The Leading Edge: Policy & Advocacy Blog
The Leading Edge, AASA's policy & advocacy blog, provides up-to-date information about activities in Washington, D.C. and Capitol Hill that affect you and your school district.
Topics include new or proposed regulations and federal policies, federal funding updates and opportunities, advocacy resources and more.
Latest Posts
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May 07, 2025
Small Rural School Achievement (SRSA) Program Application Expected May 14FY25 SRSA application will be available on May 14.
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May 07, 2025
AASA Submits Comments in Support of PSLFThis week, AASA submitted comments to the Department of Education in support of PSLF as a key tool to recruit and retain teachers.
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May 06, 2025
TIMELY ACTION NEEDED: AASA Opposes Bill to Rescind E-Rate HotspotsAASA joined five other national organizations in a joint letter to the Senate.
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May 02, 2025
President Trump Releases ‘Skinny’ FY26 Budget ProposalThe proposal is a topline document and proposes significant consolidations and outright cuts to education programs, which we’ve summarized in this blog post.
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May 02, 2025
Update on Overtime Rule Court ChallengesOn April 29, the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit stayed the litigation challenging the Biden-era overtime rule, Texas and Plano Chamber of Commerce v DOL, for 120 days.
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May 02, 2025
ED Discontinues MH Grant Awards for Some DistrictsEarlier this week AASA became aware that some of our members received letters from the USED informing them that grants they were awarded to recruit and retain school mental health personnel and to build a pipelines of school based mental health personnel in their communities would be discontinued.
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May 01, 2025
The Advocate May 2025: A Call to ActionThis week House Republicans will begin debate on their tax package that they are moving through a process known as “budget reconciliation.”
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April 24, 2025
IDEA Full Funding Coalition Sends FY26 Letter to the HillAhead of the FY26 appropriations cycle, the IDEA Full Funding Coalition sent this letter to the appropriations committees with our funding ask and priority.
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April 24, 2025
3 New Executive Orders with K-12 ImplicationsYesterday, President Trump signed a series of executive orders impacting education. This blog post highlights three that have K12 funding and policy implications.
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April 23, 2025
FERPA UpdateIn recent weeks, USED has leveraged the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) as a policy tool to incentivize state compliance with other administration policy priorities.
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April 22, 2025
AASA Leads Letter to USED Urging Level Funding for FY25 Title II-A FundsToday, AASA led a letter of 31 national organizations to Education Secretary Linda McMahon urging the Department of Education (USED) to quickly allocate the $2.19 billion Congress and the President approved for Title II-A of ESEA for FY 2025.
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April 15, 2025
ESSER Liquidation UpdateOn 3/28/25, the Department informed SEAs that the Administration has canceled any prior approval for “late liquidation” of remaining funds from a variety of federal pandemic recovery funds.
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April 15, 2025
School Safety Summer Planning: Building Stronger K-12 Emergency Plans for the Next School YearPlease join Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) School Safety on Thursday, May 15 from 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. EDT for a virtual training.
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April 10, 2025
AASA Files Amicus Briefs in 3 SCOTUS CasesThis has been the most substantive Supreme Court docket for K-12 education in many decades.
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April 03, 2025
ED Issues New DEI Directive for StatesToday, the U.S. Department of Education issued a new directive requiring every state education agency (SEA) to certify within 10 days that they are complying with federal civil rights laws.
Latest Advocacy & Policy Resources
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April 25, 2025
PEP Talk Episode 38: The K-12 Cases in the Supreme CourtType:Podcast Topics: Advocacy & PolicyKat Sturdevant interviews Sonja Trainor, executive director of the National School Attorneys Association, to break down the key education cases on the docket and what they could mean for educators, students, and school leaders across the country. -
March 27, 2025
PEP Talk Episode 37: How Medicaid Cuts Will Harm Students & Schools ReportType:Podcast Topics: Advocacy & Policy, Finance & Budgets, Health & WellnessOn this episode of PEP Talk: Kat Sturdevant is joined by Jessie Mandle, National Program Director of the Healthy Schools Campaign, to deep dive the Campaign's new report about how Medicaid cuts will significantly affect schools and students. -
February 27, 2025
PEP Talk Episode 36: School Voucher Update 2025Type:Podcast Topics: Advocacy & Policy, District & School OperationsOn this episode of PEP Talk: Kat Sturdevant gets a much anticipated update from Sasha Pudelski, AASA's Director of Advocacy on where the voucher movement currently stands in a new year and a new administration.
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