/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.The Leading Edge BlogSchool Staff ShortagesE-RateAdvocacy & PolicyDistrict & School OperationsAccess & OpportunityAmerican Rescue PlanFinance & BudgetsStudent & Child PrivacySchool Safety & CybersecurityTechnology & AISchool Nutritionurn:uuid:6c05e9a2-2db7-4734-9e60-889d7abaa38e/resources/blog/small-rural-school-achievement-(srsa)-program-application-expected-may-14 The Leading Edge BlogFY25 SRSA application will be available on May 14. Wed, 07 May 2025 18:29:46 Zurn:uuid:6b229189-f11d-4f5a-8f7c-12f9f1ca94fe/resources/blog/aasa-submits-comments-in-support-of-pslf The Leading Edge BlogSchool Staff ShortagesThis week, �ܲ�AV��Ƶsubmitted comments to the Department of Education in support of PSLF as a key tool to recruit and retain teachers. Wed, 07 May 2025 18:27:46 Zurn:uuid:c0601b9f-53a0-4040-a2cc-b2b82722723b/resources/blog/aasa-opposes-bill-to-rescind-e-rate-hotspots The Leading Edge BlogE-RateAdvocacy & PolicyDistrict & School OperationsAccess & Opportunity�ܲ�AV��Ƶjoined five other national organizations in a joint letter to the Senate.Tue, 06 May 2025 14:53:29 Zurn:uuid:d6f7e42e-bd79-4235-81b6-ef02428ddb57/resources/blog/president-trump-releases-skinny-fy26-budget-proposal The Leading Edge BlogAdvocacy & PolicyFinance & BudgetsThe proposal is a topline document and proposes significant consolidations and outright cuts to education programs, which we’ve summarized in this blog post.Fri, 02 May 2025 16:58:30 Zurn:uuid:53ca367c-afb4-46f6-ba88-bff977acd28c/resources/blog/update-on-overtime-rule-court-challenges Advocacy & PolicyThe Leading Edge BlogFinance & BudgetsOn 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.Fri, 02 May 2025 15:11:02 Zurn:uuid:b02c6bc7-88be-40d0-b8df-01712c96f902/resources/blog/ed-discontinues-mh-grant-awards-for-some-districts The Leading Edge BlogEarlier this week �ܲ�AV��Ƶbecame 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.Fri, 02 May 2025 12:47:05 Zurn:uuid:7d787900-919b-48e2-bab7-c29e205038cc/resources/blog/the-advocate-may-2025-a-call-to-action The Leading Edge BlogAdvocacy & PolicyThis week House Republicans will begin debate on their tax package that they are moving through a process known as “budget reconciliation.”Thu, 01 May 2025 18:22:36 Zurn:uuid:9299ea2c-b54d-436b-831e-e7176cc3fdb0/resources/blog/idea-full-funding-coalition-sends-fy26-letter-to-the-hill The Leading Edge BlogAdvocacy & PolicyAccess & OpportunityAhead of the FY26 appropriations cycle, the IDEA Full Funding Coalition sent this letter to the appropriations committees with our funding ask and priority.Thu, 24 Apr 2025 15:22:25 Zurn:uuid:34cd275e-35d0-454a-b353-c0f5281e3d04/resources/blog/more-education-eos-issued The Leading Edge BlogAdvocacy & PolicyYesterday, President Trump signed a series of executive orders impacting education. This blog post highlights three that have K12 funding and policy implications.Thu, 24 Apr 2025 13:41:50 Zurn:uuid:b0a9faa9-b22b-4eb5-bba3-a604cd52fdab/resources/blog/ferpa-update The Leading Edge BlogStudent & Child PrivacyAdvocacy & PolicyDistrict & School OperationsIn 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.Wed, 23 Apr 2025 14:50:05 Zurn:uuid:c03e9aed-f06c-41b4-b785-5b4d22b74e18/resources/blog/aasa-leads-letter-to-used-urging-level-funding-for-fy25-title-ii-a-funds The Leading Edge BlogToday, �ܲ�AV��Ƶled 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.Tue, 22 Apr 2025 13:59:18 Zurn:uuid:e50dbe5a-5881-4267-b77e-bd8b24c9ecd4/resources/blog/esser-liquidation-update The Leading Edge BlogAmerican Rescue PlanAdvocacy & PolicyFinance & BudgetsOn 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.Tue, 15 Apr 2025 18:44:04 Zurn:uuid:9245cfe8-539a-4cb1-9295-e22258c28ada/resources/blog/school-safety-summer-planning-building-stronger-k-12-emergency-plans-for-the-next-school-year The Leading Edge BlogAdvocacy & PolicySchool Safety & CybersecurityPlease 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.Tue, 15 Apr 2025 16:37:43 Zurn:uuid:4d788b0e-1a2e-49bf-befa-632ec4d1c556/resources/blog/aasa-files-amicus-briefs-in-3-scotus-cases The Leading Edge BlogAdvocacy & PolicyThis has been the most substantive Supreme Court docket for K-12 education in many decades.Thu, 10 Apr 2025 18:02:47 Zurn:uuid:5c184c0f-e419-4ac0-b02b-fca381446961/resources/blog/ed-issues-new-dei-directive-for-states The Leading Edge BlogAdvocacy & PolicyToday, 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.Thu, 03 Apr 2025 22:40:17 Zurn:uuid:0121cbce-a0a3-4063-8617-353ddbdfd684/resources/blog/the-advocate-april-2025-reconciliation-vs.-appropriations The Leading Edge BlogAdvocacy & PolicyFinance & BudgetsThis month's edition of The Advocate is about the budget reconciliation process in Congress.Thu, 03 Apr 2025 12:52:44 Zurn:uuid:7bfbcce0-f255-4849-8d67-cc0c68d1551f/resources/blog/used-sends-letter-to-states-on-leveraging-flexibilities-in-title-i-funds-to-support-education-choice The Leading Edge BlogOn Monday, the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education sent a letter to all chief state school officers informing them of existing flexibility in federal formula funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to support education choice initiatives.Tue, 01 Apr 2025 22:33:37 Zurn:uuid:dacc48cc-6de6-45c6-a63a-84c5c128d8b5/resources/blog/committee-for-education-funding-sends-letter-to-department-of-education-regarding-recent-actions The Leading Edge BlogLast week, the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) sent a letter to Education Secretary McMahon expressing opposition to the President’s executive order calling for the closure of the Department of Education (ED) and other recent Administration actions that have drastically cut ED staffing. Mon, 31 Mar 2025 19:54:08 Zurn:uuid:07abbdc0-d545-41d6-8791-b307166c3866/resources/blog/guest-blog-post-unpacking-the-e-rate-argument-from-jon-bernstein The Leading Edge BlogE-RateAdvocacy & PolicyTechnology & AIDistrict & School OperationsJon Bernstein, who co-leads the EdLiNC Coalition with Noelle Ellerson Ng, shares his insights on the arguments made in the E-Rate case before the U.S. Supreme Court this week.Thu, 27 Mar 2025 18:53:55 Zurn:uuid:8cc8b92f-0184-461b-b45b-588d44352ff1/resources/blog/president-trump-signs-executive-order-on-dept.-of-education The Leading Edge BlogYesterday, President Trump signed an executive order that would direct the Secretary of Education to take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the U.S. Department of Education and “return education authority to the States.Fri, 21 Mar 2025 20:47:22 Zurn:uuid:c8e2f8b3-0795-45ea-ad78-3006ae9c6b47/resources/blog/aasa-endorses-coppa-2.0 The Leading Edge BlogAdvocacy & PolicySchool Safety & Cybersecurity�ܲ�AV��Ƶis proud to support the re-introduction of COPPA 2.0.Thu, 20 Mar 2025 16:42:56 Zurn:uuid:b9714250-3767-49d5-99ea-7dd329aa2541/resources/blog/congress-passes-cr-to-complete-fy25 The Leading Edge BlogAfter weeks of uncertainty about a potential government shutdown, Congress has approved a year-long continuing resolution. This completes Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations and provides level-funding for most of the key K-12 formula programs, including IDEA, Title I, Title IV-A and REAP. Sat, 15 Mar 2025 03:51:31 Zurn:uuid:9aff558e-de9d-46c7-8852-ed8153a9c9e3/resources/blog/department-of-education-reduction-in-force The Leading Edge BlogOn 3/11/25, USED announced a major reduction in force (RIF) that, together with other recent employment actions, reduces the agency’s workforce by nearly 50%. Thu, 13 Mar 2025 19:13:46 Zurn:uuid:a4fb26ec-b742-493e-938c-65965b817911/resources/blog/new-report-on-impacts-of-proposed-cuts-to-school-based-medicaid-programs The Leading Edge BlogAdvocacy & Policy�ܲ�AV��Ƶwas pleased to contribute to a report published this week by the Healthy Schools Campaign examining how proposed cuts to Medicaid as part of the budget reconciliation process underway in Congress would impact school-based Medicaid programs.Wed, 12 Mar 2025 19:32:39 Zurn:uuid:fb44e45d-d7c1-4d05-b17a-0718b7ad34b8/resources/blog/usda-cancels-funding-for-local-food-to-schools The Leading Edge BlogSchool NutritionAdvocacy & PolicyFinance & BudgetsUSDA has announced that it is cancelling two programs – estimated worth of $1 billion – that provides resources for schools and other organizations to purchase local foods. Wed, 12 Mar 2025 14:05:55 Z