The Bottom Line

The latest education policy news from the South

August 2025

State and Legislative Updates from SEF’s Government Affairs Team

The weeks of 7/28 – 8/8

We hope everyone is enjoying the last few weeks of summer. As the first full week of August comes to a close, many school districts are celebrating the end of the first week of school or making last-minute preparations for the 2025–26 school year. Whether your school is already back in session or not, education has been at the center of national and state news over the past couple of weeks.

Several new outlets have reported on the new federal school voucher program, which became law earlier this summer, regarding whether state leaders will or should opt into the program. Some states have introduced legislation dictating how they should manage the school voucher program before the U.S. Department of the Treasury issues guidance outlining how states and Scholarship Granting Organizations can administer it.

At the state level, policymakers and school practitioners are grappling with declining enrollments, shortcomings of existing school voucher programs, and pushes for a new college accrediting body.

We are grateful for all you do to support the education of students of color and students from low-income families throughout the region. We hope you find the resources below helpful as you continue supporting young people and educators across the South.

The Latest from SEF

2025 Legislative Review Webinar – Join SEF on Thursday, August 14th, at 1 PM for a webinar on the key education bills passed during the 2025 Southern legislative sessions. Register here.
SEF’s Lynn Walker Huntley Social Justice Fellowship Informational Webinar – SEF is now accepting applications for the next Lynn Walker Huntley Social Justice Fellow. Early-career attorneys passionate about civil rights and education equity are invited to apply. Register here for an informational webinar on Tuesday, August 26th, 2025, at 2 PM.
2025 SEF’s Issues Forum Miles to Go: The Road to Education Justice – Join us for the 2025 SEF Issues Forum, SEF’s signature convening on education justice in New Orleans, LA, Nov. 4-6. Registration is now open!

State Updates

Alabama

After K-12 funding change, lawmakers restart higher ed outcomes-based discussion – State lawmakers will soon analyze options for adding an outcomes-based funding formula to four-year colleges’ annual appropriations. (Alabama Daily News) Read More
State’s new college match tool gives students early offers without applying – A new statewide initiative aims to flip that process, making the path to college smoother and more accessible for Alabama’s high school seniors. (Alabama Daily News) Read More

Florida

State spends $4 million on new ‘ideology-free’ college accreditor – Florida’s higher education leaders are fast-tracking an ambitious, multi-state plan to form a new college accreditor. The State University System’s Board of Governors approved a roadmap for establishing the Commission for Public Higher Education, an accrediting agency backed by university systems in five neighboring states: North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Texas. (Miami Herald) Read More

Georgia

Georgia’s new voucher program is starting, with lower demand than expected – More than 15,000 students applied for one of the $6,500 annual subsidies, and about 8,500 were approved. This means the state is on track to give about $55 million in taxpayer funds — far less than budgeted — to families that have chosen private schooling over their nearby low-performing public school. (Capitol Beat News Service) Read More
Chronic absenteeism rates trend down in Georgia schools – The new school year in Georgia began this week with some good news: Chronic absenteeism in the state is at its lowest level since before the COVID-19 pandemic, officials announced. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution – Subscription Required) Read More
Georgia leaders mum on whether they will join new federal school voucher program – Advocates and opponents can agree on at least one thing: The new federal school choice tax credit is a monumental shift in U.S. tax and education policy. Some worry it could be an overreach, while others say it’s a win for school choice. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution – Subscription Required) Read More

Louisiana

Louisiana to join conservative higher education accrediting body – Louisiana will join six other university systems in the South to form a new alternative accrediting body, rejecting long-established standards of higher education, Gov. Jeff Landry announced in an executive order. (Louisiana Illuminator) Read More
State’s new voucher program shut out most kindergarteners: Only 80 got tuition grants – Incoming kindergarten students were largely shut out of the state’s new school voucher program. Only about 80 of the 4,500 eligible incoming kindergarteners who applied received vouchers. Overall, less than 2% of the more than 5,800 awards went to incoming kindergartners. (The Advocate) Read More

Mississippi

Federal judge to decide if DEI ban should be indefinitely blocked – A federal judge will soon decide whether a Mississippi law banning diversity, equity, and inclusion programs should be blocked indefinitely. (Mississippi Today) Read More

North Carolina

Gov. Josh Stein signs stopgap budget bill and vetoes opt-in bill helping school choice – Gov. Stein signed into law a stopgap spending measure while lawmakers remain in a state budget impasse. He also vetoed legislation that would direct state participation in a yet-implemented federal tax credit program to boost school-voucher options, arguing state Republicans acted hastily. (Associated Press) Read More

Oklahoma

A look at Oklahoma legislative interim studies for education this year – During the late summer and early fall before the next legislative session ramps up, lawmakers will explore issues in interim studies that may turn into bills. All scheduled hearings are open to the public and livestreamed on each chamber’s website. (StateImpact) Read More
Rural Oklahoma kids were getting more counselors — then federal cuts pulled funding – The Project Rural Innovation for Mental Health Enhancement (PRIME) program was launched in 2023. The program was funded by a $5.6 million federal grant stemming from the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The funding for the PRIME program will end this December, instead of December 2027. (National Public Radio) Read More
DOJ sues the state over in-state tuition access for undocumented immigrants – The U.S. Department of Justice sued the state over a state law granting undocumented immigrants access to in-state tuition and financial aid at colleges and universities. (Oklahoma Voice) Read More
State authorities investigate reports of explicit images on state education chief’s television – An Oklahoma sheriff’s office opened an investigation over reports that images of nude women were displayed on the state’s school superintendent’s office television during a meeting with education board members. (Associated Press) Read More
State tax commission denies school promoted by Ryan Walters tax credit – The state Tax Commission has denied a tax credit request from a private online school promoted by Ryan Walters, citing that it is not based or accredited in Oklahoma. (KWTV News) Read More
Teacher-effectiveness metric won’t be added to school evaluations, Education Department confirms – The Oklahoma State Department of Education said it no longer plans to grade schools based on “teacher effectiveness,” a proposal that has drawn bipartisan opposition from lawmakers. (Oklahoma Voice) Read More

West Virginia

West Virginia sees largest drop in student enrollment in the nation – Driven in part by the COVID-19 pandemic and continuing since, student enrollment at West Virginia’s public schools saw some of the largest drops in the nation. (The Parkersburg News and Sentinel) Read More

National/Federal Updates

Early Childhood Education

Promising models to support and expand the early childhood educator workforce –To achieve measurable improvements for the early childhood educator workforce, the first and most crucial step is making robust, sustained investments in federal funding for child care and early childhood programs. Increased funding can be leveraged through existing federal programs to invest in increasing wages and providing additional training and support for early childhood educators. (Center for American Progress) Read More
States investing in child care through trusts and endowments – Three states—Connecticut, New Mexico, and Montana—and the District of Columbia have created Early Childhood Trust Funds to support early childhood programs. Each is an example of how states can address the complex challenges facing child care and other early education programs. Connecticut and Montana created Early Childhood Funds in 2025. (Buffet Early Learning Institute) Read More
State session round-up: Summer 2025 – The 2025 state legislative sessions provided both opportunities and hurdles for states to improve their child care systems. In 2025, all states were in session while 47 states and Washington, D.C., were scheduled to pass budgets, meaning policymakers in every state had an opportunity to advance proposals that improve the child care system. (Child Care Aware) Read More

K-12 Education

How Aderholt will oversee spending for education, health departments – When Congress returns after the August recess, it will be primetime for Rep. Robert Aderholt as his appropriations subcommittee considers its spending bill for the labor, health, and education departments, which the Trump administration has targeted for funding cuts. (Alabama Daily News) Read More
What will ‘big, beautiful’ school choice mean for public schools? – The rapid rise in state-led private school voucher programs over the past three years, coupled with a new federal tax incentive expected to boost access to private schools, has many public school advocates concerned about the future of the traditional public school model. Diminished funding and reduced enrollment for public schools top their concerns, along with anxiety over educational equity and accountability for private schools. (K-12 Dive) Read More
New federal school voucher program poses a quandary for states: Opt in or opt out? – When President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, he gave state leaders — not federal regulators — the power to decide whether and how to participate in the first-ever national tax credit scholarship program. (Stateline) Read More
Trump 2.0: Proposed FY2026 Budget Cuts for School Districts – Federal budget cuts to public education will eliminate afterschool and summer programs, arts and technology classes, teachers, emergency preparedness, mental health services, and more. This tool helps you search your state and school district to calculate how much your child’s education could be impacted. (Education Law Center) Read More
Why the White House backed down from its first big education cuts – While critical federal education funds were frozen, an informal alliance emerged between rural and big-city educators who pushed back against the president. Lawmakers from some of the reddest parts of the country opposed the funding pause as well. If the Trump administration’s decision to abruptly cut off the funding began as a trial balloon, it ended as a cautionary tale. (The Atlantic) Read More
K-12 public school enrollment declines, explained – Warnings about declining public school enrollment have grown louder recently—and for good reason. Between fall 2019 and fall 2023, enrollment fell from 50.8 million to 49.5 million, a loss of more than 1.2 million students, or 2.5 percent, in just five years. The trend is expected to continue: The National Center for Education Statistics projects enrollment will fall below 47 million by 2031. (Future-Ed) Read More
10 things to know about Trump’s new school voucher program – After decades of trying, conservatives this year succeeded in creating the first national school voucher program. The program, while significant, is less expansive than in earlier drafts of the legislation. Here are 10 things to know about the program. (The Hechinger Report) Read More
7 insights about chronic absenteeism, a new normal for American schools – Here are some insights from a recent symposium at the American Enterprise Institute, where scholars shared research on the problem of widespread absenteeism. (The Hechinger Report) Read More
What’s in a Contract? How Outcomes-Based Contracting Reshapes School District–Vendor Relationships – Outcomes-Based Contracting is a framework for contract design and management in which payments to vendors are at least partially contingent on achieving specified outcomes, and the contract explicitly defines mutual goals, metrics, and continuous improvement processes for the project. This study analyzes the contracts between districts and vendors of instructional services and products to understand how relationships between these parties are structured. (Stanford University) Read More
Charter School Reckoning: Decline, Disillusionment, and Cost – This report, released in three parts — Decline, Disillusionment, and Cost — examines the trajectory of the charter school movement. It contrasts the promise of its early days with its complex, often troubling, reality today. (Network for Public Education) Read More
When Enrollment Drops – Many states and districts across the country are facing declining student enrollment, and with it, declining per-pupil funding from state and federal revenue sources. Districts often turn to school consolidations/closures in times of financial stress. This brief offers district leaders a different approach. (Brown’s Promise) Read More

Higher Education

Senate Appropriators Reject Trump’s Deep Education Cuts – Senate Republicans are planning to protect the Pell Grant program, keeping the maximum grant award at $7,395 for the coming academic year, despite the Trump administration’s proposal to lower it to $5,710. (Inside Higher Ed) Read More
The relationship between funding and student outcomes at public, two-year minority serving institutions – Inequities in access to public funding are particularly problematic if changes in institution-level funding affect student persistence and completion. Using data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System from 2014 to 2020, this report estimates the causal effect of MSI-targeted grants on college spending and student outcomes at HSIs and PBIs. (State Higher Education Executive Officers Association) Read More
How recent legislation changed 529 plans for the better – When the SECURE Act 2.0 was signed into law, it significantly expanded the versatility of 529 plans. With the cost of college higher than ever, this change allows more people to pay for college. (Forbes) Read More
Trump administration pushes states to exclude immigrant students from in-state tuition – Discounting tuition for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children has a long bipartisan history. Since returning to the White House, Trump’s Justice Department has launched legal challenges against laws in Texas, Kentucky, and Minnesota that allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates. (POLITICO) Read More

As always, please let us know if you have any questions or concerns, and if we can assist with any government affairs or advocacy issues moving forward.

Sincerely,

Fred Jones, Senior Director of Public Policy and Advocacy,

fjones@southerneducation.org

Darian Burns, Legislative and Public Policy Analyst,

dburns@southerneducation.org

Allison Boyle, Research and Policy Specialist,

aboyle@southerneducation.org

Review the archive of past updates: