Education Policy and Government

Education policy is the set of laws, rules and funding decisions that govern schools, made in Congress and the U.S. Department of Education, in state legislatures and education agencies, and in local school boards. Since 2025 the pace of change has been unusually fast, from cuts at the federal department to new state laws on testing, funding and what schools may teach.

edCircuit's coverage is written for the district and school leaders who must turn policy into practice, and for teachers and families who live with the results. It explains who runs a school district and how school boards work, follows federal funding disputes and the Secretary of Education's agenda, explains the education laws that shape schools, from ESSA and E-Rate to state testing rules and cell phone bans, follows the long debate over education reform and the future of state agencies, and looks at policy fights in higher education. The federal department has its own section, Department of Education.

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