Over 100 education organizations have sent a letter to Congress urging the urging lawmakers to order the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) to reinstate canceled federal grants that sought to address the shortage of qualified educators in K-12 schools,. The letter is in response to a $600 million cut to “divisive” teacher training grants made on Feb. 17 by the USDE impacting grants such as the Supporting Effective Educator Development, Teacher Quality Partnership. and the Teacher and School Leader Incentive Program. In addition, the canceled funding for educator preparation training programs, which include teacher apprenticeships and grow-your-own initiatives, has already disrupted the educator pipeline to fill vacancies next school year as teacher candidates have lost scholarships and paid internships just months before they were to earn their full licensure, according to the letter.

To date, school districts have hired hundreds of thousands of uncertified teachers in recent years to help plug holes left by teacher shortages, and the programs affected buy funding cuts were instituted to help address that issue.

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On March 3, 2025, Linda McMahon was confirmed as the new U.S. Secretary of Education. Her first order of business will be the downsizing and possible elimination of the U.S. Department of Education (USDE). McMahon’s confirmation was on the same date that USDE workers were given an opportunity to accept a $25,000 separation agreement by a minute before midnight as per a February 28th written notice.

At a February 13th hearing, McMahon stated that there were possible ways to move programs from the USDE to other agencies. For example, education-related civil rights investigations could be housed at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) could take responsibility for the delivery of IDEA services for disabled students. She also stated her aim to expand school choice and skills-based learning, give local schools and parents more decision-making power, and protect students from discrimination and harassment. For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

On March 3, 2025, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., published a policy statement in the Federal Register that rescinds the current policy (also known as the Richardson Waiver) of requiring new rules and regulations to be open to public comment before they are implemented by the agency.

In fact, since 1971 the Richardson Waiver has been in place to impose notice-and-comment periods above and beyond those required under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Thus, it has been the practice of HHS, under the Administrative Procedure Act, to allow the public an opportunity for public comment voice to their support or opposition to government rule proposals.

As published, the new policy states: “The Department of Health and Human Services’ (the Department) Immediate Office of the Secretary is rescinding the policy on Public Participation in Rule Making (Richardson Waiver) and re-aligning the Department’s rulemaking procedures with the Administrative Procedure Act.”

According to the US News and World Report, HHS says it is revoking the waiver because the public participation process imposes too many responsibilities on it and is “beyond the maximum” requirements of the law (APA). Those obligations “are contrary to the efficient operation of the department, and impede the department’s flexibility to adapt quickly to legal and policy mandates.”

Opponents of this move by HHS point to the importance of public comment and transparency when making rule-making decisions that affect the health and welfare of the people.

Click here to view the document.

Click here to see the actual posting in the Federal Register.

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Since the 1970s, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has monitored student performance in reading and math for students ages nine, 13 and 17. These assessments, known as The Nation’s Report Card, measure students’ educational progress over long periods to identify and monitor trends in academic performance. However, the NAEP, which was scheduled to be given this March through May, has been cancelled by the U.S. Department of Education USDE .

With the U.S. Department of Education’s (USDE) cancellation of the NAEP for 17-year-olds, education researchers are losing one resource for evaluating post-high school readiness, although some say the test was already a missed opportunity since it hadn’t been administered since 2012 due to the pandemic.

The USDE cited funding issues in its cancellation of the exam.

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