Education Policy & School Reform News

This section covers K12 policy, school board elections, curriculum transparency, parental rights, school choice, charter and voucher programs, and state and federal rules that shape classrooms. The Daily Signal includes news reports, analysis, commentary, and opinion pieces to explain how these decisions affect students, families, and educators.
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  • opinion

    New Kentucky Audit Shows Why Families Need Education Freedom
    Kentucky State Auditor Allison Ball’s recent report on Jefferson County Public Schools should alarm every taxpayer and parent in the state. Not only because of the report’s contents, but also because JCPS is the state’s largest school district, serving 1 in 7 students in Kentucky. The audit not only highlights the dire financial situation the…
    Madison Marino Doan
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  • opinion

    In Texas, Parental Rights Are Only as Strong as the Parents Willing to Enforce Them
    In 2025, Texas did something parents had spent years demanding: It wrote parents back into their own children’s education. In a single session, lawmakers passed a package of parental rights bills, handed parents real control over the books that sit on school library shelves, and ordered the state to spell out those rights in plain…
    Courtney Corbello
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  • opinion

    Indiana Watchdog Releases DEI Audit. This Is a Model for States Across the US.
    Last year, many Indiana public school teachers promised to end racist diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in schools. If successful, such assurances and the policies that follow would be models for other states. How’s it going? Turns out, the racism in public education runs deep. This week, the Indiana Family Institute released an audit of…
    Jonathan Butcher | Ella Jackson
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  • news

    Education Committee Vows to Shift Remaining Ed Dept. Tasks, Programs to HHS, DOJ
    A key House committee has rolled out plans to delegate some of the Department of Education’s remaining tasks to other federal agencies, and the measure could reach the chamber floor for a vote as soon as Wednesday. The 10 bills included in the legislative package, released last week by House Education and the Workforce Committee…
    Pedro Rodriguez
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  • news

    Truman Scholarship, a Democrat ‘Talent Pipeline,’ on Path to Reform
    A key House committee is moving forward with efforts to reform a federally funded scholarship program after extensive reporting from The College Fix uncovered the program’s overwhelming liberal bias. The House Committee on Education and the Workforce advanced New York Rep. Elise Stefanik’s Truman Scholarship Clean House Act, which could soon be brought before the…
    Pedro Rodriguez
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  • opinion

    Head Start Isn’t Really Giving Kids a Head Start. Here’s How to Deal With It. 
    For many families, summer often means scoping out childcare options while parents continue to work. Some families in low-income neighborhoods turn to Head Start, a program whose very name suggests children should expect to finish their time at one of these centers better prepared for school. But today, after more than 60 years and over $240 billion in spending, the program has fallen well short of that goal.    A new Heritage Foundation report reveals a harsh reality: Head Start centers are overregulated, unsafe, expensive, and fail to deliver lasting…
    Madison Marino Doan | Jonathan Butcher
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  • news

    The Mountain States Policy Center: Teaching Liberty Through Competition 
    On May 2, 2026, teams from Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming came together at the Idaho State Capitol to battle for the “We the Students: Mountain West Civics Cup.” The event was a regional high school competition aimed at engaging students in the study of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.    Mountain States Policy Center staged the event with the help of a $50,000 grant from…
    Katherine Matt
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  • opinion

    Oregon Has Civil Rights Problems in Education. This Congresswoman Is Trying to Distract Voters.
    Education Secretary Linda McMahon is downsizing an ineffective government bureaucracy, so, naturally, progressive lawmakers are howling. The latest theatrics come from Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., who introduced articles of impeachment against McMahon last week. Bonamici’s attempt is baseless—McMahon has continued to fulfill the law while downsizing the U.S. Department of Education—which raises the question of…
    Jonathan Butcher
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  • opinion

    One Small Step for School Choice
    When the One Big Beautiful Bill Act came up for a vote on the Senate floor on July 1 of last year, 50 senators voted for it, and 50 senators voted against it. Vice President JD Vance had to cast the tie-breaking vote in that chamber—so the bill could go back to the House for…
    Terence Jeffrey
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  • news

    Heritage Foundation Awards $1M in Prizes to Nonprofits
    The Heritage Foundation on Thursday announced the recipients of its annual “Innovation Prizes,” a program that awards $1 million in prizes to nonprofit organizations for their work to strengthen society. This is the sixth year that Heritage has given the awards to organizations that put conservative principles into action. Recipients of this year’s prizes include…
    Francesca Cella
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  • opinion

    I Ran Arizona’s ESA Program. Here’s What the Critics Won’t Tell You.
    I ran Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account Program as its executive director, and I am here to tell you that the public conversation about this program is missing something critical: the truth about how it actually works. You have heard the claims of school choice opponents: fraud, waste, lack of accountability. What you have not heard…
    Christine Accurso
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  • opinion

    The Trans Flag Flies Over the Teachers Union 
    Teachers unions continue to embrace woke gender ideology and force it on young children.  When a transgender flag flies over a building, make no mistake: That building has been conquered by left-wing extremists.  Today, a rainbow flag flies over the building of the nation’s largest teacher union, the National Education Association, in Washington, D.C. The union is publicly declaring its dedication to gender ideology over and above…
    Zac Briley | Laura Bryant Hanford
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  • opinion

    The Academic Achievement Gap Is a Knowledge Gap
    Children of married parents with high education levels are more likely to be healthy and succeed in school and life than their peers. Children from these families are also more likely to live above the poverty line and benefit from extracurricular activities such as music lessons, sports, and summer camp. These activities offer students prized…
    Ella Jackson | Jonathan Butcher
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  • opinion

    Stop the Scam: Minneapolis Students Need Education Choice
    One classical school in Minneapolis offers a lesson on how to create opportunities in tough areas. Policymakers and special interest groups should pay attention. In May, at a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce, Rep. Bob Onder, R-Mo., described a reality that has been obvious to parents in…
    Jonathan Butcher | Zac Briley
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  • opinion

    How to Help Boys
    It would be better for boys if society stopped expecting them to act like girls. A Texas mom recently shared a video of her son at his kindergarten graduation. The clip shows him squirming in his chair, playing with his hands and stretching over his seat. She captioned the video, “You’re six and the ceremony…
    Victor Joecks
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  • opinion

    Louisiana Schools Wave Goodbye to Bureaucratic Red Tape
    Who would have thought education dollars were best used when actually directed toward the education of students? Attempting to follow every letter of federal regulation in education is a monumental task. School personnel spend tens of millions of hours (and dollars) each year on federal compliance. What they get in return for this investment is…
    Zac Briley | Madison Marino Doan
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  • exclusive

    Harris Sounds Alarm, Feds Launch Title IX Probe Into North Carolina Schools
    FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—The Department of Education has launched an investigation into a North Carolina public school district as officials continue to allow biological men in women’s restrooms, violating presidential executive orders and Title IX. Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., called the violations “deeply disturbing” and thanked the secretary of the department for “quick action.”…
    Virginia Grace McKinnon
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  • opinion

    Fairfax School District Prioritizes ‘Green Initiatives’ Over Academic Proficiency
    As Virginia’s largest public school district continues to decline academically, Fairfax County Public Schools’ environmental and sustainability program has exploded in scale since 2020, transforming from a small initiative into a heavily staffed central operation. Meanwhile, despite a $197 million increase from the fiscal year 2026 budget, Fairfax County’s school board members voted last month…
    Stephanie Lundquist-Arora
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  • exclusive

    Trump Admin Slashes Burdensome Regulations for State Education Reform
    FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—The Department of Education is slashing federal regulations that could hinder states from improving their schools, the administration’s latest move in its dismantling of the agency and its effort to return education policy to the states. The Education Department has approved Education Flexibility applications for the states of Florida and Illinois,…
    Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell
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  • opinion

    Study Examines Whether Advanced Degrees Are Worth Costs
    The Left believes there is a contrived war on higher education. However, recent analysis counters that claim by showing that there is an economic disadvantage for many Americans taking on the cost of an advanced degree. The analysis has now landed firmly on the conclusion that much advanced education is a rigged game. This is…
    Bruce Bialosky
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