A School Leader’s Guide to Understanding Federal Education Policy Proposals
"When policies and practices threaten to disrupt our schools, educators must remain grounded in what we know works: culturally relevant teaching, high expectations, and unwavering support for all students."
- Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings, Pedagogical Theorist
Continued efforts to abolish the Department of Education have created uncertainty about what lies ahead for educators. At School Leader Lab, we hear the following questions:
📚 What will teachers be allowed to teach in their classrooms?
💰 Could we lose the federal funding that supports our most vulnerable students?
📊 How will commitments to school choice and vouchers impact my school's enrollment and funding?
✊🏽 Is School Leader Lab still going to focus on race and racism? (that one's easy- yes)
We’ve created a new resource called A School Leader’s Guide to Understanding Federal Education Proposals to help educators cut through speculation and provide information about how federal policy impacts their daily work with students. Drawing from analysis by Education Week, EdCounsel, Aspen Institute, and TNTP, this guide breaks down what school leaders need to know about potential changes in federal education policy during this administration’s second term. At School Leader Lab, our mission is to create the conditions for teachers and students to thrive through our work with leaders. We hope this guide helps leaders stay informed, provide clear guidance to their teams, and ensure students have the joyful, inclusive, and rigorous instruction that they deserve.
When anxiety about headlines gripped me, creating this guide became my anchor. Instead of reacting to the news cycle, I grounded myself in historical patterns and facts. Writing this guide helped me focus on what I could control: empowering school leaders to persist in their roles and drive impact through teachers in service of students.
While education's fundamental structures have proven remarkably stable, with policies resistant to sudden shifts, this stability isn't always cause for celebration. Our system still produces inequitable outcomes. Though policies change slowly, narratives quickly and powerfully shape how students see themselves and how teachers approach their work.
Our students need strong leaders who stay now more than ever. Their future depends not on headlines, but on our dedication to nurture their potential and create environments where everyone thrives.
Like many, I needed time to retreat when the burdens felt overwhelming. As I find my way back, I’m reminded that our students will be the ones who suffer most if I give in to weariness. Creating this guide helped me return. I hope it helps you too.
As Michelle Molitor, Executive Director of the Equity Lab, reminds us: "The uncertainty we face isn't failure - it's proof we're doing the hard work of disruption. Progress is messy and nonlinear, but the resistance we're feeling shows our impact." Onward.
