State and Legislative Updates from SEF’s Government Affairs Team

The weeks of 1/19 – 1/30

Greetings all, 

We hope this message finds everyone safe and warm. As January comes to a close, critical education policies are beginning to take shape across the region. In this edition, we highlight state and federal actions spanning birth through postsecondary education and share additional resources, particularly those related to school vouchers and other school privatization efforts.

State School Voucher Highlights

  • Florida – This week, Gov. Ron DeSantis opted Florida into the federal school voucher tax‑credit program, despite the state’s inability to use all of its existing voucher funds. He joins more than 20 other states that have already signaled their intent to opt in.
  • Georgia – After fewer than half of eligible students claimed their own school voucher, Gov. Kemp proposed reducing program funding in his budget.
  • Louisiana – Lawmakers have raised concerns about Gov. Landry’s budget proposal to double state funding for Louisiana’s statewide school voucher program.
  • Mississippi – The Senate Education Committee chair has voiced concerns about advancing the House’s school privatization bill.
  • South Carolina – The state failed to publish a legally required report on the effectiveness of its school voucher program last year, and there is still no timeline for the report’s release.
  • West Virginia – The state received new recommendations to restrict access to its school voucher program due to the significant financial burden placed on taxpayers.

In addition, several new resources on school vouchers are listed in the K–12 resources section below. These materials highlight fiscal, accountability, and civil rights concerns related to the federal voucher program.

As always, we hope you find this resource valuable in your work supporting students of color and students from low‑income families across the South.

The Latest from SEF

  • SEF releases memo connecting the troubling history of school privatization efforts to the new federal school voucher program – SEF’s memo demonstrates how current voucher structures mirror earlier patterns of racial discrimination. The memo outlines recommendations for Congress, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and southern governors to strengthen civil‑rights protections, promote fiscal transparency, and ensure that public funds (or public benefits) are exclusively used to serve public school students. Read the full memo here.
  • SEF is Accepting Applications for SELI Host Sites – SEF is now accepting applications for 2026 Southern Education Leadership Initiative (SELI) Host Sites. We partner with organizations across the South, including school districts, nonprofits, state agencies, and higher education institutions, to provide SELI fellows with eight weeks of meaningful, hands-on summer experiences. Organizations interested in hosting and supporting an emerging education leader, please apply here by February 9.

State Updates

Alabama 

  • State colleges, universities would have to report state and federal spending under bill – A House committee passed a bill, HB 165, that would require public higher education institutions to report state and federal funds received and spent. (Alabama Reflector) Read More

Arkansas

  • U of A’s Arkansas Teacher Corps to serve state’s highest-need communities – Thanks to a new three-year, $5.1 million grant, the Arkansas Teacher Corps is on track to train at least 114 novice teachers pursuing certification with the goal of combating teacher shortages in the highest-need communities across Arkansas. (University of Arkansas) Read More

Florida

  • Governor Ron DeSantis opts the state into federal education tax credit program – During a news conference, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the state is opting into the federal school voucher program, which will be implemented in January 2027. (WTSP News) Read More
  • Ignoring public’s concerns, House committee passes bill targeting ‘harmful’ books at schools – As the public overwhelmingly spoke out against HB 1119, which targets books deemed “harmful to children” in public school libraries, one Democrat allied with Republicans to advance the legislation through its final committee stop. (Florida Politics) Read More

Georgia

  • Governor Brian Kemp opts Georgia into federal school choice tax credit program – Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced that he is opting the state into a new federal tax credit school voucher program established in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” (WABE News) Read More
  • Students claimed fewer than half of the budgeted Georgia Promise scholarships – Fewer than half of Georgia’s budgeted Promise Scholarships were claimed in the program’s first year, with about 7,700 students qualifying for the $6,500 vouchers. Gov. Brian Kemp has proposed an $86 million funding cut in response. (The Southerner) Read More
  • House Education Committee Hears GPEE and Georgia Student Finance Commission Presentations – Committee work has continued to ramp up, with the House Education Committee meeting to hear presentations on several education topics. The Committee Chair shared the committee’s priorities for the session: literacy, safety, and learning. (Professional Association of Georgia Educators) Read More

Kentucky

  • Child care and housing are state’s most urgent challenges – Two systems increasingly determine whether families across Kentucky can stay working and stable: child care and housing. (Kentucky Lantern) Read More
  • Kentucky lawmakers introduce education accountability bills – Republican senators introduced two new bills that could strengthen accountability in public education. (WKYT News) Read More

Louisiana

  • Governor Jeff Landry pushes again to expand LA GATOR private school vouchers, though lawmakers have doubts – Gov. Jeff Landry is asking state lawmakers to double state funding for vouchers that pay for students’ private education expenses. The request has put him at odds with legislative leaders, who said state education officials still won’t answer basic questions about the program’s structure. (Louisiana Illuminator) Read More
  • This Louisiana school board wants to end its desegregation orders. A judge said no – A federal judge has rejected a bid by the St. John the Baptist Parish School Board to lift longstanding desegregation orders, the latest instance of courts resisting efforts to summarily dismiss cases that Louisiana and Trump administration officials say should have ended long ago. (NOLA) Read More

Maryland

  • State lawmakers demand proof of Blueprint results as education officials urge holding steady – State education officials urged lawmakers to “stay the course” on the state’s sweeping Blueprint for Maryland’s Future reforms while granting school systems more flexibility, as legislators pressed for clearer evidence that the multibillion-dollar investment is improving student outcomes. (Capital Gazette – Subscription Required) Read More

Mississippi 

  • State considers new strategy to alleviate its child care crisis – The Mississippi Department of Human Services is exploring the possibility of using the department’s unspent $156 million in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds to address the roughly 20,000 working families on a waiting list for child care. (Mississippi Today) Read More
  • Senate Education Committee Chairman says school vouchers remain a no-go in the Senate – Senate Education Committee Chairman says he will allow his committee to vote on the House’s school choice measure, but he’s still convinced the proposal to spend public money on private schooling will not pass in the Senate. (Mississippi Today) Read More
  • Legislator’s bill aims to close six-week payday gap for Mississippi public school teachers – Most state public school teachers are in the middle of a six-week payday gap. New proposed legislation, HB 1420, would add a payday in early January, giving teachers financial relief before the end of the month. (Mississippi Today) Read More
  • House committee approves pilot program aimed at improving teacher satisfaction – HB 1606, aimed at improving the lives of Mississippi teachers, has made its way out of the House Education Committee. (Mississippi Today) Read More
  • Black lawmakers warn constituents that proposed funding formula changes could hurt state’s HBCUs – Possible funding formula updates would not take into account disproportionate challenges some students face to attend Mississippi’s historically Black institutions, some lawmakers said. (Mississippi Today) Read More

Missouri

  • Cost of future state school funding formula unclear as task force continues work – The state’s method for determining its aid for public schools is poised for substantial change, as a task force drafting the new funding formula began to synthesize four months of meetings into recommendations. Gov. Mike Kehoe’s budget proposal for the next fiscal year keeps the formula’s funding flat, declining to include a $190.6 million increase triggered by recent changes to state law. (Missouri Independent) Read More
  • Bill creating A-F ratings for schools set for edits as lawmakers debate path forward – The committee discussed legislation seeking to give schools A-F grades for their students’ performance and extra state funding to high-scoring schools. Whether a new grading system will solve the problem — and what factors go into the scoring — continues to be debated. (Missouri Independent) Read More

North Carolina

  • North Carolina School Vouchers: Destroying Public Education – Originally justified as a way to support low-income families seeking alternatives to the underperforming public schools their children were attending, the state’s voucher programs now function primarily as broad subsidies for private school tuition, including for wealthy families who have never enrolled their children in public schools. (Public Schools First NC) Read More
  • University of North Carolina System Board advances academic freedom policy, despite pushback – A UNC System Board of Governors committee advanced a proposal to define “academic freedom” across the state’s public universities, despite pushback from a faculty group and their lawyers. But the system added sections that would set the “parameters” of academic freedom for faculty and “protections” for students, such as the freedom to “take reasoned exception” to ideas presented in their classes. (The Assembly) Read More

Oklahoma

  • State schools chief requests $4 billion for education, but hints at need for more – Oklahoma’s chief of public schools asked state lawmakers for a mostly flat education budget but indicated the state could benefit from a far larger investment. (Oklahoma Voice) Read More
  • State legislative priorities for K-12: literacy, teacher retention. Higher ed: international students – The legislature is gearing up for its 2026 session, and lawmakers have rolled out their priorities for education policy. (KGOU News) Read More

South Carolina

  • State education leaders seek community partners for summer meal programs – The state department of education is encouraging government agencies, businesses, organizations, and individuals to participate in summer meal programs that provide meals to children when school is not in session. (South Carolina Public Radio) Read More
  • How are school voucher recipients performing academically? Lawmakers don’t know – A mandated report on the efficacy of South Carolina’s school voucher program was not published last year, and there’s no timeline for when it might be completed. (The State) Read More

Texas

  • Low test scores on one campus can trigger a state takeover in Texas, affecting Black, Hispanic and low-income students most – Last year, the Texas Education Agency launched plans to take over four school districts due to low academic performance based on state-issued F grades at six campuses. All six trigger schools served a majority of Black and Hispanic students, in addition to the schools serving between 80% and 97% students from low-income households. (The Texas Tribune) Read More
  • Gov. Greg Abbott wants state universities, schools to disclose information on H-1B visa hirings – Gov. Abbott and his administration are examining whether state taxpayer dollars are being used in connection with employees working under H-1B visas at public K-12 schools and universities. (The Texas Tribune) Read More

Virginia

  • Parents flood state legislature to advocate for more early childhood care options and access  – Parents and other advocates gathered at the state legislature to urge lawmakers to expand early childhood care options. (Virginia Mercury) Read More
  • State Democrats move fast to reshape higher ed – Gov. Spanberger appointed 27 board members and signaled future governance changes. The new Attorney General ousted campus lawyers and defended in-state tuition for undocumented students, and state lawmakers are pushing for more. (Inside Higher Ed) Read More
  • State lawmakers weigh fixed in-state tuition – State lawmakers are considering legislation that would change how in-state tuition is set at public colleges. (The Center Square) Read More
  • Bipartisan group launches caucus for state HBCUs – State lawmakers launched the state’s first caucus that aims to advocate for the students, alumni, and communities of Virginia’s historically Black colleges and universities. The bipartisan group acknowledges what officials call a century of under-funding for Virginia’s five HBCUs. (Virginia Public Radio/RadioIQ) Read More

West Virginia

  • Opinion: The critical role of childcare in economic and community development and the challenges facing the state – West Virginia’s Secretary of State argues that child care sits at the crossroads of economic growth, community stability, early childhood education, and family well-being. (West Virginia News) Read More
  • First bills of 2026 session pass House to address school funding crisis – The first bills to clear the state House this session advanced with overwhelming bipartisan support, as lawmakers approved a pair of bills designed to stabilize financially distressed county school systems. (West Virginia News) Read More
  • As state schools face financial crisis, House consultants recommend rethinking public school funding and Hope Scholarship – House lawmakers commissioned a report by RAND to better understand the state’s current funding formula. RAND analysts told lawmakers they should cap private education scholarships based on need and better fund public schools. (Mountain State Spotlight) Read More
  • Proposed House bill would dismantle West Virginia Department of Education – A bill introduced in the House of Delegates aims to dismantle the West Virginia Department of Education. (WCHS)  Read More
  • Senate Education Committee discusses teacher pay raise bill, takes no action – Members of the state Senate Education Committee began discussing a teacher pay raise bill Thursday but had more questions than answers. (WV Metro News) Read More
  • State House advances bill aimed at aid for college students – West Virginia delegates passed legislation that would allow the state’s Higher Education Policy Commission to set up a program to help students with food, health, and hygiene products. (West Virginia Watch) Read More

National/Federal Updates

Early Childhood Education News and Resources

  • Households with 2 kids need to earn average of $402,708 to comfortably afford child care – Child care has long been one of the most significant expenses for families, and new research finds that a family with two young children would need to earn $402,708 a year to stay within federal affordability guidelines for child care expenses. (Lending Tree) Read More

K-12 Education News and Resources

  • The federal tax credit program is not offering free money for states – Perhaps the most pernicious and persistent contention offered to convince Democratic governors to opt into the federal SGO program is that they’d be fools to turn down “free money.” This short memo points to eight different ways that the new program will likely harm a state’s public schools. (National Coalition for Public Education) Read More
  • Federal program will bring private school vouchers to at least 4 new states – Twenty-seven states and counting are on track to participate in the first federal program that will direct funds to families so their children can enroll in private schools and cover other expenses outside the public school system. In four of those states, the new federal program will be the first full-fledged, taxpayer-funded private school voucher program. (Education Week) Read More
  • Private school vouchers could ‘undermine’ special education gains – As private school voucher programs expanded over the last 10 years, they enrolled proportionately fewer students with disabilities and students from low-income families, according to a report released by the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates. (K-12 Dive) Read More
  • As school vouchers go universal, what new research is showing – The number of students using public funds to enroll in private school or pay for home-school expenses has been growing rapidly. The impact of school vouchers on academics and public school enrollment, though, remains far from clear—partly a result of how hard it is to study the diverse array of programs. (Education Week) Read More
  • As more states opt in, Republican senators tout Trump-backed school choice tax credit – U.S. senators made the case for and against the new federal tax-credit school voucher program during a recent hearing. At least 23 states, mostly led by Republican governors, have officially opted into the program, according to a tally from the Education and Treasury departments. (Chalkbeat)  Read More
  • The Federal Privatization of K-12 Education – To understand the potential impact of this new federal program, staff for Senator Bernie Sanders, Ranking Member, of the U.S. Senate HELP Committee, analyzed the state laws of 21 states that have existing school voucher programs administered by scholarship-granting organizations. (Minority Staff Report U.S. Senate HELP Committee) Read More
  • Schools could see the script flipped on who files discrimination complaints – Schools can expect to see an upswing in discrimination complaints filed by White and male students and teachers — if they haven’t already, said education civil rights experts. Such cases claim White or male individuals were discriminated against on the basis of their race or sex. (K-12 Dive) Read More

Higher Education News and Resources

  • College enrollment hits 10-year high, fueled by community college growth – Enrollment at colleges and universities has increased for the third straight year, with headcounts across undergraduate and graduate programs reaching 19.4 million — the largest total enrollment in a decade, according to a national report. (The Washington Post – Subscription Required) Read More
  • Minority-Serving Institutions and the Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds: Federal Funding Allocations and Policy Considerations – Grappling with challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, colleges and universities faced the grim realities of serious budget shortfalls. This brief provides a descriptive analysis of the MSI provision of each Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund by examining allocations across different MSIs, which reveal considerable distribution differences when comparing between two-year and four-year institutions, across designations, and per student at different MSIs. (MIT Press Direct) Read More

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