaluated by evidence of effectiveness rather than by time on devices, placing it at odds with state laws that cap classroom screen time.
New federal guidance directs schools to eliminate racial considerations from student discipline and opens investigations into two districts, while research shows persistent disparities and mixed impacts from prior federal interventions.
Canon-McMillan and Lower Merion in Pennsylvania and Granville and Burke counties in North Carolina are restricting or eliminating Chromebooks and tablets for K-2, citing research on handwriting and attention. North Carolina's state guidance urges structured use but stops short of bans.
Cincinnati, Fresno, LAUSD and others adopt furloughs, layoffs, and attrition strategies to close budget gaps driven by expiring federal aid, falling enrollment, and rising special education and insurance costs.
The new resource package, released August 12, provides eight operational objectives for school districts. It arrives as education-sector ransomware attack frequency drops but ransom demands rise, and as CISA itself reports staff and funding disruptions.
A nationally representative survey of 753 educators finds student absences tied to enforcement fears nearly doubled since fall 2025, following DHS rescission of school protections.
Google expanded its AI tools in Classroom to students of all ages, but districts are adopting a range of age restrictions, privacy policies, and approved-use lists as they rely on the company’s data protections rather than independent educational studies.
An Education Week review of federal spending reports shows unobligated funds were 7.5 times the combined total for the same eight accounts over the prior decade. The pattern extends into the current fiscal year.
A WestEd evaluation of eight early-adopter districts found positive academic effects in three where rigorous analysis was possible, at costs comparable to traditional contracts. The model's independent contribution remains uncertain.
Carson City School District will prohibit smart glasses and wearable communication devices starting August 18, 2026. Nevada's SB 444, Texas HB 1481, and Oklahoma SB 139 are among laws that name or encompass smart glasses, pushing districts to adopt rules before the technology becomes common.
A proposed rule would eliminate federal staff-child ratios, safety standards, and curriculum requirements, leaving most specifics to state licensing. The first deregulatory step, a proposed rule to remove wage and benefit rules, was published in May 2026.
A final rule removes the decades-old regulation that allowed federal investigators to find discrimination based on racial disproportionality alone, citing the Supreme Court's Sandoval decision and Executive Order 14281.
An April 2026 report from the Center on Reinventing Public Education cataloged the laws, which range from broad multi-component packages to narrower goals like advanced coursework. The movement mirrors the science of reading push but at an earlier stage, the report says.
The rescission removes the federal government's primary interpretive document for English learner compliance, while underlying civil rights statutes remain in force. The English learner population has grown to 5.3 million students.
Three states take different regulatory paths: Iowa sets a 60-minute daily cap, Tennessee mandates local policies, Utah drafts grade-band prohibitions.
The federal agency has found California in violation of FERPA and opened investigations into both states over policies that limit when schools can notify parents about a child's gender identity change. Noncompliance could mean loss of federal funding.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act creates the first federal tax credit scholarship program. Income eligibility is broad, but scholarships only flow in states whose governors opt in. The $1,700 per-donor credit cap and lack of school requirements distinguish it from state programs.
National data show teacher attrition rose above pre-pandemic levels in 2021-22. High-poverty and STEM classrooms were hit hardest.
A new DHS rule lets immigration officers consider SNAP and Medicaid use when evaluating applications, raising warnings from education groups that direct certification and CEP eligibility will decline.
A compilation of Education Department OIG cases from 2019 to 2026 found roughly 90 instances of fraud and abuse totaling $225 million. Only 3 of the 20 largest school districts appeared in the records, suggesting a broader problem.
The proposed rule would convert federal grant guidance into binding regulation, add political appointee review of discretionary awards, and restrict DEI and conference spending. Public comments closed July 13 with nearly 500,000 submissions, mostly opposed.
Two lawsuits challenge the withholding of nearly $1.9B in congressionally appropriated education research funds and the dismantling of the Institute of Education Sciences, raising constitutional questions about executive spending power.
New York Attorney General Letitia James led 16 states in a lawsuit over $1 billion in school mental health grants canceled by the Education Department, secured a permanent injunction, then filed a new challenge after the department tried a different route.
The national rate surpassed the prior record by nearly five percentage points, driven by an on-time cycle opening, streamlined processes, and universal FAFSA policies in nine states. State-level gaps remain wide.
Democrats and at least two Republicans are advancing legislation to block Interagency Agreements that would shift IDEA programs and civil rights enforcement out of the Education Department, citing statutory limits on unilateral transfers.
A 10-bill package from House Republicans would codify the Trump administration's transfer of Education Department programs to Labor, HHS, and Treasury, stripping the education secretary of residual authority that existing executive agreements preserve.
The FCC's 2-1 vote to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking asks whether the nearly 30-year-old E-Rate program should be limited, narrowed to rural areas, or sunset entirely.
A small share of U.S. school districts are moving from AI policy-writing to vendor contracts and pilots in 2025-26. The strongest causal research still comes from outside U.S. K-12 classrooms, with mixed findings on whether learning gains persist.
Only 11 states have publicly shared microschool regulations. Some are building dedicated statutory pathways tied to ESA programs, while others fold microschools into homeschooling or private school rules.
New state-by-state analysis shows a third straight year of decline, but roughly 95 percent of students still attend districts where absenteeism exceeds 2019 levels, and the pace of improvement is slowing.