Category: News

Federal Judges Block Trump Policy Requiring Immigration Status Verification for Head Start (September 12, 2025)

In back-to-back court orders issued September 10th and September 11th, federal judges in Washington and Rhode Island temporarily blocked a controversial Trump administration policy that would exclude some immigrants from federal programs, including in education.

In July, a handful of agencies including the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services changed their policies to require immigration status verification for programs like Head Start, as well as adult education and career training programs.  For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

Trump Administration Cancels Millions in Funds from Special Ed. Programs (September 12, 2025)

According to Disability Scoop, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) is canceling millions of dollars in grants for special education teacher training, parent resource centers and more saying that they don’t align with Trump administration priorities. In fact, The USDE’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) terminated grants for 25 programs funded under Part D of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The money, totaling more than $14.8 million, was for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 2025 and was expected by state education departments, nonprofits, universities, and other entities across 16 states. In addition, USDE’s Rehabilitation Services Administration also ended another nine grants for disability-focused initiatives worth over $3.5 million. Notifications about the canceled grants cited language in the funding applications referencing diversity, equity, inclusion, racism and similar terms.

The canceled grants included funding for community parent resource centers, preparing special education teachers and related service providers, Braille and interpreter training and programs supporting those who are deafblind, among other initiatives. In Wisconsin, the state’s Department of Public Instruction learned late last week that two grants would be canceled, one for personnel development and another to serve 170 students who have both vision and hearing loss. The grants were both in the middle of a five-year grant cycle. A notice of noncontinuation from the USDE also went to four deafblind projects in Washington, Oregon, Wisconsin and a consortium of New England states including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.

One noncontinuation notice said continuing the project “would be in conflict with agency policy and priorities, and so is not in the best interest of the Federal Government.”

Stephanie Smith Lee, who served as director of the Office of Special Education Programs under President George W. Bush, said there is “simply no precedent” for any administration canceling so many IDEA Part D grants all at once in the middle of a grant cycle. For more details from Disability Scoop, click here.

PA State Board of Ed. Holds 387th Meeting (September 11, 2025)

On September 11, 2025, the PA Sate Board of Education (Board) held its 387th meeting during a series of meetings at the PDE building in Harrisburg and via Zoom. Board Chair Karen Farmer White opened the meeting at 1PM.

Committee reports were provided by the Hon. Carol Aichele on behalf of the Special Committee on Private School Accreditation and Sandra Dungee Glenn on behalf of the Teacher and School Leader Effectiveness Committee. Ms. Aichele reported that the committee is recommending the approval of two accreditation organizations for the private academic schools — the PA Association of Independent Schools (PAIS) and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). Ms. Dungee Glenn reported that her committee is weighing possible changes to written certification assessments to ensure alignment with expected competencies.

Acting Secretary of Ed. Dr. Carrie Rowe reported on a number if issues. She praised the collaboration between Higher Ed. and Elementary and Secondary Ed.; Elementary and Secondary Ed. and Early Childhood Ed.; and the involvement of libraries in these collaborative efforts.

Dr. Rowe also reported that state budget talks continue amid some challenging issues that are making the progress slow moving. However, negotiations are ongoing and productive. She also said that due to the lack of funding as a result of the delayed budget, there are school districts with large payments looming that they not be able to make and making payroll is a key concern. PDE is looking at ways to help those school districts as best it can, but the ability to help is limited and the department really has no funds to help defray costs. At this point, most school districts are OK for now. Dr. Rowe also cautioned that, once a budget is approved, it will take at least 15 days for funds to begin to flow to schools. Lastly, Dr. Rowe reported that the use of NAEP, also known as the nation’s report card, as an indicator of educational progress can be problematic since that assessment is not necessarily congruous with current state assessments.

Deputy Ed. Secretary Amy Lena said that at the Council of Basic Ed. meeting she reported that two reports from PDE are now available and those reports look at Special Ed. and Gifted Ed. with regard to complaints, due process hearings, and compliance issues. She also reminded everyone that the Office of Safe Schools has been renamed as the Office for School Climate and Well-Being. She also remarked that the PDE 427, a summative assessment tool for education professionals going from Instructional I to Instructional II certification and Educational I and Educational II certification, has been revised and is now in use as of August 31. It is split into two separate forms, one specifically for Classroom Teachers and another for Non-Teaching Professionals — Form A for classroom professionals and Form B for non-classroom educational specialists.

The meeting closed with the unanimous approval of two action items — the renewal applications from PAIS and MSCHE. 

DOJ Warns of Crackdown on Rise in Abusive Conduct Towards Parents

A memo to U.S. attorneys and the FBI from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi cited a “disturbing trend” of silencing parents on curriculum issues. As a result, on September 8, 2025 the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) warned that public schools must provide parents with avenues to opt their children out of instruction related to sexuality and gender ideology or risk scrutinization by the DOJ.

In fact, Bondi’s memo directs the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division “to be alert” to violations of parental rights at schools and for U.S. district attorneys nationwide to weed out and respond to “credible threats against parents.” She also wrote,“While schools must maintain order, such authority cannot be used as a pretext to silence dissent or punish parents for expressing their views,” and, “Let me be clear: when school board members, administrators, and other government officials threaten law-abiding parents, they can and will be held accountable.” She also cited a “rise in abusive conduct” by “government actors” against parents, noting that “conspiring” to violate constitutional rights is a federal crime. 

The memo referenced the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision Mahmoud v. Taylor, in which justices found that Maryland’s Montgomery County Public Schools violated parents’ rights when it didn’t allow them to opt students out of LGBTQ+-inclusive curriculum based on religious objections.

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

U.S. House Appropriations Committee Approves 26% Cut to Title I funding for FY26 (September 11, 2025)

As reported by K-12 Dive, on September 9, 2025 the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, after a day-long debate, advanced a bill that would reduce federal Title I funding for low-income schools by 26% and cut the overall U.S. Department of Education (USDE) budget by 15% to $67 billion for fiscal year 2026 (FY26). The bill was approved by a vote of 8-4 along party lines with all Republicans voting to approve and all Democrats opposing the bill.

The budget plan aligns closely with President Donald Trump’s proposal, but veers sharply from the bipartisan plan agreed to by the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee in July. The Senate plan recommends funding the USDE in FY 26 at $79 billion, or an increase of about $300 million from the current spending level.

The House and Senate will now need to separately debate their bills and, once approved, work to reconcile the two proposals before the start of FY26 on October 1, 2025.

For more details from K-12 Dive, click here.