More than 20 state legislatures have introduced or passed bills this session claiming broad authority to override federal education requirements on topics including diversity curriculum, book access, and standardized testing. The legal basis for these assertions varies, and constitutional scholars expect significant litigation before the boundaries of state versus federal education authority are clarified.
The federal Department of Education has signaled it will enforce existing statutory requirements while the administration simultaneously pursues its own agenda of reducing federal education involvement. The contradictions within federal policy create uncertainty for school districts trying to plan curriculum and personnel decisions. Several states are conditioning compliance on assurances they have no credible basis to obtain given the unsettled legal landscape.
