Category: Federal Government Actions

FCC Vote Removes School Bus Wi-Fi, Hotspots from E-rate (October 1, 2025)

On September 30, 2025, in a 2-1 vote, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) removed both school bus Wi-Fi and internet hotspot services from eligibility for federal E-rate funds. The move means schools and libraries will no longer be able to receive discounts on these services, as allowed under an E-rate expansion approved under the Biden administration. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr called for the vote to reverse the expansion earlier this month.

Noting a great need to use E-rate funds for school bus Wi-Fi and hotspots, schools and school districts requested $42.6 million to use E-rate funds for hotspots and $15.3 million for school bus Wi-Fi. Sadly, the commission’s vote now directs the Universal Service Administrative Company, which administers E-rate funds, to deny any pending funding requests for both services for FY 25, including the 2025-26 school year. It is expected that rural school districts will be especially affected by the FCC’s decision. For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

PASA and the 1% Threshold Justification Requirement for All LEAs (October 1, 2025)

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires states to report the number of students with disabilities who exceed 1% of the total population of students participating in the alternate assessment. ESSA also requires 95% of the students, including those with disabilities, participate in statewide assessments. Additionally, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires states to report the performance and participation of students with disabilities in state assessment through its State Performance Plan (SPP) Annual Performance Report (APR).

To meet these regulatory requirements, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), Bureau of Education (BSE) implements a tiered system of oversight and monitoring of Local Education Agencies (LEAs). This tiered system monitors the participation rates of students with disabilities in the Pennsylvania Alternate System of Assessment (PASA).

One component of this monitoring oversight requires every LEA in the Commonwealth to submit a 1% Threshold Justification by December 1, 2025. This annual submission by every LEA for the 2025-26 school year is accessed through the PaTTAN PASA 1% webpage. 

More information about PASA, including the “2025-26 PASA Getting Ready: What Special Education Administrators Need to Know about PASA DLM Participation and 1% Compliance Requirements” slides, can be reviewed at the Pennsylvania Alternate System of Assessment (PASA) webpage or by using some of the direct links to resources below:
–Pennsylvania Alternate System of Assessment (PASA) and the 1% Threshold Justification: Tiered System of LEA Oversight and Monitoring – this form should be used by LEAs who exceed the 1% threshold as a resource when completing their required 1% justification.
–PASA Eligibility Criteria: Decision Making Companion Tool – this resource should be used by IEP teams to consider Pennsylvania’s six eligibility criteria for students to take the PASA and document in Section IV of the student’s IEP.
–PASA Eligibility Criteria – YouTube – this resource is a brief video providing additional guidance for PASA’s six eligibility criteria.

Questions on this requirement can be directed to ra-pdespecialed@pa.gov, Lisa Hampe at lihampe@pa.gov, and/or Lisa Hauswirth at lhauswirth@pa.gov.

USCCR Issues Report on Sp. Ed. Teacher Shortage (October 1, 2025)

According to an investigation by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR), a persistent shortage of special education teachers nationwide is leading to a lack of supports and services needed to help students with disabilities thrive in schools. The investigation into special educator shortages comes amid an increase in the population of students with disabilities qualifying for services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. During the 2023-24 school year, there were 7.9 million IDEA-eligible students ages 3-21. The previous year, there were 7.6 million, according to data from the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) analyzed by The Advocacy Institute.

Thus, on September 29, 2025 the USCCR reported the growing population of students with disabilities, combined with a lag in special education hiring, “has resulted in a dearth of special educators, thus depriving students with disabilities of their right to a free appropriate public education.” The report also found that special education teacher shortages are being caused by a myriad of factors, including both a lack of people interested in the field and retention challenges stemming from demanding workloads, administrative burdens, high student loan debt and poor working conditions.

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

Appeals Court: USDE Can Cut Half of OCR Staff for Now (October 1, 2025)

According to a September 29th ruling by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) can move forward with plans to cut half of its Office for Civil Rights (OCR) staff as litigation against the reductions proceeds. The decision overturns a lower court’s order requiring the USDE to restore the civil rights enforcement office to the “status quo,” and it comes as the agency had already begun returning staffers to the office in waves.

As reported by K-12 Dive, at this stage, the three-judge panel said it could not “conclude that this case differs enough” from a separate but similar case challenging the broader USDE layoffs, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in July in an emergency decision in New York v. McMahon in to allow the USDE’s reduction in force to take effect. It would have also applied to the OCR layoffs, had Judge Myong Joun of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts not ordered that the OCR be restored to the “status quo” in a separate case, Victim Rights Law Center v. U.S. Department of Education.

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

USDE to Bring Back MH Grants (September 29, 2025)

According to notices to be published in the Federal Register on September 30, 3035, after having canceled grants that had congressionally approved funding for the School-Based Mental Health Services Grant Program and the Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration Grant Program for not aligning with Trump administration priorities, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) will begin accepting grant applications for $270 million across those programs aimed at boosting student mental health.

Despite the restoration of the grants, there is concern that the grants will focus only on school psychologists and will not include school counselors and social workers who also provide student mental health supports, w hen all such positions are critical in helping students in need.

For more from K-112 Dive, click here.