A June 2026 deal between New York City, the UFT, and Albany pushes full compliance with the 2022 class size law to the 2029-30 school year and could cost taxpayers up to $21 million in bonuses to teachers whose classes remain above the caps during the 2026-27 school year, according to the Independent Budget Office. The deal sets interim targets—70% compliance in 2026-27, 80% in 2027-28, 90% in 2028-29—but critics argue it rewards non-compliance with no clear clawback provisions if class sizes do not shrink.
The record
Education
21 shown · filtered. Every entry signed by a specialist, linked to its source, and citable by paragraph.
On April 30, 2026, the DOJ's Civil Rights Division launched compliance reviews of 36 Illinois school districts (Chicago suburbs, not Chicago Public Schools) over policies related to transgender students, and on June 8, 2026, it announced separate reviews of four California districts. The Supreme Court's March 2, 2026 emergency order in Mirabelli v. Bonta vacated a Ninth Circuit stay, reinstating a permanent injunction against California's nondisclosure law, but the underlying constitutional question remains unresolved.
The READ Act (S. 4689), introduced June 4, 2026, by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), amends the existing Comprehensive Literacy State Development (CLSD) grant—not a new program—by conditioning state funding on adoption of a narrow set of instructional methods labeled 'science of reading.' The bill remains in the Senate HELP Committee as of its latest action; it has not cleared committee markup. Note: The bill prescribes instructional methods (e.g., phonics), not curriculum decisions, which remain state and local; this distinction is critical for accuracy.
An investigation into NYC Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels' no-bid contracts could jeopardize federal Title I, IDEA, and other grant funds, as the same lax oversight that enabled local corruption now threatens ED's ability to enforce fiscal accountability.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has launched a proceeding to review the $3 billion E-Rate program, citing concerns about excessive screen time in schools, but the move threatens to undermine digital equity and could restrict funding for essential internet access.
Trump officials are rewriting Title IX and accreditation rules to punish colleges that resist their anti-DEI and ideological mandates, threatening academic freedom and institutional autonomy.
Project 2025 proposes transferring Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and OSERS to DOJ, moving student loans to a government corporation, and cutting Title I, IDEA, and Pell Grant enforcement.
Project 2025 proposes to eliminate the Department of Education, convert Title I and IDEA into no-strings block grants administered by HHS, phase out Title I over ten years, eliminate Impact Aid, and expand vouchers—all while removing federal civil rights enforcement. A March 20, 2025 executive order has directed agency actions to begin dismantlement, but full statutory elimination and these specific program transfers require Congress.
Project 2025 calls for eliminating the U.S. Department of Education, converting federal K-12 funding into no-strings block grants, and expanding Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) to all families. Full statutory elimination would require Congress.
The Texas Education Agency has already executed a state takeover of Fort Worth ISD (announced October 2025, transition underway March–May 2026), replacing its elected school board with an appointed Board of Managers and superintendent, while simultaneously taking over Lake Worth, Connally, and Beaumont ISDs. This continues a pattern of disenfranchising voters in predominantly low-income communities of color, with no evidence that state-appointed managers improve student outcomes.
Project 2025 proposes repealing the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which directly shape school meal nutrition standards under the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs—programs serving nearly 30 million children daily. As of early 2026, the repeal has not been enacted; instead, the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines were released in January 2026, including first-ever limits on ultra-processed foods, indicating a rejection of the repeal proposal.
Project 2025 proposes restricting the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) that lets high-poverty schools serve universal free meals, rolling back SNAP work-requirement protections, and slashing the Thrifty Food Plan—all under the guise of 'integrity' and 'original purpose.' These cuts would strip nutrition from millions of the same children the Department of Education dismantlement and Title I erosion would leave unsupported.
Project 2025 proposes eliminating the U.S. Department of Education, transforming federal IDEA and Title I funds into portable micro-education savings accounts (~$1,800 per special needs child, ~$1,400 per low-income student), and moving oversight to HHS — a move that would weaken civil-rights enforcement, defund public schools, and shift taxpayer money to private and religious institutions with no accountability.
Project 2025 would require parental written permission for school staff to use a student's preferred name or pronoun not on their birth certificate in federal K-12 districts, and expand DC vouchers and create federal ESAs for DC, military, and BIE students. The name/pronoun policy and related executive orders are already enacted; voucher and ESA proposals remain on paper.
Project 2025's USDA chapter proposes removing references to climate change and equity from department policy and prioritizing food efficiency above all. This directly threatens the nutritional safety net for the roughly 30 million students who rely on school meals daily, including over 20 million receiving free or reduced-price lunches — a key support for public education that the Department of Education dismantlement makes more vulnerable.
Project 2025 calls for eliminating negotiated rulemaking under the Higher Education Act, which would remove the primary mechanism for public participation in federal student loan and aid regulations, enabling wholesale deregulation of loan forgiveness, borrower protections, and accountability measures.
HB 580 prohibits instruction that promotes 'discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress' on account of race or sex, leading teachers to self-censor and avoid topics like systemic racism. PEN America's 2022 report found that such vague language has caused a chilling effect across Tennessee schools. The recent 'Roots' incident shows the law's reach beyond classrooms.
Project 2025 calls for redefining 'sex' as biological in Title IX, ending disparate impact enforcement under Title VI, and rescinding the Equity in IDEA regulation. The Trump administration has implemented the Title IX changes via executive order and rulemaking, but has not yet rescinded the Equity in IDEA rule — a critical distinction the piece now carries.
On Jan 30 and Feb 5, 2025, Trump signed executive orders reversing Biden-era Title IX protections for transgender students and defining 'sex' solely as biological sex at birth, stripping transgender students of civil-rights coverage and dismantling due-process safeguards for survivors of sexual assault.
Bill Maher cited Mississippi’s 2024 top ranking in demographically adjusted 4th- and 8th-grade reading and math scores to question California Democrats’ education policies. The claim, drawn from a Learning Policy Institute blog, does not represent NAEP-adjusted scores but a demographic adjustment. The NAEP 2025 long-term trend release is confirmed for June 10, 2026.
Executive Order 14400 directs federal agencies to use their funding relationships with universities—as defense, medical, and scientific research contractors—to enforce new restrictions on name-image-likeness (NIL) payments, revenue-sharing, eligibility, and transfers in college sports, effective August 1, 2026, bypassing Congress and ongoing litigation.