Education Dept Prioritizes Literacy, Choice, and State Control in Grants
Published Date: 9/9/2025
Rule
Summary
The Department of Education is updating its top priorities to focus on evidence-based reading programs, school choice, and giving more control back to states. These changes affect schools and grant programs now and in the future, guiding how money is awarded starting immediately. If you’re involved in education grants, get ready for new rules that aim to boost learning and local decision-making.
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 0 costs, 4 mixed.
Grants Prioritize Evidence-Based Reading
The Department of Education will prioritize evidence-based reading programs as one of three new supplemental priorities for use in currently authorized discretionary grant programs and future programs. This priority can be applied in whole or in part by the Secretary when deciding which grant competitions or awards to fund.
Grants Emphasize School Choice
One of the Secretary's three new priorities directs discretionary grant programs to emphasize school choice as a focus for competitions and awards. The Secretary may apply this full priority or selected components when awarding grants to currently authorized or future programs.
Priority to Return Control to States
A new priority directs discretionary grant competitions to favor approaches that give more control over education back to states. The Secretary can use this priority, or parts of it, in current grant programs or in future authorized programs.
New Priorities Replace Older Supplemental Priorities
These three new priorities and related definitions replace the Secretary's supplemental priorities published on December 10, 2021 (86 FR 70612) and all other agency-wide supplemental priorities published prior to January 20, 2025. They are announced for use in currently authorized discretionary grant programs and programs that may be authorized in the future, and may be applied immediately by the Secretary in grant competitions.
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