State education agencies (SEAs) are being asked to do something they have rarely been asked to do before: lead.
As the federal government’s influence over education recedes, leaving confusion in its wake, calls for guidance, clarity, and strategic direction are shifting to states. And they are shifting fast, to agencies that are often understaffed, under-resourced, and themselves uncertain about what comes next.
The districts looking to them for help are not in a comfortable position either. Learning recovery from the pandemic remains unfinished. Enrollment is falling in most of the country, and federal pandemic relief funds, which temporarily filled the holes in many districts’ budgets, have dried up. And new disruptions, from shifts in Title funding to rapidly changing guidance on civil rights enforcement, are hitting districts that are already stretched thin. As one superintendent told us as part of our research with the American School District Panel project: “All of this uncertainty, it definitely creates a lot of chaos that ultimately impacts students and families.”
The good news is that SEAs do not need to take drastic action to help districts. In fact, some of the most useful things states can do right now are relatively small, targeted, and achievable without new legislation or major budget commitments. Here is where to start.
Provide legal and financial clarity immediately.
District leaders told us that timely legal guidance from their SEA has been essential as they navigate fast-changing federal directives around DEI policies, student mental health support, and civil rights enforcement. In the absence of clear guidance, districts often end up in protracted, partisan discussions about how to reconcile conflicting state, federal, and local policies. One superintendent credited proactive SEA guidance with allowing the district to “get the politics out of it” and avoid getting “jammed up legally.” This is low-cost, high-impact work that states can do now.
Financial clarity matters just as much. Districts cannot budget responsibly if they do not know how much money they’ll have. SEAs do not need to wait to redesign funding formulas to help (though many formulas do need updating). They can start by helping districts build realistic near- and long-term financial forecasts that model different federal funding scenarios, so leaders are planning for what is likely instead of hoping for the best.
Show districts where they have more flexibility than they realize.
Budget uncertainty is pushing district leaders to reconsider all expenditures, and savvy superintendents are already finding pockets of flexibility in federal and state funding rules that others do not know exist. As one told us, “We take everything we can find.” SEAs should be mapping and communicating where that flexibility exists, particularly for funds supporting English learners, before and after school programs, teacher professional development, and nutrition services, where funding gaps have been most acute. What one district discovers through trial and error, an SEA can share across the entire state.
Cut red tape.
Districts burn through countless resources complying with state and federal rules and regulations, many of which are suddenly out-of-date due to dramatic changes at the Department of Education. Some of the superintendents with whom we spoke reported an uptick in “monitoring audits” over the past year as their SEA has increased reporting and program reviews. SEAs themselves spend significant resources on ensuring compliance with their own and federal regulations. SEAs should review this red tape and strip out old, outdated rules and regulations, freeing up resources to be redirected toward new priorities and away from compliance exercises.
Help districts face the enrollment reckoning honestly.
Declining enrollment is arguably the most consequential problem that districts face right now, and during the 2024-25 school year, 25% of districts nationwide reported that declining enrollment was one of their top three challenges. Similarly, a third of districts reported budget shortfalls as a top-three challenge, and budgets only get tighter as per-pupil funding follows students out the door. Districts grappling with this reality need two things from their state: permission to make hard decisions and practical tools for making them well.
Some states are beginning to act. Indiana’s Innovation Network Schools and Texas’s District of Innovation designations give districts regulatory relief to try new approaches. But SEAs can move faster than legislation. They can help districts share knowledge about how to compete for and retain students, identify services that could generate revenue in states with ESA programs, and build realistic plans for right-sizing that do not simply default to closing schools in the communities that can least afford to lose them.
Identify and spread what is working in teacher recruitment and training.
Proposed cuts to federal grants (still being challenged by eight states) have threatened to reduce support for teacher professional learning, but they have also freed districts from some programs that were not working particularly well. This is a moment for states to help districts figure out what actually moves the needle on teacher recruitment, retention, and instructional quality. Creating new statewide teacher training systems is a long-term project. In the near term, SEAs can identify effective programs and share the best approaches for recruiting and training teachers in their states.
Create real forums for superintendents to drive policy and collective action.
Superintendents valued time to problem-solve with peers, whether in person or virtually. These conversations surface emerging challenges before they become crises and spread practical solutions. They also give SEAs a real-time feedback loop on what is actually happening in districts, what guidance is missing, and where state policy is creating unintended friction. Louisiana’s state schools chief, John White, created forums like this to help inform and accelerate Science of Reading initiatives in the state. Building and sustaining these forums is not a major investment but can yield high returns.
Small changes like these will put SEAs on the path to reimagining their role and pivoting toward a more proactive, creative position in state education systems. The work on the horizon is substantial: most states will need to set clear goals for improving student achievement, build infrastructure using evidence-based practices, and enforce fair but assertive remedies for a lack of progress. In the meantime, small moves like these will not resolve every challenge districts face. But they can reduce the chaos superintendents tell us they’re navigating. As the federal role in education continues to contract, the states that move quickly to become genuine partners to their districts, rather than sources of additional compliance burden, will be the ones best positioned to actually improve outcomes for students.
In the months ahead, CRPE will be tracking how states are adapting to the shifting federal landscape and highlighting lessons from their efforts, with particular attention to which states are moving past small adjustments and toward the strategic leadership that this moment demands.
A shorter version of this piece originally appeared in The 74.
