The Leading Edge: Policy & Advocacy Blog
The Leading Edge, 91制片's policy & advocacy blog, provides up-to-date information about activities in Washington, D.C. and Capitol Hill that affect you and your school district.
Topics include new or proposed regulations and federal policies, federal funding updates and opportunities, advocacy resources and more.
Latest Posts
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May 01, 2025
The Advocate May 2025: A Call to ActionThis week House Republicans will begin debate on their tax package that they are moving through a process known as 鈥渂udget reconciliation.鈥�
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April 24, 2025
IDEA Full Funding Coalition Sends FY26 Letter to the HillAhead of the FY26 appropriations cycle, the IDEA Full Funding Coalition sent this letter to the appropriations committees with our funding ask and priority.
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April 24, 2025
3 New Executive Orders with K-12 ImplicationsYesterday, President Trump signed a series of executive orders impacting education. This blog post highlights three that have K12 funding and policy implications.
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April 23, 2025
FERPA UpdateIn recent weeks, USED has leveraged the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) as a policy tool to incentivize state compliance with other administration policy priorities.
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April 22, 2025
91制片 Leads Letter to USED Urging Level Funding for FY25 Title II-A FundsToday, 91制片 led a letter of 31 national organizations to Education Secretary Linda McMahon urging the Department of Education (USED) to quickly allocate the $2.19 billion Congress and the President approved for Title II-A of ESEA for FY 2025.
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April 15, 2025
ESSER Liquidation UpdateOn 3/28/25, the Department informed SEAs that the Administration has canceled any prior approval for 鈥渓ate liquidation鈥� of remaining funds from a variety of federal pandemic recovery funds.
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April 15, 2025
School Safety Summer Planning: Building Stronger K-12 Emergency Plans for the Next School YearPlease join Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) School Safety on Thursday, May 15 from 3:00 p.m. 鈥� 4:00 p.m. EDT for a virtual training.
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April 10, 2025
91制片 Files Amicus Briefs in 3 SCOTUS CasesThis has been the most substantive Supreme Court docket for K-12 education in many decades.
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April 03, 2025
ED Issues New DEI Directive for StatesToday, the U.S. Department of Education issued a new directive requiring every state education agency (SEA) to certify within 10 days that they are complying with federal civil rights laws.
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April 03, 2025
The Advocate April 2025: Reconciliation vs. AppropriationsThis month's edition of The Advocate is about the budget reconciliation process in Congress.
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April 01, 2025
USED Sends Letter to States on Leveraging Flexibilities in Title I Funds to Support Education ChoiceOn Monday, the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education sent a letter to all chief state school officers informing them of existing flexibility in federal formula funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to support education choice initiatives.
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March 31, 2025
Committee for Education Funding Sends Letter to Department of Education Regarding Recent ActionsLast week, the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) sent a letter to Education Secretary McMahon expressing opposition to the President鈥檚 executive order calling for the closure of the Department of Education (ED) and other recent Administration actions that have drastically cut ED staffing.
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March 27, 2025
Guest Post: Unpacking the E-Rate Argument from Jon BernsteinJon Bernstein, who co-leads the EdLiNC Coalition with Noelle Ellerson Ng, shares his insights on the arguments made in the E-Rate case before the U.S. Supreme Court this week.
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March 21, 2025
President Trump Signs Executive Order on Dept. of EducationYesterday, President Trump signed an executive order that would direct the Secretary of Education to take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the U.S. Department of Education and 鈥渞eturn education authority to the States.
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March 20, 2025
91制片 Endorses COPPA 2.091制片 is proud to support the re-introduction of COPPA 2.0.
Latest Advocacy & Policy Resources
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May 28, 2026
PEP Talk Episode 45: The FCC's New E-Rate Bidding PortalType:Podcast Topics: Advocacy & Policy, Finance & Budgets, Technology & AIOn this episode of PEP Talk: Kat Sturdevant catches up with Jon Bernstein and Joey Wender to talk about the FCC's new centralized E-Rate bidding portal for K-12 districts and what it means for school district leaders and technology officials. -
April 24, 2026
Preparing Public Schools for Utilizing the New Federal Tax Credit ProgramType:Webinar Recording Topics: Advocacy & Policy, Finance & BudgetsWebinar designed to help school district leadership navigate and leverage opportunities created by the federal tax credit scholarship program enacted as part of OBBB. -
April 17, 2026
Flexibility Unlocked: Demystifying Schoolwide Fund ConsolidationType:Webinar Recording Topics: Advocacy & PolicyThis one-hour session broke down the statutory and regulatory framework for schoolwide fund consolidation, clarified what flexibility districts actually gain, and outlined practical steps to determine whether consolidation is right for your district.
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