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THE WHITE HOUSE

Over the last month, the White House’s education agenda has been defined by the administration’s continued push to decentralize federal education authority, including backing major interagency agreements designed to move K-12 program administration out of the Department of Education and into agencies like the Department of Labor. This reflects the broader presidential priority of reducing the federal role in education and empowering states.

On December 11, the White House held its third AI Education Task Force meeting—led by OSTP and attended by cabinet officials, educators, and parents—to explore AI integration in K–12 classrooms. The Presidential AI Challenge has already attracted more than 5,000 students and 1,000 educators nationwide.

THE PRESIDENT

The President has advanced his vision to reshape the federal role in education, with the Department of Education announcing partnerships with multiple federal agencies to reassign K-12 program administration toward the Department of Labor and others. This move aligns with his pledge to streamline federal bureaucracy and return authority to states.

The President’s FY 2026 budget proposal seeks to trim the Department of Education by roughly $12 billion (15%), while shifting Title I and IDEA into standalone block grants. It consolidates 18 smaller K–12 grant programs into a $2 billion “K–12 Simplified Funding Program,” resulting in a net cut of about $4.5 billion. The plan eliminates English-language acquisition grants ($890 million), teacher professional development, after‑school programs, and Equity Assistance Centers, while boosts charter school funding by $60 million.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

In mid‑December, ED awarded $256 million in Education Innovation and Research grants to boost literacy, distributed over $208 million in mental‑health service grants, completed negotiated rulemaking for the new Workforce Pell Grant program, and launched the Presidential 1776 Award to celebrate civic knowledge.

U.S. SENATE

In the Senate, education policy developments include bipartisan actions on child nutrition — notably final passage of the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, returning whole and 2% milk to school menus. Senate appropriators have also released FY26 funding proposals that would maintain level funding for key K-12 programs like Full-Service Community Schools and 21st Century Community Learning Centers as part of broader funding negotiations.

Meanwhile, it continues reviewing major legislation, including the sweeping States’ Education Reclamation Act, which proposes to dismantle the Department of Education and shift K‑12 funding to states.

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

In the House, lawmakers have taken legislative action affecting schools, including passing the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act following Senate approval. The House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee advanced 19 bills on child online privacy—most notably COPPA 2.0 and KOSA—to strengthen protections for students online.

On broader federal education funding policy, House spending proposals differ sharply from the Senate on K-12 and related youth program funding, proposing elimination of some discretionary programs — setting up potential conference negotiations as FY26 appropriations continue.

FLORIDA COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION MIDYEAR MESSAGE

Anastasios Kamoutsas, Florida Commissioner of Education, published a letter that underscores the importance of strong collaboration between teachers and families in supporting student success at the midyear point.

The Commissioner encourages families to use winter break to reinforce learning, resiliency, and goal-setting at home, and emphasizes that shared responsibility between schools and parents helps students thrive academically and personally.

The letter also highlights state-provided parent resources aligned to the B.E.S.T. Standards in Math, English Language Arts, and Resiliency, and expresses appreciation for educators and families while looking ahead to a successful second half of the school year.

Read the Commissioner's Midyear letter

Commissioner Kamoutsas Visits BCPS (August 2025)

BCPS PRIORITIES & STATE BILLS TO WATCH

We are advocating for legislation that ensures fair compensation for charter use of district-owned facilities; preserves School Board authority to assess rental and leasing fees; supports responsible stewardship of public assets; and maintains local discretion in granting rights of refusal and managing the disposition of surplus properties—while also promoting fairness, accountability, and consistency across funding models for all entities receiving public dollars (traditional public, home school, public charter, and private schools) so each has a fair and competitive opportunity.

We support legislation to expand industry certification opportunities for students, including, but not limited to, leadership and soft skill coursework.

We support the removal of statutory limitations that tie Title I eligibility thresholds to prior-year district levels or the statewide percentage of economically disadvantaged students, to allow local flexibility in expanding support to more schools in need.

We support legislation that ensures competitive compensation and performance-based bonuses for the instructional workforce, and promotes long-term recruitment and retention of high-quality educators, while also establishing paid family leave benefits for school district employees to strengthen recruitment and retention, promote employee well-being, and provide greater stability and continuity in the classroom for students.

We support legislation that addresses the District’s structural funding gap—reflected in FY 2025–26 revenues of $4.676 billion against expenditures of $5.399 billion, resulting in a $722 million shortfall requiring reserves and transfers—while increasing overall education funding to meet or exceed the national per-pupil average and minimizing the impact of property tax reform.

Further, we support dedicated funding to ensure a full-time licensed nurse in every school, and advocate for maintaining the Required Local Effort rate to provide stable and sufficient local funding for BCPS, protect FEFP enhancements, and preserve the Education Enrollment Stabilization Program to prevent proration of district funds.

We are advocating for increased funding and resources for the Safe Schools and Mental Health Assistance Allocations to strengthen preventive safety measures, enhance security protocols, sustain mandated security personnel in every school, support training for the Guardian program, and cover costs associated with School Resource Officers.

We support legislation permitting any funds allocated under SB 7026, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, that were not used for the replacement of Building 12 to be redirected toward the construction of an off-site memorial.

In addition, we support legislation that strengthens the protection of student data—including governance of artificial intelligence in schools, safeguards for minors, requirements for age verification and transparency, content filtering, and regulations on the collection, storage, and use of data by technology companies—and provide clear guidance on the use of audio-visual recording in self-contained ESE classrooms, allowing for an annual parent notification, while ensuring student privacy and alignment with safety measures.