The Education Trust

09/07/2026

Happy Labor Day!

Today, EdTrust honors the people whose work makes public education possible.

Every student deserves a school where they are known, supported, challenged, and given every opportunity to thrive.

That promise is brought to life every day by teachers and professors, paraprofessionals, counselors, bus drivers, cafeteria staff, custodians, faculty, school leaders, and so many others. Their work helps create the strong, supportive learning environments students need to succeed, from their first day of school through college and beyond.

This Labor Day, we celebrate the talent, care, expertise, and commitment that help turn opportunity into possibility for students.

America made a promise to educate every child and open doors to opportunity for every student. The people working in our schools and colleges help us keep it.

Together, we can become a Nation of Promise.

09/04/2026

Protecting students starts with seeing them.

The Trump administration released new federal civil rights data this week, but information about nonbinary students and bullying based on gender identity was suppressed.

Why does that matter? Because data helps us understand what students are actually experiencing in schools, including bullying, discipline, discrimination, and access to educational opportunities.

EdTrust’s Ivy Morgan told the Associated Press that this lack of transparency is part of a larger pattern of disregarding the research and evidence needed to understand students’ experiences.

Every student deserves to be seen, counted, protected, and given a fair chance to thrive.

That is how we become a Nation of Promise.

Read the AP story: https://edtru.st/4xxvJw2

The Trump administration this week quietly released an update to a major survey on civil rights in schools that was scrubbed of all data related to nonbinary students or bullying based on gender identity.

09/04/2026

“Addressing racial inequity is not discrimination.”

EdTrust President and CEO Denise Forte spoke with CNBC about a new federal proposal that could threaten the tax-exempt status of schools and colleges working to address barriers to educational opportunity.

Students of color continue to face real and persistent barriers. Schools should be able to recognize those barriers and work to remove them, not be punished for doing so.

America made a promise to care for and educate all of its children and give every student a fair chance to succeed. We can become a Nation of Promise by keeping that promise.

Read the full story: https://edtru.st/4qYOvKn

The Treasury has proposed regulations that would strip thousands of private schools of their tax-exempt status and threaten a valuable tax break for donations.

09/03/2026

PUBLIC EDUCATION IS AT A CROSSROADS.

Today, EdTrust Director of P-12 Policy Eric Duncan went live on TV to discuss some of the biggest issues shaping public education right now, including school privatization, curriculum restrictions, and what these policy shifts could mean for students, families, and public schools.

Becoming a nation of promise requires treating education as a civil rights issue and ensuring that access to a strong public education is never up for debate.

Preparing our nation’s children for the best possible futures means rethinking and reinvesting in public schools.

📺 Missed the conversation? No worries.

Watch Eric’s full interview on YouTube.
https://edtru.st/4cWZa2g

EdTrust’s director of P-12 policy, Eric Duncan, LIVE on Al-Jazeera ...

09/03/2026

📣 New Resource: ERI’s Q&A on the Department of Education’s Aug. 18 Dear Colleague Letter on Student Discipline

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights recently issued a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) providing new guidance on race and student discipline.

To help school and district leaders navigate the guidance, ERI developed a concise Q&A explaining:

🔍 What the DCL says
🏫 What it means for schools
📚 Where it differs from peer-reviewed research
⚖️ Where it misstates Title VI’s legal standards

We invite you to repost and share this Q&A with educators, school leaders, families, and others in your community, and invite them to repost as well to spread the word. You can contribute to informed decision-making about creating welcoming and nondiscriminatory learning environments for all students.

📖 Download the Q&A here: https://libraopen.library.virginia.edu/handle/item/9800

09/03/2026

Picture a student who's had to work twice as hard just to have the same shot as her classmates. Her school notices and builds programs to help close that gap.

Under a new proposal from the Trump administration, that same school could be punished for it, threatened with losing its tax-exempt status simply for considering race in its work to expand opportunity.

EdTrust says it plainly: you cannot punish schools for pursuing opportunity. Every student deserves a school in their corner, not a government working against the ones trying to help them.

That's what a Nation of Promise means to us. Read the full statement: https://edtru.st/3UyUEkk

Statement from Denise Forte, president and CEO of EdTrust, on the Trump administration’s proposed Treasury regulations targeting the tax-exempt status of schools and colleges that consider race in efforts to expand educational opportunity

09/03/2026

Today, we are celebrating a historic milestone for California students and communities: ACA 7 has officially passed the Legislature and will head to California voters in November 2028.

This achievement is a powerful reminder of a fundamental truth: advocacy works.

This year, EdTrust-West led a statewide effort that brought together 85 organizations committed to expanding opportunity for California students. Together, educators, students, families, civil rights organizations, labor partners, higher education leaders, and community advocates built the momentum necessary to push this constitutional amendment through the legislature.

Today's victory is proof of what is possible when people come together around a shared vision for California's future.

09/03/2026

TIME UPDATE!

TODAY Thursday, Sept 3rd, 1:00 p.m. ET on Sirius XM and 7:30 p.m. ET on FOX 5 Washington, DC

EdTrust's Director of Immigrant Students, Policy, Advocacy, and Partnerships, Alejandra Vásquez Baur will be LIVE on SiriusXM and Fox 5 DC where she will break down the devastating impact of the loss of Temporary Protected Status following the death of Pierre Damas Bel.

Tune in on their channels!

09/03/2026

As students return to school this fall, here's a hard truth: immigration policy is education policy.

Pierre Damas Bel was a strong student and athlete, living under temporary protected status (TPS) until policy changes put him at risk of deportation and forced him into an ankle monitor with no criminal history to justify it.

Pierre deserved dignity, care, and the opportunity to fulfill the future he was working toward. Immigrant students across the country deserve the same.

Read the full story in TheGrio: https://edtru.st/4h2BMCZ

Immigrant advocates say Pierre Damas Bel’s death highlights the toll of deportation threats, ankle monitoring and the end of Haitian TPS.

09/03/2026

You cannot address racial disparities in school discipline by telling schools to ignore race.

Black students are already disciplined at disproportionate rates, losing valuable time in the classroom. And it starts before kindergarten.

Black children are just 18% of preschool enrollment but nearly HALF of preschoolers receiving out-of-school suspensions.

Black students deserve better.

📺 Tune in this Thursday at 7:30 PM ET to Roland Martin Unfiltered as EdTrust discusses what the Department of Education's latest move means for Black students.