Mackenzie Morgan is a 2026 graduate of Miami University of Ohio. In a guest post at Jan Resseger’s blog, she encourages teachers to become more involved in policy debates.
Educational policy is no longer a distant topic from the classroom, but now shapes what teachers can say, do, teach, and display on their classroom walls. I am a pre-service teacher graduating from an Ohio university in May 2026. Beyond preparing to be a full-time teacher in the fall, I am also a public school advocate. Public schools serve and protect the rights of all children in our country. In these times, it is critical for all school teachers to advocate for the public schools which are the roots of not only their careers, but the families and communities they serve.
As an educator, I believe that the policy affecting our schools, students, and jobs is something often overlooked by fellow teachers. Through our teacher preparation courses, we learn to write lesson plans, to implement strategies for classroom management, and how to teach the state standards in interactive ways. However, a topic often omitted from the education and professional development of teachers is educational policy, or the process by which laws and policies for schools are created, deliberated and passed. The local, state, and federal policy-making processes affect all educators. Teachers should care about educational policy because it affects their ability to make decisions and policy for their own jobs, as well as the funding their schools receive.
To put it simply, public schools across America are being threatened. Bills are being passed challenging the abilities of local educators to make their own educational decisions, as well as the funding that K-12 schools and teachers receive. Teachers are being forced to exclude media from their classroom libraries, to expose the sexuality of innocent children, and to indoctrinate children with knowledge that those in power get to decide is “true.” Additionally, vouchers are taking away funds from public schools that need them.
In my home state of Ohio, for example, we are seeing bills proposed and enacted weekly that are affecting teachers in classrooms. In 2025, one specific proposed bill that strongly affects teachers is SB113. This would completely and entirely ban diversity, equity, and inclusion in K-12 public schools. If any K-12 public school chose not to comply, they would lose all federal funding. How might your classroom look different if any topic surrounding “identity” was completely banned? This bill eliminates the ability of school districts to make their own well informed policies regarding inclusivity and DEI in their school buildings. Iowa, South Carolina, and Oklahoma are considering similar legislation.
Diving deeper into the Buckeye State, public school funding is an imminent issue in educational policy. In 2023, Ohio passed HB33, the state budget, which enacted universal vouchers. Ohio now has one of the largest voucher programs of any state in America; as a result, the funding of public schools faces intense negative effects. Additionally, throughout the next two years, Ohio schools expected $3 billion dollars toward public education. However, the Fair School Funding Pan, which was to be passed as part of the budget, was underfunded. Districts are now relying on local levies more than ever. This hurts how our classrooms are supported by our districts, fiscally. This example highlights how the lack of funding toward public schools across the country places an attack on educational policy.
These harmful legislative attacks on public education are seen country-wide. In 2023 in Texas, SB1515 was passed, requiring all K-12 classrooms to display a copy of the 10 Commandments. As a public school teacher, I am curious as to how this honors the separation of church and state. Teachers and local educators should possess the right to make educational decisions, not follow generalized ones mandated by state and federal lawmakers.
Moving into Florida, the parental rights bill HB1557 was enacted in 2022. This bill, masked as a way to get parents more involved in their children’s schooling, requires school personnel to inform parents of each child’s physical and mental well being. Some districts see this as a threat, and are requiring all educators to report if a child confides their sexual identity with them. This puts all teachers in a very bad position, and could cause us to face consequences if we do decide to be a safe and trusted adult for a student. The safety of our students should be a priority for districts, who should have the ability to make policy regarding parental rights.