State and Legislative Updates from SEF’s Government Affairs Team

The weeks of 3/30 – 4/10

Greetings all,

It’s been an eventful couple of weeks across the region regarding school funding, declining public school enrollment, and school voucher expansion. Many southern states have adjourned for the 2026 legislative sessions or are nearing completion, while a couple are gearing up for debate. A few key highlights are below.

  • Arkansas lawmakers are gaveling in for the state’s 2026 fiscal session, where they will debate a proposed $6.7 billion state budget that includes a $190M expansion of the state’s newly universal school voucher program.
  • Florida leaders recently stepped in to manage the distressed finances of two rural school districts, whose enrollment declined as a result of the state’s universal school voucher program.
  • A North Carolina Supreme Court decision vacated years of court rulings in the state’s long-running Leandro education case that required the state to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars to the state’s public schools.
  • The Tennessee legislature is navigating contentious debates over increasing funding for the state’s school voucher program, while also advancing critical legislation to expand the state’s definition of economically disadvantaged students to include students who qualify for SNAP/TANF and more.

Despite a partial shutdown over long-term funding at the Department of Homeland Security, President Trump released his Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) Budget Request to Congress. The proposal suggests a $3 billion reduction in funding for the U.S. Department of Education and a $50 million reduction in funding for the Office for Civil Rights. It also includes outright eliminations of many critical education programs.

It’s important to note that the president’s budget request is not law. It simply marks the beginning of the annual appropriations process. Congress is now responsible for drafting its FY27 appropriations bills that the president must sign. Because appropriations bills require 60 votes to pass the Senate, any final appropriations bill will require bipartisan support. See below for highlights of the president’s FY27 budget requests for key education and early childhood programs.

President’s FY27 Budget Request

U.S. Department of Education

K-12 Education Programs

  • Title I: $18.4B, level funding
  • IDEA: +$489M, consolidates 6 smaller IDEA programs.
  • Charter School Program: +$60M, level funding

Higher Education Programs

  • Pell Grant (discretionary funds): +$10B to address shortfall.
  • Pell Grant (maximum award): $7,395, level funding
  • Strengthening HBCUs: $405M, level funding

Other Programs

  • Office for Civil Rights: – $50M

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Early Childhood Education Programs

  • Head Start, Early Head Start: $12.4B, level funding, weakens state rules.
  • Child Care Development Block Grant: $8.8B, level funding

President’s FY27 Budget Program Eliminations

Early Childhood Education

  • Preschool Development Block Grant

K-12 Education

  • Equity Assistance Centers
  • Title III ESSA (Language Instruction for English Learners and Immigrant Students)
  • Full-Service Community Schools

Higher Education

  • TRIO and GEAR UP
  • Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of Excellence
  • Teacher Quality Partnership
  • Funding for Minority Serving Institutions

This week’s edition of The Bottom Line is rich with updates and information from states across the region. As always, we hope you find the updates below helpful and meaningful in your work supporting students of color and students from low-income families throughout the South.

State Updates

Alabama

  • State bills would give neighboring school districts option to merge – Two bills moving through the state legislature would give neighboring school districts the option to merge, a permissive change supporters say could help some of the state’s smallest and shrinking systems cut overhead and use classroom dollars more efficiently. (Alabama Daily News) Read More
  • Education Trust Fund heads to state Senate as CHOOSE Act is set to become universal – With just five days left in the 2026 regular session, the state’s $10.4 billion Education Trust Fund (ETF) budget will likely dominate discussions in the state Senate. The ETF passed out of the House earlier this month with pay raises for teachers, but did not fully fund a health insurance program for educators. (Alabama Reflector) Read More
  • State lawmakers finalize $12.4 billion education budget package – State lawmakers finalized their education spending plan for next year, after the House agreed to Senate changes. (Alabama Daily News) Read More
  • Funding changes hit key state program that serves more than 9,000 children with special needs –  Some Early Intervention programs are laying off staff and pulling back on services because the new state reimbursement rate won’t cover what it takes them to pay therapists and specialists. (AL.com) Read More

Arkansas

  • Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders urges school voucher, law enforcement funding boosts in State of State – Gov. Sanders urged lawmakers in her State of the State address to consider everyday Arkansans as they weigh her proposed budget, which boosts funding for school vouchers and law enforcement. Lawmakers from both parties have raised concerns about the program’s rising cost and what could be cut to pay for it. (Arkansas Advocate) Read More
  • Lawmakers should answer for huge spending boost on vouchers, no real boost for public schools – State lawmakers head to Little Rock to debate a proposed $6.7 billion state budget that includes a noteworthy expansion of our private school and homeschool voucher program, but no new investment in the state’s chronically underfunded public schools. (Arkansas Times) Read More
  • State Senate leader vows never to cap LEARNS Act student accounts, says state values all kids’ education equally – The Republican leader of the state Senate refused to support capping spending on school vouchers as lawmakers prepare to take up Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ request to spend up to $379 million on the Educational Freedom Account program. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette) Read More

Delaware

  • House Education Committee advances measure for PEFC to study property assessment and school funding – The state House Education Committee advanced HR 78 resolution addressing property tax equity and school funding. The resolution directs the Public Education Funding Commission to study and make recommendations on equitable collection and distribution of property tax revenue for schools. (Delaware Public Media) Read More
  • Two bills call for expanding the state’s childcare tax credit – Two pieces of legislation that would each expand tax credits for parents have seen action in recent weeks. HB 274 would double the amount parents could receive, and HB 284 would expand the credit for lower-income parents and allow them to redeem more funding than they pay in. (Spotlight Delaware) Read More

Florida

  • Legislation to arm some college employees draws criticism from students, faculty – In the wake of the 2025 shooting at Florida State University, a Republican lawmaker said the state should give public colleges and universities the option to provide firearms to more people on campus. HB 757 would create a program to allow public colleges and universities to opt in and designate certain employees as armed “guardians” on campus. (WUFT News) Read More
  • Florida’s rural school districts’ financial woes a ‘canary in coal mine’ – The state stepped in to help manage the distressed finances of two rural school districts, and that could be just an inkling of what’s to come, state leaders say, as enrollment continues to decline. Union schools officials point to the state’s universal voucher program, which offers scholarships to any K-12 student in Florida, as the main reason for the declining enrollment, even though Union County has few private schools. (First Coast News) Read More
  • Sarasota County Schools to cut teachers as vouchers divert millions from district – First-year teachers across the district could lose their jobs next school year as Sarasota County Schools plans to cut 180 instructional staff positions in response to funding shortfalls. The staff reductions come as the state diverts millions of dollars to school vouchers for families to pay private school tuition, inflation outpaces state funding for public education, and special COVID-19 earmarked funds dry up. (ABC 7 News) Read More

Georgia

  • High school cell phone ban, need-based scholarship, and literacy: Georgia education bills going to the governor’s desk – State lawmakers enacted major education priorities for the 2026 legislative session, such as an expansion of an existing state ban on personal device use in elementary and middle schools, legislation providing literacy coaches in K-3 schools, and the state’s first need-based scholarship for students attending public universities in the state. (WABE News) Read More
  • How a SCOTUS decision on birthright citizenship could impact education access – Any child born on U.S. soil has a right to citizenship. It was established by the 14th Amendment in 1868, and affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court 128 years ago. The high court is set to hear oral arguments in a case that could narrow or even end birthright citizenship in Trump v. Barbara. (Georgia Public Broadcasting) Read More

Kentucky

  • Lawmakers pass Kentucky State University makeover after some changes are made to bill – The state legislature approved SB 185 to transition the state’s only public historically Black university into a polytechnic institution, after a House committee amended the measure to honor the campus’ legacy. (Kentucky Lantern) Read More
  • Gov. Andy Beshear signs bills aimed at college access, retired teacher pay – Gov. Beshear signed HB 307 and HB 642 into law, which are intended to help Kentuckians pursue higher education and increase pay for retired teachers during re-employment, respectively. (Spectrum News 1) Read More

Louisiana

  • A college degree in 3 years? Here’s how it will work in Louisiana: ‘get to work a year faster’ – The credential, shortened to “AccB,” is more than an associate degree, yet it requires 30 fewer hours in the classroom than a traditional bachelor’s degree. The state’s higher education leaders have described it as “efficient,” “lean,” and “responsive” to industry as well as the evolving expectations placed on colleges and universities. (Nola.com) Read More
  • Judge ends federal oversight of special education in New Orleans schools – More than a decade of federal oversight of special education in New Orleans charter schools has ended, following a decision by a U.S. District Judge to terminate a sweeping consent judgment, which went into effect in early 2015. (Louisiana Illuminator) Read More

Maryland

  • Legislation would allow state lawsuits against private schools – HB 649 would allow the state to sue private schools over claims of discrimination, including based on gender identity, which some legal experts described as an unconstitutional targeting of religious schools that could lead to bankruptcy. (WBFF News) Read More

Mississippi

  • State lawmakers adopt increased K-12 public education budget even as student totals decline – A conference report that will provide teachers, assistant teachers, CTE instructors, special education teachers, and other educational personnel with pay raises has been approved by both the state Senate and House of Representatives. The measure will be officially sent to the governor’s office once motions to reconsider are tabled. (Magnolia Tribune) Read More 
  • Lawmakers signal K-12 teachers will get $2,000 raise, first pay increase since 2022 – A back-and-forth affair over teacher pay raises inside the state capitol – a debate that technically failed before being revived – is expected to end with K-12 educators statewide receiving a $2,000 bump to their salaries. (SuperTalk Mississippi Media) Read More 
  • What exactly did the state legislature do for three months? – Various leaders vowed to pass sea-change “school choice” and other education policies, provide a large pay raise for teachers, pump up to a billion dollars into the state retirement system, reinstate voters’ right to ballot initiative, and more. But nearly all of these initiatives failed, and those that advanced were severely watered down. (Mississippi Today) Read More

Missouri

  • State public education ballot campaign abandons effort for 2026 election, blames court fight – The constitutional amendment would establish that access to public education is a “fundamental right.” But organizers say the controversy over the Missouri Secretary of State’s ballot language, which a judge ruled was unfair and had to be rewritten, delayed signature collection. (KCUR News) Read More
  • Some colleges fear cuts as state lawmakers consider a new funding model – State lawmakers proposed a new funding model that would reshuffle funds among public institutions. Some institutions, including the state’s two historically Black colleges, wouldn’t fare well. (Inside Higher Ed) Read More
  • State House discusses more funding for HBCUs – HB 3416 would create the “Strengthening HBCUs Fund,” which would take 1% from the state’s excursion gambling proceeds and 1% from the Classroom Trust Fund, in addition to gifts and donations, and split the funds between Lincoln University and Harris-Stowe State University. The legislation was discussed in the state House Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee and has no future hearings scheduled. (Columbia Missourian)  Read More

North Carolina

  • State Supreme Court vacates nine years of Leandro school funding orders – The state Supreme Court overturned years of rulings in the long-running Leandro education case, finding judges lacked authority to order statewide school funding changes. The decision voids a 2023 order requiring hundreds of millions for education improvements and nullifies a prior ruling upholding that authority. (NC Newsline) Read More
  • Leandro proponents vow to keep fighting for school funding after ruling – Public education advocates say the fight over school funding in North Carolina is far from over following a recent state Supreme Court ruling in the long-running Leandro case. The decision did not overturn the established right to a sound, basic education, but did void the 2022 Supreme Court decision and subsequent lower court orders to fund the Leandro plan. (WFAE News) Read More

Oklahoma

  • Public comment, once contentious, quietly disappears from State Board of Education meetings – Public comment at the State Board of Education meetings became so high-demand that state officials heightened security, expanded overflow seating, and implemented a lottery for the chance to speak. But since the new state Superintendent took office, public comment has disappeared from the board’s meetings. (Oklahoma Voice) Read More

South Carolina

  • State Senate spending plan would disallow K-12 vouchers for homeschoolers – The senator behind the state’s newest school voucher law tried to reduce participation for next school year. But Senate budget writers reversed course, restoring the cap to 15,000 students instead of 10,000 while keeping the ban on adding more homeschooled students to the program. (South Carolina Daily Gazette) Read More
  • Public colleges potentially facing cuts in academic programs – Universities could potentially suspend certain majors and programs due to recent proposals in the House’s version of the state budget. The proposal sets aside roughly $26 million to 16 specific public colleges and schools that accept the funding must use the funding for investments in academic programs in STEM fields, and suspend new admissions to programs that have lost money for four straight years. (WACH News) Read More 
  • To fill teacher vacancies, state could accept certificates from other states – Teachers from certain other states could start working in South Carolina classrooms more quickly under HB 5309, advanced by a House education committee. (South Carolina Daily Gazette) Read More 

Tennessee

  • Washington County school board to vote on opposing voucher expansion – A Washington County school board member said he plans to introduce a resolution opposing the expansion of the state’s school voucher program. (Johnson City Press) Read More 
  • State lawmakers target child care crisis: addressing high cost, limited access, labor shortage – State lawmakers advanced a series of bills to address the child care crisis. SB 509, which passed the full Senate, would eliminate some of the red tape involved with opening a child care center, including repetitive fire code inspections. (WKRN News) Read More 
  • State House advances 15,000 school voucher increase, drops citizenship amendment – A state House committee advanced legislation that will expand the state’s school voucher program to 15,000, a reduction from Governor Lee’s original proposal. The House also removed a controversial amendment that would have only reimbursed school districts for declining enrollment if departing students provided U.S. citizenship documentation. (WTVC News) Read More
  • Bills would boost funding for small school districts – Two proposals to boost school funding and support for small districts advanced out of the House. HB 226 adjusts the current state funding formula to provide a 1-2 percent increase for school systems serving fewer than 1,500 students. HB 2485 expands the definition of economically disadvantaged students to include more students in need. (Pulaski Citizen) Read More

Texas

  • White Texans, students previously in private school or home-school make up bulk of voucher applicants – Most of the state’s school voucher applications come from white families and children who previously attended a private school or home-school. (The Texas Tribune) Read More
  • State Board of Education considers overhaul of social studies curriculum – The State Board of Education took up a discussion on an overhaul to the state’s social studies curriculum. (Spectrum News 1) Read More 

West Virginia

  • State higher education funding formula now has full funding – Lawmakers passed a 2023 bill that created a performance-based funding model for higher education, and now, for the first time, the program is fully funded. The new formula is based strictly on outputs, and institutions are evaluated based on how many students are moving through programs on schedule, graduation rates, and the relevance of degrees. (MetroNews) Read More

National/Federal Updates

K-12 Education News and Resources

  • Communities want to help struggling schools, but districts don’t make it easy – People in struggling school districts aren’t disengaged. If anything, they’re trying to get involved but find themselves running into a wall. That’s the finding of a new report from the Hoover Institution, based on its “Unheard Voices” project. (The 74) Read More
  • What declining student enrollment means for schools — and what states are doing about it – K-12 school enrollment has declined by 2.3%, or 1.18 million students, in the U.S. over the past five years, and most schools aren’t showing signs of a rebound. In this analysis, the Education Commission of the States identified a few common financial strategies used by state leaders to assist local districts. (Education Commission of the States) Read More
  • Some school districts are agreeing to exclude students without legal status – Some school districts across the country are moving to exclude students without legal status from federally funded college credit and career education programs. But the moves could conflict with a Supreme Court ruling that requires public schools to serve all students. (Here & Now Newsroom) Read More
  • Arizona’s drop in SNAP participation signals potential nationwide impact of Trump legislation – Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act imposes stricter food stamp work requirements and shifts a larger share of the costs to states. Arizona’s swift implementation has made it more difficult to apply and caused nearly half of the recipients to lose benefits. (ProPublica) Read More
  • District case study: strengthening support for rural school districts – Georgia’s rural school districts serve more than 255,000 students and face compounding challenges like shrinking populations, enrollment declines, and fewer educators, sparse access to healthcare, and mental health services. In this case study, the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education sought to identify and understand the needs of rural districts. (Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education) Read More

Higher Education News and Resources

      • Is the Trump Administration replacing Minority-Serving Institution grants with a race-neutral competition? – Last month, the U.S. Department of Education issued its FY26 eligibility notice for institutional aid grants under Title III and Title V of the Higher Education Act. Notably, the notice omits Minority-Serving Institutions, signaling a potential effort by the administration to effectively sideline the MSI designation without a formal change in law. (EducationCounsel) Read More
      • Strong Foundations 2025: Insights Into State Postsecondary Rural Data – The Strong Foundations 2025 survey examines the extent to which state agencies collect and use rural data, the catalysts for their work, and the challenges and opportunities they encounter in using this information to inform policy and practice. This report summarizes key findings from the survey, highlighting how states use data to advance policy and outcomes for rural communities. (State Higher Education Executive Officers Association) 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