Most clicked story of the week:

The U.S. Department of Education abruptly canceled federal funding for four projects serving children and youth who are both deaf and blind, leaving them and their families, educators and advocates scrambling. A notice of noncontinuation to the grantees of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Part D funds went out to the projects, located in Washington, Oregon, Wisconsin and a consortium of New England states including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. 

The noncontinuation notice to Oregon’s deafblind project fiscal agent said continuing the project “would be in conflict with agency policy and priorities, and so is not in the best interest of the Federal Government.”

K-12 dollars still a pain point

• Arizona’s Kyrene School District is considering closing eight out of 25 of its schools — almost a third — by the end of the 2028-29 school year in the face of declining student enrollment and scarce resources. The school district can serve up to 20,000 students, but its current enrollment is only 12,000 — a number that is expected to drop to 11,000 within the next five years.
• Texas' largest school district, under the reins of the state, is asking local businesses and nonprofits to "adopt" its low-performing schools, of which there are 64 remaining. Sponsorships would include support for events like teacher appreciation lunches, student celebrations, campus cleanup days and donations for principals to use at their discretion or for specific district-chosen initiatives like literacy and college access. 
• Oklahoma would have spent $33 million in public funds to implement a new social studies standards curriculum that the state's Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters has openly advocated for as a way to bring Judeo-Christian values into public schools. However, the Oklahoma Supreme Court paused the state’s standards this week after a lawsuit from parents, public school teachers and others claimed it included misinformation and centered Christianity over other religions.

Navigating challenges on the path to success

• High school graduates who walked the stage in 2017 and 2018 saw notable socioeconomic gaps in their college completion rates, according to data released Wednesday by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Only a quarter of students who graduated from high-poverty high schools in those years earned at least an associate’s degree within six years, according to the research.
• The Trump administration released a strategy report, "Make Our Children Healthy Again," blaming the School Breakfast Program and National School Lunch Program for “compounding the issue” of children’s poor health by not limiting ultra-processed foods “leading to excessive intake of sugar, processed carbohydrates, processed fats, and sodium among children.” The report calls for barring or limiting artificial dyes in food products and improving access to whole, healthy foods in school meals. 
• Schools' median ransom payments for cyberattacks fell from $6.6 million to $800,000 in lower education — institutions serving students 18 years and younger — between 2024 and 2025, a Sophos report found. That suggests ransomware response and recovery has improved year over year in K-12 schools around the world, per the cybersecurity company. 
• Women hold one third of superintendent positions, the highest level recorded in recent years — but equal representation is still about three decades away, according to research from ILO Group. The research, based on an analysis of superintendent positions in the nation’s 500 largest school districts, found that the South continues to lag in female leadership compared to other areas of the nation.