01
Artificial Intelligence & Power Skills
States have moved from experimenting with AI to governing it. FutureEd is now tracking 77 classroom-AI bills across 27 states, and Ohio’s mandate requiring every district to adopt a formal AI policy took effect July 1. Oklahoma and Maryland have passed laws requiring district AI policies and coordinators, while California moves to bar student data from being used to train AI models. The throughline: pairing AI adoption with the “power skills” technology can’t replace — critical thinking, communication, and collaboration.
02
Global Funding & Teacher Shortages
UNESCO warned this week that international education aid could fall by up to 30% between 2023 and 2027, with basic-education funding already down 15% in 2024. UNICEF projects 6 million more children out of school by year’s end, and UNESCO’s global teacher report puts the shortfall at 44 million teachers needed by 2030 as attrition nearly doubles. Funding and staffing have become the twin pressures shaping education worldwide.
03
Policy Shifts & Administrative Changes
Federal grant rules are in flux. The White House budget office has proposed a sweeping overhaul of grant requirements that would add DEI-related restrictions and let appointees pause or end awards, with effects that could reach Title I, IDEA, and library funding by 2027–28. House appropriators have floated a roughly 9% ($1.6 billion) cut to Title I, and the Education Department’s 2026 agenda lists 19 rule changes spanning civil rights, accreditation, and financial aid.
04
Labor Disputes & Pay
Contract fights are playing out district by district. After a historic four-day strike — San Francisco’s first in nearly 50 years — SFUSD teachers ratified a two-year deal with raises and fully paid family health care; Los Angeles Unified reached an 11.65% raise and a $77,000 starting salary; and districts from Minneapolis to Natomas settled after strike threats. Health care, class size, and special-education workloads remain the recurring flashpoints.
05
Campus Diversity & Admissions
The Education Department’s regulatory agenda takes aim at diversity programming. A planned rewrite of Title VI rules would spell out how anti-discrimination law applies to DEI initiatives, and the administration is working to extend the Supreme Court’s ban on race-conscious admissions to co- and extracurricular programs. Proposed accreditation rules would also add new oversight of campus free speech and “intellectual diversity.”
