Author: BelieveAgain

A coalition of states that sued months ago to stop mass layoffs at the U.S. Department of Education is now also challenging the department’s recent moves to shift many of its core functions to the U.S. Department of Labor and other federal agencies.The Democratic attorneys general from 20 states and the District of Columbia argue in an amended complaint filed on Nov. 25 that federal laws require the U.S. Department of Education carry out its own programs.But the department this year has signed seven agreements to have four other federal agencies take over day-to-day management of key grant programs. Under…

Education savings accounts, tax-credit scholarships, vouchers, charter schools, home schooling, tutoring, course choice, dual degrees, and microschools are transforming K–12. In “Talking Choice,” Ashley Berner and I try to make sense of the shifting landscape. Ashley directs Johns Hopkins’ Institute for Education Policy and is a leading authority on “educational pluralism.” Whatever your take on educational choice, we seek to foster a more constructive conversation about what it means for students, families, and educators. Today, we discuss whether state officials should require testing of private schools that participate in choice programs.–Rick Rick: Ashley, a big question when it comes to…

State lawmakers have passed a slate of comprehensive reading bills in recent years that aim to align schools’ teaching, curricula, and professional development with research on key foundational literacy skills. But most of that legislation has focused on elementary school students. Now, advocates have set their sights on improving instruction for older students, who are often left out of the conversation.The swell of attention for younger students is understandable. Students who can’t read by 3rd grade are more likely to struggle academically down the road, drop out of high school, and have poor adult outcomes. But when students don’t meet…

The Trump administration took significant steps this week, on the heels of the government shutdown, toward eliminating the U.S. Department of Education. The department announced six interagency agreements to move many of its core functions to four different federal agencies. Meanwhile, Congress has yet to approve a budget setting education funding levels for the fiscal year that started Oct. 1.Here’s what that means for schools—and what we still don’t know. 2025-11-21 19:35:10 Source link

Moving key federal grants that help districts educate disadvantaged children, English learners, and rural students from the U.S. Department of Education to the Department of Labor is almost certainly going to be a major administrative adjustment for Washington. But what will the move announced Nov. 18 mean in classrooms and district central offices around the country? One way to begin answering that question: Examine educators’ initial responses to a similar bureaucratic shift that began several months ago.This summer, the Trump administration began moving workforce-connected programs—including the $1.4 billion Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education grant program—from the Education Department…

A majority of the U.S. Department of Education’s funding for K-12 schools—more than $20 billion a year—will be administered instead by the U.S. Department of Labor under an interagency agreement the two agencies have signed, the Trump administration announced Tuesday in one of its broadest efforts yet to downsize a Cabinet-level agency the president has pledged to eliminate.It’s one of several moves the Education Department is taking to offload its vast portfolio and adhere to President Donald Trump’s March executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “facilitate” the closure of her own department. And all of the interagency moves…

As the U.S. Department of Education this week prepared to move swathes of its responsibilities to other agencies, among its flurry of calls was to the nation’s state education chiefs—whose experience working with the federal government was about to change dramatically.In some ways, it wasn’t exactly a surprise. Debbie Critchfield, Idaho’s state superintendent, said her team has been talking about and anticipating major changes for months as President Donald Trump directed Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to facilitate the closure of her agency, as the pair publicly floated where the agency’s portfolio could end up, and as the department shed…

The data systems states use to track students’ progress over time from pre-K to career have taken on new importance as educators and lawmakers try to keep up with rapidly shifting workforce needs. But state leaders fear an unstable future for those efforts as they confront declining funding and shifts in state priorities, finds a new report from the Education Commission of the States, a nonpartisan research organization.The rapid growth of artificial intelligence, the popularization of alternative career pathways like apprenticeships, and a changing global economy have fueled urgency for states and schools to dig into data and identify policies…

Schools should be designed as welcoming spaces, tailor-made for each student, so they feel a sense of belonging and excitement for the day ahead.Instead, many kids feel like guests in someone else’s space. Students are expected to show up, do the work, and figure out how to fit in.Some kids can acclimate to the system. Unfortunately, many don’t.But if we changed every child’s experience? What if they walked into school each morning and thought, “This place feels like me.”As superintendent of the Eastern Hancock schools in Indiana, I do a lot of talking to students. I hear the same story…

The U.S. Department of Education said Tuesday it’s developed six agreements to send many of its key functions to other federal agencies.A majority of the Education Department’s funding for K-12 schools—more than $20 billion a year—will be administered instead by the U.S. Department of Labor, for example. The Labor Department will also assume management of many programs overseen by the office of postsecondary education. Other education programs will end up at the departments of Health and Human Services, the Interior, and State. See the chart below for a guide on where the agreements send many of the agency’s programs. 2025-11-18…