On February 2, 2026 the FY26 education funding bill was finally signed into law. As a result, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) is now funded for fiscal year 2026. The compromise measure won final approval from the U.S. House by a 217-214 vote. The budget funds the USDE at $79 billion through September 30, 2026, which is approximately $217 million above FY 2025 levels. The bill requires on-time formula grant funding available to states and school districts at levels dictated by Congress in the funding bill. It also adds a new requirement to maintain the USDE staff at levels necessary to fulfill its statutory responsibilities, including carrying out programs and activities funded in the bill.

However, the funding plan does not put a halt to USDE efforts to transfer statutorily required program responsibilities to other federal agencies, but it directs the agencies involved to provide Congress with biweekly reports on the implementation of any interagency agreements.

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Assistive technology (AI) in schools can run the gamut of low-tech tools like pencil grips and swivel chairs to high-tech ones like large mobile touch screens and voice recognition software.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires a student’s individualized education program (IEP) team to consider AI use, at no cost to the student, for every student receiving special education services. However, according to a January 30, 2026 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, not much is known about how this requirement is implemented as school staff are challenged by limited knowledge of how AI can help students with disabilities participate more fully in learning, as well as the rapid pace of changes in tech.

Other factors like insufficient time and opportunities for training, staff shortages and high turnover, technology compatibility issues, and funding constraints also create hurdles for the use of AI in schools, the GAO study found. Strategies some school districts are using to overcome these barriers include forming AI teams that create standardized processes to identify the best tech for students’ individualized needs and to coordinate procurement processes, the report said.

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Identical U.S. House and Senate legislation is drawing bipartisan support for attempts to modernize identifications for children with reading challenges, although some disability rights advocacy groups and education organizations caution the move could put struggling readers further behind.

Specifically, the 21st Century Dyslexia Act proposes that IDEA definition of a “child with a disability” adds dyslexia as a 14th category of disabilities that qualifies a student for special education services. 

Currently, dyslexia is named as one of several disorders under the specific learning disabilities category.

The bills in Congress — S 3010 and HR 5769 — define dyslexia as an “unexpected difficulty in reading for an individual who has the intelligence to be a much better reader, most commonly caused by a difficulty in the phonological processing (the appreciation of the individual sounds of spoken language), which affects the ability of an individual to speak, read, and spell.”

The U.S. Education Department does not collect data specifically on the number of students with dyslexia. According to the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity, dyslexia affects 20% of the population and represents 80% to 90% of all those with learning disabilities. It is the most common neurocognitive disorder, according to the center.

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Parents and advocates are expressing concern over the possibility of being confronted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents that are unfamiliar with their circumstances and lack training necessary to help them deal with children with disabilities. The families of disabled children, who already fear their kids shutting down, running away, harming themselves or acting out when confronted under normal circumstances, have seen their anxiety skyrocket as they contemplate worst-case scenarios with federal agents. In fact, one parent, who lives near the epicenter of the daily raids and protests in Minnesota, worries about her 6-year-old autistic daughter having a meltdown during an encounter with ICE agents.

According to the 74, parents said they have no faith, after federal agents ripped a disabled, autistic woman from her car and, according to school officials, used a 5-year-old as bait this week to lure his mother from their home, that immigration officials would be patient with a child who can’t immediately respond to orders.

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On January 21, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) signed a joint motion to dismiss an appeal in a lawsuit that sought to allow it to move ahead with its anti-DEI policy. In abandoning its appeal, the agency signaled that it’s effectively stepping back from trying to enforce the policy.

In its February 14, 2025 anti-DEI Dear Colleague letter (DCL), the USDE averred that some schools’ race-based equity programs discriminate against White and Asian students and could result in their federal funding being withdrawn stating that “treating students differently on the basis of race to achieve nebulous goals such as diversity, racial balancing, social justice, or equity is illegal under controlling Supreme Court precedent.”

The Feb. 14 Dear Colleague letter cited the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in SFFA v. Harvard which banned race-conscious college admissions practices, using it as a reason to dismantle other diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in education.

Subsequently, in August 2025 a federal judge in Maryland issued a preliminary injunction in  American Federation of Teachers v. U.S. Department of Education. That injunction temporarily blocked the anti-DEI DCL and a subsequent letter requiring school districts to certify that they do not incorporate DEI in their schools. The USDE appealed that ruling, but has now dropped the appeal.

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