Federal Programs
Weekly Brief
Curated intelligence for district federal program leads
Provided by EnchantED LLC
House Committee Debates Whether ED’s Agency Transfers Are “Creative” or Illegal — McMahon Defends All 10 Interagency Agreements
On May 14, Secretary McMahon testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce in a nearly four-hour hearing titled “Examining the Policies and Priorities of the Department of Education.” Republican Committee Chair Tim Walberg (R-MI) praised McMahon’s moves to reduce ED’s footprint and conceded the administration does not have the votes to eliminate the department outright, calling her approach “creative.” Democratic members, led by Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA), called the 10 interagency agreements “illegal” and an “abdication” of federal responsibility, citing the $38 million in taxpayer funds spent paying OCR staff while they were barred from working. McMahon defended all agreements as authorized under the Economy Act of 1932 and said the DOL partnership is already producing efficiencies for states submitting combined CTE and workforce applications.
The hearing produced no new policy changes, but it clarified the political lay of the land: the agency transfers will continue, IDEA has not yet been reassigned, and Congress is not moving to formally block the agreements. For Indiana district federal program coordinators, the practical takeaway is that DOL’s GrantSolutions is now the platform for new competitive grant awards under the ED-DOL partnership — including TSL, SEED, and Innovative Approaches to Literacy. If your district is applying for any of these programs, verify GrantSolutions registration separately from Grants.gov.
ED Announces $144 Million in Additional IDEA Funding and New Prenatal Guidance for Part C Programs
On May 13, Secretary McMahon announced $144 million in additional funding for IDEA programs — drawn from non-expiring funds returned to the agency in recent years. Approximately $123.6 million will flow to IDEA Part B (serving ages 3–21) and $20.5 million to IDEA Part C (early intervention for birth through age 2). Funds will be distributed through formula grants to states on July 1 and October 1. The announcement also included new guidance allowing states, for the first time, to use IDEA Part C funds to assist expectant parents of children with disabilities — a provision authorized by FY2026 appropriations language. No new requirements are created for existing Part C programs.
Indiana districts will receive a portion of the $123.6 million in additional Part B funds through the state formula allocation. Watch for IDOE to post updated IDEA Part B allocations once OSEP notifies Indiana — the current FFY2026 Part B application public review period closes May 29. The new prenatal Part C guidance is a state-level decision; IDOE’s Office of Special Education will determine if Indiana elects to use Part C funds for expectant parent outreach. Special education directors should flag this to their early intervention coordinators. No district-level action is required at this time, but preparation for potential new referral pathways is advisable.
Canvas (Instructure) Breach Affects Up to 9,000 Schools Worldwide — Indiana Districts Must Assess FERPA Exposure Now
The hacking group ShinyHunters breached Instructure’s Canvas learning management system in two waves — initial unauthorized access on April 25, and a second, more disruptive attack on May 7 that defaced Canvas login pages at approximately 330 institutions. ShinyHunters claimed to have exfiltrated 3.65 terabytes of data from roughly 9,000 educational institutions and 275 million users, including names, email addresses, student ID numbers, course names, and internal messages. Instructure reached an agreement with the threat actor on May 11, stating the compromised data was destroyed, though terms were not disclosed. The Student Privacy Policy Office (ED) has requested compliance information from Instructure regarding FERPA obligations.
Any Indiana district using Canvas must determine whether it was among the affected institutions and take immediate action: rotate Canvas API keys, OAuth tokens, and SSO credentials; review authentication and Canvas integration logs for unusual access between April 25 and May 8; disable unmanaged “Free-For-Teacher” accounts; and issue phishing advisories to staff, students, and families since exposed data provides attackers material for targeted social engineering. FERPA requires prompt notification to families if education records were disclosed without consent. Document your incident assessment process — ED is tracking all school reports and FERPA compliance is being monitored. Report any breach or ransom communication to ED’s Federal Student Aid cybersecurity intake at fsapartners.ed.gov.
OCR Resolved Only 1% of Civil Rights Cases in 2025 — No Resolutions for Disability, Sexual Harassment, or Racial Harassment Cases
A report released by Sen. Bernie Sanders’ office confirmed that the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights reached just 112 resolution agreements in 2025 — representing 1% of all pending cases and the lowest total in more than a decade. OCR reached no resolution agreements for sexual harassment, sexual violence, racial harassment, seclusion and restraint, or school discipline cases — categories that typically generate resolutions every year. This follows the March 2025 layoffs that removed approximately half of OCR’s staff and closed seven of its 12 regional offices. McMahon told the House committee this week that ED is rehiring OCR lawyers and expects progress, but acknowledged the case backlog is significant.
For Indiana districts with pending OCR complaints — or those that receive a complaint this spring — the practical reality is that investigation and resolution timelines are now highly uncertain. Districts should maintain rigorous internal documentation of how civil rights complaints are handled at the local level and ensure their Section 504 and IDEA due process procedures are current and consistently followed. Do not assume a pending OCR complaint has been closed simply because you have not heard from the agency — OCR’s case management system is still actively accumulating open cases. Consult your district’s legal counsel if you have an open complaint and have had no contact from OCR in the past 60 days.
ED and DOL Release Wave of New Grant Competitions — Awards Now Through GrantSolutions, Not Grants.gov
The week of May 11 saw ED and DOL release multiple new FY2026 grant competitions under their Elementary and Secondary Education Partnership, including the Career Pathways Exploration (CPE) Program (using Title IV-A SSAE funds), Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP), and the Comprehensive Centers Program (published May 8 and May 11). The new Career Pathways Exploration competition is a new program entirely, leveraging Student Support and Academic Enrichment funds to integrate career exploration into K–12 statewide career pathways programs. Critically: all awards under the ED-DOL partnership are now being issued through DOL’s GrantSolutions platform, not Grants.gov, requiring separate registration for applicants.
Indiana districts and consortia pursuing any competitive grant under the ED-DOL elementary and secondary education partnership must register on GrantSolutions (grantsolutions.gov) — separate from your existing Grants.gov and SAM.gov accounts. This is a new system requirement that can take time to complete. Do this now, before any specific competition deadline arrives. Also note: the Career Pathways Exploration competition draws from Title IV-A SSAE funds, which may affect Indiana’s consolidated application and Title IV-A spending plan for FY2026 — review your current Title IV-A allocation with IDOE before applying.
IDOE Hosts Virtual EL Leadership Meeting May 21 — First Session Under New Microsoft Teams Format
IDOE’s Office of English Learning and Migrant Education will host its next virtual EL Leadership Meeting on Thursday, May 21, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET. The meeting is intended for Indiana K–12 EL leaders and administrators. The first two hours will feature updates and interactive content on timely EL topics; the final hour is an open Q&A session. This session has transitioned to a Microsoft Teams webinar format, and registration is now required to receive the meeting link. Indiana EL coordinators should register via the Indiana EL Professional Development Opportunities Calendar.
Given the dismantling of OELA at the federal level and the continued uncertainty around Title III’s future, IDOE’s EL Leadership Meetings are now the primary source of programmatic guidance and technical assistance for Indiana EL programs. The May 21 session is particularly timely for districts navigating WIDA ACCESS reclassification decisions and AMAO documentation for 2025–26. Registration is required — confirm your district’s EL coordinator is registered before May 21. The new Teams format requires a registration link; check the Indiana EL Professional Development Calendar on IDOE’s site.
Comprehensive Centers Program Competition Posted — New Structure Prioritizes State and Local Alignment Over Federal Direction
ED published application notices for its reimagined Comprehensive Centers Program on May 8 and May 11, including Regional Centers, Content Centers, field-initiated centers, and a National Center on Improving Literacy for Students with Disabilities. The new competition structure reflects the administration’s state-control philosophy: centers must be “aligned with state and local priorities” rather than driven by federal topical mandates. The Midwest Comprehensive Center, which provides technical assistance to Indiana and neighboring states, is subject to this competition cycle. Awards may be made in FY2026 or subsequent years.
The Comprehensive Centers are a key source of free, federally funded technical assistance for state and local education agencies on school improvement, Title I implementation, and evidence-based practices. The restructuring toward state-driven priorities may shift what support Indiana districts can request from the Midwest Comprehensive Center — and who operates it. Until new awards are announced, the current Midwest Comprehensive Center remains operational. Indiana districts engaged in school improvement activities under Title I should continue working with current Comprehensive Center contacts. Expect new award announcements later in FY2026 or early FY2027.
This is a high-value competitive grant for districts with educator development initiatives, particularly those focused on career pathways, literacy, or meaningful learning. The competition includes four absolute priorities and three competitive preference priorities — review the Federal Register notice and Application Notice Instructions (ANI) on GrantSolutions under opportunity number DOL-OESE-33914. Register on GrantSolutions immediately if you have not; this deadline is less than two weeks away.
Applications should be in final editing now. Note: TSL awards are now issued through GrantSolutions, not Grants.gov — confirm your submission portal. SAM.gov must still be active for organizational eligibility. This week’s House hearing highlighted bipartisan interest in educator pipeline programs, which may bode well for TSL-aligned proposals.
This is a brand new program, making it one of the first competitive opportunities under the CPE framework. It draws from Title IV-A SSAE funds — confirm with IDOE how applying may affect your district’s consolidated application Title IV-A allocation before submitting. Review the Federal Register notice carefully for the deadline, which had not yet been posted at time of publication; monitor GrantSolutions and Grants.gov.
Active grantees: June 1 is your absolute compliance priority — less than two weeks remain. Non-grantees building toward a future application: document psychologist-to-student ratios, mental health referral data, and community mental health partnerships now. The new competition will likely have a 60–90 day window once posted.
The Canvas Breach and the Bigger Picture: What K–12 Districts Must Do Now on Vendor Cybersecurity
The ShinyHunters breach of Canvas is the latest — and largest — in a string of attacks on ed-tech vendor infrastructure that includes PowerSchool, Infinite Campus, and McGraw-Hill. Each time, the pattern is the same: a trusted third-party vendor is compromised, and thousands of school districts — who had no direct role in the breach — find themselves managing a FERPA incident, issuing family notifications, and rotating credentials they didn’t know they had.
What this incident demands from district leaders right now: First, identify every third-party vendor with access to your district’s student data and confirm the data-sharing agreements (DSAs) are current, include breach notification timelines, and specify who bears FERPA responsibility. Under FERPA’s “school official” exception, vendors accessing student records on the district’s behalf are subject to the district’s FERPA obligations — meaning if they don’t notify you promptly, that’s a compliance problem with your name on it.
Second, create a simple vendor incident response checklist — credential rotation steps, log review procedures, family notification templates — so that when the next breach occurs, you are not starting from scratch. Title IV-A funds can support technology security planning and cybersecurity professional development. Indiana districts should also be aware that the Trump administration has reduced K-12 cybersecurity investment at the federal level, making local preparedness more important than ever. The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) and Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) offer free resources for district cybersecurity planning.
Watch for any court action or congressional hearing related to the OMB impoundment of $2 billion in congressionally approved education grants — the September 30 expiration clock is ticking louder now. Also monitor GrantSolutions for the Career Pathways Exploration competition deadline, which had not been posted at time of publication. Indiana districts should watch for IDOE’s updated IDEA Part B allocation once OSEP approves Indiana’s FFY2026 application. The SBMH June 1 midyear report deadline is now less than two weeks away — if your district holds one of these grants and has not yet begun that report, escalate it this week.