State legislative sessions around the country are coming to a close, and fights over public vs. charter school funding and cell phones were among the biggest policy battles this year.
While all eyes have been on federal changes to education policies, such how schools should approach diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), state lawmakers have attempted to push forward with changes to their own systems, ranging from enrollment of migrant students to increased school choice funding.
From Texas to Colorado to New York, state lawmakers took on a wide variety of schools-based issues, and not all of them were fully resolved.
Policies that passed this legislative session
The state education policy that has received the most national attention came out of Texas with the passage of its school choice program.
With the largest day one program in the country, Texas has dedicated $1 billion in the first year to give scholarships to students that they can take to private or homeschooling options.
“I am signing this law that will ensure Texas families, whose children can no longer be served by the public school assigned to them, have the choice to take their money and find the school that is right for them,” said Gov. Greg Abbott (R).
Other states have also expanded school choice programs, including in Indiana and Wyoming, or begun new ones, as in Tennessee and Idaho.
In line with the direction of the Trump administration, multiple states also passed bills to restrict DEI programs in K-12 or higher education, including Indiana, Iowa and Ohio.
“One of the goals of this bill is to make sure that we do everything that we can so that a student feels free to express their point of view, whether that be in a classroom or whether that be someplace else on campus,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said. “That should be part of what we’re doing in higher education.”
Another major issue that swept numerous states this year is cell phone bans, with lawmakers looking for school officials to make policies limiting screen time on students’ personal devices.
At least 11 states have put some restrictions on cell phones in schools in the 2025 legislative session: New York, Oklahoma, Georgia, Alabama, Missouri, Iowa, Virginia, Arkansas, New Mexico, Arizona and North Dakota.
Other states were able to build on public school funding as fear rises about the future of federal funding under President Trump.
Lawmakers in Alaska overrode a veto by their governor to allow the establishment of charter schools and implement a $700 increase to the base student allocation. Overall, the bill will give a $180 million increase to the state’s education budget.
In Colorado, lawmakers gave more than $10 billion in public school funding for the next academic year, but it is still less of an increase than what schools were expecting.
Measures that failed or were tabled for later
Tennessee saw major backlash when it attempted to pass legislation that would have required proof of citizenship for students to be enrolled in public schools.
The bill had bipartisan opposition and came at a time where undocumented students have heightened concerns after President Trump said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could now enter schools. There have been no confirmed reports of ICE raids at schools so far.
“Passing this bill would make it impossible for many kids to access the education they deserve, and it would be a betrayal of the values that our state and our country stand for,” Osiris Pizen-Magana, an immigrant and educator, told local outlet MTSU Sidelines. “Every child deserves access to equality, education and the opportunities that come with it.”
And while anti-DEI measures were successful in some states, others saw the efforts stall.
In Colorado, a bill that would have barred state universities from requiring students to take a DEI-related college course failed to move forward.
George Republicans tabled an anti-DEI bill this legislative session that would have taken away funding from state K-12 or higher education institutions that had DEI programs.
“This bill was never about fairness it was about fear,” Democratic State Sen. Sonya Halpern told local outlet Capital B Atlanta. “It sought to censor honest discussions, dismantle programs that create opportunity, and undermine our ability to compete in a diverse, global economy.”
South Dakota had one of the busiest education sessions with a quarter of its more than 400 bills revolved around education, according to Argus Leader.
Among those bills the state failed in their efforts to make school board elections partisan and create a school choice program.
“Public education funding should reflect a shared responsibility. Instead, public funds would be drained from public and tribal schools, leaving fewer resources and opportunities for all students,” said Roquel Gorneau, representing the Great Plains Tribal Education Directors, South Dakota Searchlight reported. “This bill does not strengthen education. It weakens it, forcing public schools to do more with less.”
