State and Legislative Updates from SEF’s Government Affairs Team

The weeks of 7/6 – 7/17

Greetings all,

As many begin to prepare for the back-to-school season, we are pleased to provide our latest Bottom Line update. New federal regulatory proposals from the U.S. Department of Education stand to greatly impact students and educators across the nation. The administration is seeking to change how federal grants flow to schools and districts and to rescind regulations governing federal school desegregation efforts. However, one of the most significant actions of the week was that the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee advanced a 10-bill package that would permanently transfer major education programs to other federal agencies, though it faces significant hurdles to passage in the Senate.

Things are equally active at the state level. Although most southern state legislatures have adjourned for the year, significant policy developments continue to unfold across the region. Highlights are included below, but I encourage you to read the full newsletter for a more comprehensive overview of this week’s key issues.

  • Delaware: To close out the 2026 legislative session, lawmakers advanced a bill that permits the state Department of Education to begin implementing its hybrid public school funding model, which would distribute more funding to schools with large numbers of low-income students or English-language learners.
  • Florida: A divided panel of U.S. Court of Appeals judges for the 11th Circuit found that the state’s “anti-woke law” restricting how lessons on race and gender can be taught in colleges and universities violates the free speech rights of professors.
  • Louisiana: Beginning this school year, all high-dosage tutoring funds used to secure external providers will operate under outcomes-based contracting structures.
  • Texas: An appeals court upheld an agreement between the Trump administration and the state’s attorney general to end in-state tuition rates at public institutions for undocumented students.

Latest from SEF

  • SEF Released a New Report: Economic Vitality and Education in the South, Part II: Projections for a Post-Pandemic South (EVES II) – EVES II examines what may become a defining line in American education: the COVID-19 pandemic and the era that followed. Read the full report here.
  • SEF’s President and CEO Authored an Op-Ed in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution –  Too often, education in the South has been treated as a regional issue, discussed through the lens of local politics, history, or disparities in student achievement. But today, the region’s educational outcomes are poised to have national economic consequences. Read the full op-ed, titled Why the South’s education will decide America’s economic future, here.
  • SEF’s Senior Fellow Published Blog – SEF’s Senior Fellow, Dr. Lee Johnson III, published a blog overviewing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) proposed rescission of the 2024 Head Start workforce standard. While SEF recognizes HHS’ intent to provide local flexibility, removing the workforce and benefit provisions adopted in 2024 may compromise the infrastructure necessary to sustain high-quality services for children and families served by Head Start. Read the full blog here.

State Updates

Alabama

  • State gains more college graduates but falls further behind in wages – Alabama has more college-educated adults than it did 10 years ago. Still, the gains and the wages vary sharply across the state, according to a new report from the Alabama Commission on Higher Education. (Alabama Daily News) Read More

Arkansas

  • Opinion: This private school had students scrub floors and attack a fellow classmate. The state still funds it. – There were about 100 private schools in Arkansas in 2023, and now there are about 220. Despite this growth, the state has largely chosen not to regulate private or microschools and is so hands-off that it only requires private schools to conduct regular fire drills, keep immunization records, and have an American flag and a flagpole. The state doesn’t review schools’ curriculum or the backgrounds and capabilities of their operators. (Arkansas Times) Read More

Delaware

  • Delaware General Assembly roundup: Public school funding – When Delaware’s legislative session ended early, lawmakers approved a string of education bills that reform how the state and school districts collect and distribute money for schools. Among them is one that would enable the Delaware Department of Education to begin implementing its hybrid public school funding model. (Spotlight Delaware) Read More 

Florida

  • How the Florida AI Task Force Supports Educators and Students – State leaders are actively considering the guidance, regulations, and support schools and districts need to respond to the growing presence of artificial intelligence tools. Leaders of the Florida AI K-12 Task Force share their approach to building knowledge and developing resources within the state, as well as the lessons they have learned along the way. (Education Commission of the States) Read More
  • Appeals court slams door on Florida ‘Stop Woke’ law championed by Governor Ron DeSantis – Florida’s anti-woke law restricting how lessons on race and gender can be taught in colleges and universities — policies championed by Gov. DeSantis — violates the free speech rights of professors, a panel of appeals court judges ruled. (POLITICO) Read More
  • Next in Florida’s war on ‘woke’: Becoming its own higher ed watchdog – Associations like the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, SACSCOC, are independent of the government, and yet they have long played an important role in maintaining the mission and integrity of higher education. Federal law forbids a state from accrediting itself because of the inherent conflict of interest it would create. But by starting a new accreditor that is co-managed alongside other states, Florida appears to have found a workaround. (WLRN Public Media) Read More

Georgia

  • Opinion: Why the South’s education will decide America’s economic future – As we look to the future of America’s economy, one question looms large: will we have a workforce capable of meeting the demands of a rapidly changing world? The answer depends, in large part, on what happens in the South. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution) Read More

Kentucky

  • Concealed carry, education tax credit among new laws taking effect – Several new laws enacted during the 2026 session of the Kentucky General Assembly take effect this week. Among these is House Bill 1, which cleared the way for Kentucky to participate in the new federal educational tax credit program established by the U.S. Congress last year in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. (Kentucky Today) Read More
  • Could universal pre-K come to KY? Here’s what Beshear’s pilot program looks like – Universal pre-K has become a hot-button topic in the Bluegrass State in recent years. Throughout Gov. Andy Beshear’s second term, he has pushed to get money for a state-funded preschool program available to all Kentucky 4-year-olds. (Lexington Herald-Leader) Read More
  • Putting students before screens – Technology has opened doors in many ways, but it has also raised an important question: Have we allowed technology to become a substitute for learning rather than simply a tool to support it? (Kentucky Today) Read More

Louisiana

  • How colleges will spend millions in the state budget – Louisiana’s colleges and universities are bringing home hundreds of millions for construction projects and other key priorities in the state budget, including more than $50 million for a new STEM complex at Southern University. (Louisiana Illuminator) Read More
  • State to tie tutoring vendor pay to student results – Beginning this school year, all high-dosage tutoring funds used to secure external providers will operate under outcomes-based contracting structures, according to the Louisiana Department of Education. (The Center Square) Read More 
  • ‘Very disheartening’; Plaquemine early learning center faces closure amid state funding cuts – Bright Star Daycare, a childcare center that has served Iberville Parish families for 15 years, could be forced to close as state funding continues to decline, according to its director. (WAFB News) Read More
  • US federal court ends decades-long school desegregation lawsuit in Louisiana – A US federal court on Tuesday closed a school desegregation lawsuit originally filed in 1965, effectively ending a decades-long mandate for federal oversight of school desegregation in Concordia Parish, Louisiana. (JuristNews) Read More

​​Missouri

  • Lengthy desegregation case puts thousands of students on buses: Revisiting St. Louis history – On Sept. 3, 1980, more than 7,500 of the city’s 63,000 students boarded buses for desegregation (an additional 8,000 rode simply to get to class). Whether the program was effective remains a sharply contested, emotion-charged issue. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) Read More

North Carolina

  • In some parts of the state, majority-Black public schools are first on the chopping block – Closing Black schools is not new. About 73% of the state’s 184 traditional public schools that closed across the state between 2011 and 2025 “disproportionately impacted students of color,” according to a report released last year by the North Carolina Justice Center. (The Assembly) Read More  
  • State legislators end funding for community college student success initiative – The North Carolina General Assembly has ended funding for a program aimed at improving outcomes for community college students. The initiative originally supported efforts to close opportunity gaps for historically underserved students. (WUNC News) Read More
  • UNC System finally gets funding for enrollment growth in new state budget – Last week, state lawmakers finally passed a state budget — a year late. And after all the frustration of waiting, the UNC System got its one big request met: enrollment funding. Enrollment funding allows North Carolina’s public universities to grow by covering the cost of teaching and providing services to students beyond what tuition covers. (The News&Observer) Read More
  • Education bills that stalled in committee reappear in new budget – Dozens of education bills filed during North Carolina’s 2026 short session never got a floor vote, dying quietly in House and Senate committees. But the most significant measures were folded into the roughly $34 billion state budget that lawmakers sent to Gov. Josh Stein. (The Carolina Journal) Read More
  • State has changed teacher licensure laws – North Carolina’s public schools could have an easier time recruiting and retaining educators as a result of changes to teacher licensure laws included in the recently approved state budget. (The News&Observer) Read More

Tennessee

  • Tennessee GOP gubernatorial hopefuls split on private school vouchers – Tennessee’s three top Republican gubernatorial candidates are miles apart on expanding the state’s main private-school voucher program. (Tennessee Lookout) Read More
  • OPINION: How Memphis schools sidestepped desegregation – When the Memphis school board, the mayor, and White parents challenged efforts by Civil Rights leaders and the courts to desegregate Memphis schools, their obstinate maneuvers certainly sent our schools and our students in the wrong direction. And it does not appear that corrective action toward a truly integrated school system is in the near future. (Commercial Appeal) Read More
  • Pro-private school voucher Club for Growth donates $3M to PAC backing Blackburn for governor – Starting in early June, two advertisements went on Tennessee’s airwaves in support of U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s bid for governor. The advertisements are being run by the Tennessee Freedom Fund political action committee, which is registered to Club for Growth’s chief financial officer and has around $15 million this election cycle, all from billionaire Jeff Yass. Both advertisements are part of the group’s strategy to boost pro-private-school-voucher candidates and attack their opponents. (Tennessee Lookout) Read More

Texas

  • Texas community colleges showing small signs of recovery after enrollment decline, report finds – Texas community colleges have struggled with enrollment over the past 15 years as many high school graduates have opted to enter the workforce straight out of high school, but a new report points to signs that campuses are pivoting to stay relevant. (The Texas Tribune) Read More
  • Governor Gregg Abbott launches Commission on Education Reform – Gov. Abbott announced the launch of the Texas Classroom Commission of current or retired public school teachers to improve classroom instruction and the quality of public education. The commission will provide recommendations to the governor, the Texas Education Agency, and lawmakers ahead of the 90th Legislative Session. (Texas Scorecard) Read More
  • Court upholds ban on in-state tuition for undocumented Texans – Undocumented Texas students will continue to be unable to qualify for in-state tuition rates at public institutions, after an appeals court upheld an agreement between the Trump administration and the state’s attorney general to end the benefit. (Inside Higher Ed) Read More
  • Houston ISD’s special education changes violate student rights, TEA says in letter – In May, the district announced it would consolidate special education programs to select campuses for the 2026-27 school year. The overhaul affects thousands of students. The changes sparked outrage in the community as well as an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. (Houston Public Media) Read More

 

Virginia

  • State budget extends state higher education displacement commission funding for two years – Funding approved by Virginia lawmakers in the new state budget paves the way for two more years of work by a commission studying Black communities’ past displacement by Virginia colleges and universities, as well as potential forms of redress. (Virginia Mercury) Read More

West Virginia

  • School administrators launching campaign in support of public schools – The West Virginia Association of School Administrators will meet to discuss its new “I Love WV Public Schools” campaign, which aims to celebrate the students, staff, families and communities that make public education a cornerstone of the Mountain State. (MetroNews) Read More

 

National/Federal Updates

Early Childhood Education News and Resources

  • Why the prenatal-to-3 years matter – A new policy brief from the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center explains why the earliest years of life are critical to healthy development. Why Do We Focus on the Prenatal-to-3 Age Period? Understanding the Importance of the Earliest Years highlights the lifelong significance of early brain development and outlines eight universal objectives to help infants, toddlers, and their families thrive. Read More
  • America’s child care crisis leaves many families without access to licensed care – Child care affects households in every corner of America. Yet, as waitlists for child care assistance continue to grow at an alarming rate, the nation’s patchy and underfunded child care system remains plagued by supply shortages and high costs, leaving too many families without options and undermining a fragile workforce. (The Center for American Progress) Read More
  • New research on infant and toddler child care access – A new study from the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center finds that many communities across Texas are infant and toddler child care deserts, with limited access to affordable, subsidized care. The findings underscore the need for stronger child care investments and targeted state strategies to improve access for young children and families. Read More
  • Lessons from early childhood governance change – A new research brief from the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center examines how states have strengthened early childhood governance through system consolidation. The brief highlights lessons for policymakers, including the importance of sustained advocacy, strong leadership, and a shared vision. Read More
  • Trump Accounts for Kids are now live. Here’s everything parents need to know – President Donald Trump rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq to mark the first trading day of the newly-launched “Trump Accounts” for children. Trump Accounts are a new form of traditional investment retirement account created for the benefit of children, with special rules that apply. (TIME) Read More

K-12 Education News and Resources

  • House education panel blesses Trump’s Education Department breakup – The House Education and Workforce Committee took a major step to seal President Donald Trump’s plans to dismantle the Education Department. The committee advanced a 10-bill legislative package Wednesday to permanently shift core Education Department responsibilities and programs to other agencies across the federal government. (POLITICO)  Read More
  • Policy Dialogue: DEI, culture wars, and the history of education – In this policy dialogue, Kevin Kumashiro and Michael Olneck take up those questions directly, tracing how contemporary assaults—beginning with criticisms of the 1619 Project, critical race theory, and gender studies—have broadened into a campaign aimed at reshaping curriculum, institutions, and civic understanding. (Cambridge University Press) Read More
  • Congressional Republicans’ big beautiful bill threatens access to free school meals – This report discusses how the OBBBA will affect access to free and reduced-price school meals, analyzes the local impacts families will feel, and provides recommendations to state lawmakers to mitigate harm where possible. (Center for American Progress) Read More
  • Education Department eyes changes for measuring racial disparities in special education – The U.S. Department of Education is planning to make changes to a federal rule that requires states and districts to measure racial disparities in special education, according to an announcement made over the Fourth of July weekend. (K-12 Dive) Read More
  • Big changes to federal grants are coming: What they could mean for schools – The Trump administration is advancing a sweeping set of regulatory changes that, if implemented, could permanently destabilize how schools and educators receive and spend federal dollars. (Education Week – Subscription Required) Read More
  • Lessons on AI for Elementary Students: ‘Teach Them Good Habits Now’ – A cutting-edge technology like artificial intelligence might seem out of place in an elementary classroom. But educators are experimenting with ways for their young students to use AI to engage them, reinforce what they’re learning, and teach them about the technology’s inner workings. (Education Week – Subscription Required) Read More
  • Trump administration: Long-delayed data crucial to understanding America’s schools is coming soon – Researchers, advocates, and civil rights attorneys say the Office for Civil Rights data for the 2023-24 school year is critical, not only because it provides a national picture around pressing education issues such as discipline, but because it also consistently digs into district-by-district data. (Chalkbeat) Read More

Higher Education News and Resources

  • Threats of more closings have colleges and students worrying about how to save themselves – More than 440 of the nation’s 1,700 private, nonprofit four-year colleges and universities, or about a quarter of the total, are at risk of closing or having to merge within the next 10 years, according to an estimate by the Huron Consulting Group. So much attention has begun to focus on college closures that the Education Department has issued guidance for students on what to do if it happens to them. (The Hechinger Report) Read More
  • Diversity scholarships decline after legal complaints, Trump’s crackdown – Groups that help underrepresented students attend college are dropping race and gender criteria, using income or other eligibility requirements instead. (The Washington Post – Subscription Required) Read More
  • Education Dept. eyes changing college merger, civil rights enforcement regs – After a year of carrying out Congress’s higher ed overhaul, the Education Department is now turning its attention to other key political priorities of the Trump administration—defining sex; eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs; and cracking down on foreign funding in education. (Inside Higher Ed) Read More
  • The Cost of Disinvestment: Understanding the Impacts of Defunding Federal Grants on Hispanic Serving Institutions – Recognizing HSIs’ importance within the higher education landscape and the many benefits of these federal capacity-building programs, this study set out to catalog and understand the consequences of this abrupt shift in federal support away from HSIs and the students they serve. The accompanying survey was developed and designed to document the effects of these grant cancellations on the people and programs they funded. (Rutgers Graduate School of Education Center for MSIs) Read More
  • HBCUs Are Still the Vanguard – If HBCUs are the vanguard, then the question is not whether they have earned our admiration. The question is whether they will receive the investment, protection, and respect that their record demands. HBCUs are still carrying us, and the question is whether public policy will finally carry its share. (Institute of the Black World 21st Century) Read More
  • Confidence in U.S. higher education slips back slightly – Americans’ confidence in higher education has slipped back after a modest uptick last year. Thirty-eight percent of U.S. adults say they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in the institution, compared with 42% last year. Cost, perceived political agendas, and the nature of instruction are primary reasons given for lack of confidence. (GALLUP) 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