According to a September 23, 2026 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, federal calculations for measuring student chronic absenteeism rates are unreliable and improbable. Specifically, the GAO took issue with how the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) counts enrolled students, which is based on a single day count on October 1 even though students identified as chronically absent for federal reporting requirements are counted over an entire school year.

Under the Trump administration, the USDE has cut staff by over 85% at its Institute of Education Sciences — the office responsible for EDFacts data collection. EDFacts is the USDE’s data submission and storage hub. The USDE’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (OESE) workforce has been reduced by 43%. OESE “serves as data steward for the chronic absenteeism data collection,” the report said.

To receive federal funding, states must report on chronic absenteeism rates and many other activities. As of the 2025-26 school year, there were 36 states that include chronic absenteeism as an indicator in their statewide accountability systems. Some states, the report said, also independently set attendance goals.

At least 25% of students nationally have been chronically absent in recent years. Chronic absenteeism is when a student misses 10% or more school days over the course of a school year for any reason.

In addition to improving chronic absenteeism calculations, GAO recommends the USDE restart comprehensive monitoring to ensure states are meeting federal fiscal and program requirements. However, the USDE disagreed with this recommendation, saying that while it paused comprehensive monitoring in 2026, it is conducting targeted monitoring activities and will reveal a monitoring plan for next year.

Click here to access the GAO report.

Source: K-12 Dive

When free school meals are no longer available to all students, teachers report an increase in student hunger and behavior issues that impact the ability to focus on learning, according to a study published this month by the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.

The study analyzed teacher interviews conducted after the end of a nationwide, pandemic-era universal free school meal policy in June 2022. The findings come as school nutrition and anti-hunger advocates fear more students will lose access to universal school meal programs in 2026-27 due to Trump administration-led policy changes.

One of those policy changes is the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) “public charge” final rule that puts noncitizens’ green card applications at risk if an applicant — including their U.S.-born children — uses federal public benefits, such as Medicaid or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The DHS regulation went into effect September 18, 2026.

In addition, according to a September 21, 2026 report by The School Superintendents Association (AASA), 67% of superintendents say that current funding levels are moderately or significantly hindering school meal programs. Further, two out of 5 leaders said they had to pull funding from elsewhere in their school district budgets to cover the cost of feeding students last year, such as tapping into their rainy day balances or deferring maintenance upgrades. Also, nearly one-third said they had to reduce spending on academic programs, intervention supports, tutoring, or enrichment to make up for insufficient federal reimbursements.

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A federal judge ruled the Education Department directive and its cancellation of hundreds of millions in funds for teacher training programs was unlawful.

As reported by K-12 Dive, on September 17, 2026 a federal judge ruled that the U.S. Department of Education’s (USDE) anti-diversity, equity and inclusion directive and its cancellation of hundreds of millions in funds for teacher training programs was unlawful. The final court order was issued as part of a lawsuit from eight states challenging the grant cuts and comes over a year after the USDE abruptly cut over 100 grants from the Teacher Quality Partnership Program and the Supporting Effective Educator Development Grant program because those programs trained teachers using “divisive ideologies.”

Issued in February 2025, the Trump administration “Eliminating Discrimination and Fraud in Department Grant Awards” directive, which was used to justify the cancellation of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal teacher training grants, was found to be arbitrary, capricious and in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.

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