Project 2025 Tracker / What’s done, what’s next

11. Department of Education · Notable

Rescind the new Charter School Program grant requirements

Partially done

331 11. Department of Education

“The new Administration must take immediate steps to rescind the new requirements and lessen the federal restrictions on charter schools.”

What has happened

  1. Partially done

    The 2026 Unified Agenda carries RIN 1810-AB71, a first-time entry at Proposed Rule Stage, under which OESE will propose deregulatory changes to the Charter Schools Program regulations: current rules "impose complex and often duplicative requirements that hinder timely application submissions and create barriers to entry". The NPRM is timetabled for August 2026 and had not been published by the Corpus fetch date.

  2. Partially done

    ED removed the requirement, imposed by the previous administration, that the Secretary review how states approve non-district entities such as private colleges to authorize charter schools - the specific condition the Mandate objects to. Revised, streamlined notices inviting applications followed in May 2025.

  3. Partially done

    ED withdrew the two Charter Schools Program notices inviting applications published in the final days of the previous administration - the State Entity and Charter Management Organization competitions - saying they "included excessive regulatory burdens and promoted discriminatory practices", and released $33 million in stalled CMO grants. The withdrawals were published in the Federal Register on 2025-02-04.

Research log

What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence

Research notes

  • Leveled partial, not done: the grant priorities and requirements were removed from the competitions and one named condition was dropped, but the underlying Charter Schools Program regulations are still on the books and the rulemaking to change them is only in the Agenda.
  • Funding moved the other way from restriction: the fiscal year 2026 Budget Request raised Charter Schools Grants from $440 million to $500 million and proposed program changes to make it easier for states to expand charter schools.
Action
rescind
Object
Charter School Program grant priorities and requirements
ID
830