Members of Congress this week were primarily occupied with the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which expired on June 12, with negotiations on this topic stalled. The Senate held a hearing on AI in K-12 education and Vice President JD Vance is in Switzerland to participate in peace talks with Iran. Read more policy updates below.  

• ED Announces Additional IAAs: On June 16, ED announced that it was implementing four new interagency agreements (IAAs), including with the Department of Justice for civil rights investigations and the Department of Health and Human Services for grants related to students with disabilities. K-12 Dive summarizes the 14 current IAAs at ED, including the ED-Department of Labor IAA related to Perkins. 

• ED Announces Student Loan Interest Rate Reduction: On June 18, ED announced that federal student loan borrowers enrolled in auto pay will be eligible for a 1 percent interest rate reduction beginning July 1. Borrowers who enroll in auto pay by September 30, 2026, or who are already enrolled, will benefit from the interest rate reduction through June 30, 2028.     

• Senate Holds Hearing on AI in K-12 Education: On June 16, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a hearing titled “The Future of K-12 Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence..” Readers can learn more about the hearing on the blog.  

• ED Approves Indiana’s Returning Education Waiver: On June 16, ED announced that it had approved Indiana’s Returning Education to the States Waiver, which allows Indiana to consolidate five federal funding streams into one and amends some requirements around federal accountability rules for the state. ED previously approved similar waivers for Louisiana and Iowa.  

• FCC to Meet on the E-rate Program: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently published the agenda for its upcoming meeting on June 25. One of the topics the FCC will discuss is the E-rate program that provides schools and public libraries with discounted internet access and whether to solicit public comments on the state of the program. 

• Twenty State Attorneys General Sue Over Federal Contractor Executive Order: On June 17, 20 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit challenging the March 26 executive order regarding diversity, equity and inclusion programs among federal contractors. The lawsuit alleges that the executive order impedes each state’s efforts to prevent racial discrimination and is unclear in what it prohibits.   

• DOJ Deems EEOC’s Disparate Impact Discrimination Guidelines Unconstitutional: The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued an opinion to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) finding that its guidelines about disparate impact liability under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act are unconstitutional.  

• House of Representatives Call for Another National Reading Panel: Language in one of the House’s 2027 fiscal appropriations bills calls for convening another National Reading Panel, a group with expertise on how children learn to read, more than 25 years after the original.  

• Secretary McMahon Continues National Tour: Secretary McMahon continued her Returning Education to the States National Tour this week, visiting Seymour High School in Connecticut to view the school’s robotics program.