This week, W/A VP Hillary Rinaldi (Knudson) is filling in for Ben.

Each year, the W/A Research Team closely examines governors’ “State of the State” addresses. These speeches set the tone for and provide clarity on governors’ political agendas for the year ahead—and over the last several years, governors have increasingly expounded on their efforts to improve academic outcomes and strengthen education-to-career pipelines.

As of today, more than half of all governors have taken to the podium to give their “State of the State.” (You can read our detailed analysis on all speeches, YTD, on our blog.)

Next week, we’ll provide you with a breakdown of the trending education topics—from cellphone bans to school choice to college access—and how well our predictions are stacking up. Stay tuned.

This section was authored by W/A SVP and Co-director of Research David DeSchryver.

After a turbulent 2025, early signals from Congress suggest that FY 2026 may bring a welcome return to predictability for K-12 education funding. 

Last year’s “stop-start” environment—marked by delays, claw-backs, freezes, and grant cancellations—disrupted more than $12 billion in K-12 funding nationwide. While most of those disruptions affected national research and support grants that were eventually restored, the damage to revenue forecasting and operational stability was real. Uncertainty pushed districts into defensive postures, delayed purchasing decisions, and prompted schools to hold funds in reserve, even though core programs like ESEA Titles I, II, and III flowed (almost) on schedule.

Against that backdrop, the House and Senate FY 2026 Labor-HHS-Education bills point toward a more stable 2026. Both chambers largely preserved prior-year funding levels for major K-12 formula programs, reinforcing expectations of “flat but stable” federal support. Senate appropriators, in particular, have emphasized continuity across Title I grants to districts serving low-income students, IDEA special education funding, Impact Aid, English Language Acquisition, and school improvement programs.

A welcomed feature of the FY 2026 bills is Congress’s effort to limit executive branch reinterpretation of appropriated funds. Senate bill language explicitly asserts that the detailed funding tables included in House and Senate reports are “read into” the statute itself, leaving little room for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to delay, reprogram, or withhold funds Congress has expressly authorized. As the Senate explanatory statement notes, “Unless otherwise addressed, the language set forth in House Report 119-271 and Senate Report 119-55 carries the same weight as language included in this explanatory statement and should be complied with.” That report language and the spending levels are pretty clear.

Congress is making a concerted effort to restore stability and guardrails around K–12 funding execution. For districts still recovering from last year’s turbulence, that predictability is welcomed. However, federal funding is only a fraction of most districts’ budget and not the key driver of most recent budget uncertainties. Local conditions are the sharpest pressure point. Operational costs (especially staffing expenses) continue to rise and enrollment challenges continue to hurt school revenues. This remains the management challenge of 2026. 

Upon their historic swearings-in, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger and New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey moved swiftly to sign executive orders. These EOs reflect the early priorities of the governors’ administrations, addressing issues related to childcare and education. 

“My administration is getting to work on Day One to address the top-of-mind challenges facing families by lowering costs for Virginians in every community, building a stronger economy for every worker, and making sure that every student in the Commonwealth receives a high-quality education that sets them up for success.”

Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed 10 executive orders on her first day in office, January 17, with the goal of strengthening education systems while making them more affordable, accountable, and responsive to families and students. Gov. Spanberger also overrode some of the previous administration’s EOs. Here are some of the highlights:

High Quality Public Education Directive: This EO commits the Commonwealth to improving academic outcomes by strengthening core systems in literacy, math, accountability and assessment. 

Statewide Affordability Directive: This EO mandates that the governor’s secretaries and all executive branch agencies submit reports within 90 days identifying immediate, actionable budgetary, regulatory, or policy changes that would reduce costs for Virginians. These reports must address cost savings in education and childcare, among other areas.

Board of Visitors Appointment Process Review: This EO directs the Secretary of Education to review the process for appointing members to public higher education governing boards. The process requires a report with recommendations on potential legislative or policy changes to terms, reappointments, start dates, and evaluation processes. 

“In the Navy, I learned that you have to lead, follow, or get out of the way—and I promised the people of New Jersey that I would be on a mission to deliver starting Day One.” 

Gov. Sherrill introduced six executive orders on her inauguration day, highlighting her administration's top priority is to make “New Jersey more affordable for all New Jersey residents, families, and businesses.” 

The six executive orders span electricity affordability, state regulatory processes, and children’s mental health. Gov. Sherill emphasized the prioritization of protecting the health and safety of New Jerseyans, including the “welfare of children in online spaces.”

Online and Mental Health Safety for Children: This EO establishes the Office of Youth Online Mental Health Safety and Awareness as part of the New Jersey Department of Health. This new office is intended to protect children by reducing cyberbullying and exposure to harmful content online. The office will also elevate evidence-based practices for school usage, help educators and parents understand effects of online activity, and support students in healthy and safe online experiences.  

We’re excited to share that registration is now open for the 2026 Solutions Summit, co-hosted by ISTE+ASCD and Whiteboard Advisors, taking place alongside the ISTELive + ASCD Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida.

A limited-time early registration discount is now available. Use the code EARLY2026 at checkout to receive $50 off your registration until January 31.

The Solutions Summit will be held on Sunday, June 28, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will bring together education technology leaders, innovators, and experts for a day of learning, collaboration, and connection. Designed specifically for edtech company leaders, this is a space to share best practices, workshop new ideas, and engage with peers who are shaping the future of teaching and learning.

Why attend? The Solutions Summit offers an unparalleled opportunity to:

With federal education research and development (R&D) funding in flux, states are increasingly stepping into a leadership role. A new State Education R&D Playbook from the Alliance for Learning Innovation (ALI), developed in partnership with Transcend and Education Reimagined, offers a practical roadmap to help state and local leaders implement innovation at scale. We sat down with Sara Schapiro, ALI’s executive director, to learn more.  

Q: What is the State Education R&D Playbook?

Schapiro: The State Education R&D Playbook is an interactive guide designed to help state and local leaders, policy influencers, and philanthropy take concrete steps to test, validate, and scale what works. Grounded in the insights of over 100 education stakeholders, the playbook offers eight core recommendations and pairs them with actionable tools and examples to make implementation easier. We’ve also included bright spots from Kentucky, Colorado, and Indiana and a self-assessment tool to help teams understand where they are in the development of their own R&D infrastructure.

Q: Why is the playbook needed at this moment?

Schapiro: Education R&D has long been episodic and dependent on federal funding cycles to be implemented effectively. Given the uncertainty at the federal level, states have an opportunity to design their own education R&D agendas. The Playbook is meant to support them in this, responding directly to what state leaders asked for: an action-oriented guide that translates innovation into clear next steps, helping leaders make coordinated decisions on how to best implement and scale evidence-based practices.

Q: What's one thing you hope state leaders take away from the State & Local Education R&D Leader Network?

Schapiro: When state leaders have structured opportunities to collaborate, they can find common ground on shared challenges and learn from the different strategies being implemented to address them. State Spotlights like Kentucky’s United We Learn initiative, Colorado’s innovative schools, and Indiana’s public-facing performance dashboards offer tangible examples of how states can invest in data collection and evidence-based practices that deliver results. These efforts are happening across the country, but often in isolation. Convening leaders in this way can help build alignment across states and accelerate the spread of promising innovation.

Led by Building Hope and BriteBound, the Future Forward Schools Prize and Fellowship recognizes outstanding career-connected learning programs, beginning as early as middle school. The program will award $250,000 to five schools ($50,000 each), along with a year-long fellowship for school leaders whose career-focused programs demonstrate exceptional leadership and initiative.

The application is open to public, private, and charter schools. Eligible schools must offer a career-connected learning program in middle or high school, serve a student population in which at least 50% of students come from under-resourced or underrepresented backgrounds, and have been in operation for at least two years.

Check out W/A Jobs, which features 3,603 career opportunities from 314 organizations across the education industry. A few roles that caught our eye over the past week: