Washington Update, February 8, 2026
Federal Education Policy, Funding, and Higher Education Developments
A Post-Appropriations Snapshot
Dear Colleagues:
This update marks what is, without question, the most edited Washington Update of all time. Every time we were ready to send it, something else happened — a revised deal, a procedural snag, a shutdown clock, a final agreement. That, in itself, is a useful framing for the moment we are in.
Congress has now completed FY 2026 appropriations, ending the partial government shutdown and setting final funding levels for federal education programs. While the process was unusually compressed and what some described as volatile, the outcome provides clarity and guardrails after months of uncertainty.
What follows is a current snapshot of where federal education policy, funding, and implementation now stand, and what matters most going forward.
1. Where Things Ultimately Landed: FY 2026 Appropriations
Congress enacted a full-year FY 2026 omnibus appropriations package, bringing the partial shutdown to an end and restoring full operating authority to the Department of Education and other affected agencies.
For education, funding is finalized through the Labor–HHS–Education bill (Division B). The Department of Education receives approximately $78.8 billion in discretionary funding, a level that is slightly below FY 2024 enacted funding and roughly in line with FY 2025 levels.
This outcome reflects a hold-the-line approach. It does not provide growth and does not keep pace with inflation, but it avoids the deeper cuts and structural changes proposed earlier in the budget cycle — including proposals that would have significantly weakened the Department’s role or consolidated core education programs.
Education advocates broadly viewed the final package as the most viable outcome in a constrained fiscal and political environment.
2. What Congress Did - and Did Not -Do for Education
Just as important as topline funding is what Congress affirmatively preserved.
The final bill:
• Reinforces limits on the Department of Education’s authority to transfer funds across programs
• Requires timely release of most education formula grants
• Specifies funding levels for many programs directly in bill text
• Explicitly reiterates that programs authorized in law must be administered as such
The accompanying statement of managers underscores that core education responsibilities and associated funding may not be shifted to other agencies without explicit congressional approval. This language responds directly to recent interagency agreements and administrative restructuring efforts.
In short, Congress chose continuity over experimentation preserving statutory frameworks even as fiscal pressures remain real.
3. Special Education and Educator Preparation: Stability Under Strain
For special education, the most consequential outcome is the preservation of IDEA’s structure and enforcement framework. Congress rejected proposals to block grant IDEA or consolidate it into broader K–12 funding streams. IDEA remains a formula-based entitlement with national monitoring, determinations, and enforcement intact.
Funding across IDEA programs is largely flat:
• IDEA Part B State Grants receive only a modest increase that does not offset inflation
• Preschool Grants and Part C remain level funded
As has become familiar, flat funding functions as a real-dollar cut. Rising personnel costs, service delivery demands, workforce shortages, and increasing student needs continue to erode purchasing power while statutory obligations remain unchanged.
IDEA Part D programs — including Personnel Preparation, State Personnel Development, Technical Assistance, and Parent Information Centers — were preserved. These programs form the infrastructure that makes IDEA implementation possible, even as level funding constrains expansion at a moment of acute workforce need.
Educator preparation programs saw similar outcomes. Teacher Quality Partnership and Hawkins Centers of Excellence were preserved, despite earlier proposals to reduce or eliminate them. These programs continue to support clinically rich preparation pathways and diversification of the educator workforce, though flat funding limits scale amid persistent shortages and retention challenges.
Research funding is mixed. While the Institute of Education Sciences faces reductions driven in part by staffing and administrative constraints, the National Center for Special Education Research was preserved, maintaining dedicated federal support for special education research and evaluation.
4. Civil Rights Enforcement: Capacity Still a Concern
A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report sheds light on the lingering effects of workforce disruptions at the Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
GAO found that between $28.5 million and $38 million was spent paying OCR staff on administrative leave following attempted layoffs in 2025, while investigators were barred from performing their duties. During that period, OCR received more than 9,000 discrimination complaints, approximately 90 percent of which were dismissed without review.
Although staff were later reinstated, GAO concluded that enforcement capacity has not fully recovered and that fewer investigators are currently serving students than in 2024. These findings raise ongoing concerns about the federal government’s ability to enforce civil rights protections related to race, disability, sex, national origin, and age — particularly as student needs continue to rise.
5. Student Loans and the RISE Rulemaking: Action Required
The Department of Education has now published the proposed rule emerging from the RISE negotiated rulemaking committee. Of particular concern is the proposed definition of “professional students,” which explicitly excludes educators, with significant implications for education students’ access to federal student loans.
Public comments are due March 2.
In response, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) has launched a coordinated field-wide comment effort, including:
• A detailed explainer on OB3 student loan changes
• A comprehensive public comment guide
• A step-by-step video walkthrough for submitting comments
Resources are available at:
AACTE has also published an action alert on Ed Prep Matters, which may be shared broadly:
Institutions, faculty, students, and partners are strongly encouraged to submit individualized comments to ensure the Department hears directly from the field.
6.Artificial Intelligence and Student Safety
Policy conversations continue to evolve around the rapid expansion of AI tools in educational settings. Research and guidance from the EdSAFE AI Alliance highlight risks associated with so-called “AI companion” tools, particularly for children and adolescents, including privacy concerns, exposure to harmful content, and inappropriate emotional reliance.
EdSAFE AI emphasizes the need for safety-by-design approaches, including pre-deployment testing, ongoing monitoring, and clear accountability frameworks. As AI is increasingly used for academic support, personalization, and administrative functions, questions of oversight, equity, and student protection are becoming a more prominent part of the federal education policy landscape.
Looking Ahead
With FY 2026 appropriations now finalized, the immediate uncertainty of funding lapses has passed. What remains is a period defined less by statutory change and more by implementation, oversight, and capacity.
Congress largely chose to preserve existing frameworks and guardrails. The risks ahead are not about authority on paper, but about whether agencies have the staffing, stability, and clarity needed to carry out their responsibilities effectively after a prolonged period of disruption.
One encouraging throughline in this cycle is that sustained, informed engagement mattered. Programs were preserved. Guardrails held. Proposals that would have fundamentally weakened core education and civil rights structures did not advance.
That outcome did not happen by accident. It reflects the steady presence of educators, preparation programs, researchers, advocates, and institutional leaders who continued to show up, provide clarity, and ground policy conversations in lived reality.
As always, we will continue to monitor developments closely and share updates as policy and implementation move forward.
With appreciation and resolve,
Kait
@brennan_kait
Posted:
10 February, 2026
Category:
