On July 10, 2025, the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services announced new legal interpretations that reverse over 20 years of guidance, classifying adult education, postsecondary CTE, and a broad array of HHS programs—including Head Start—as "federal public benefits" subject to PRWORA immigration-status eligibility and verification requirements. ED's interpretive rule explicitly states that Plyler v. Doe does not extend to adult or postsecondary education programs, with immediate operational implications for grantees under WIOA Title II and the Perkins Act.

In a 6–3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that a Maryland school district's refusal to allow religious families to opt their children out of LGBTQ+-inclusive curriculum materials substantially burdened their free exercise rights and triggered strict constitutional scrutiny—a meaningful departure from the longstanding Employment Division v. Smith framework. The decision raises the legal bar for school policies that incidentally burden religious beliefs, even neutral and generally applicable ones, and increases litigation exposure for districts and educational agencies that deny religious accommodation requests.