What School Leaders Are Feeling Now
BY ERICA BEAL, SCHOOL LEADER LAB
This post is adapted from a blog originally published on School Leader Lab's website. Information reflects our understanding as of April 2025. School Leader Lab releases a monthly memo with other practical information for leaders. Sign up here.
School leaders across the country are navigating rapid changes in education policy. Recent developments have moved quickly from proposals to action: significant staffing reductions at the Department of Education, cuts to federal education program funding, and new certification requirements regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in K-12 schools.
Education leaders nationwide are asking critical questions: Which policies are actually changing? What's the timeline? What specific practices are affected? How will these changes impact our schools, staff, students, and communities?
This uncertainty can be disorienting, especially when changes affect core values that many school communities hold dear.
To address this need, School Leader Lab created "A School Leader's Guide to Understanding Federal Education Policy Proposals"—a resource helping school leaders distinguish between proposals, headlines, and actual legal changes.
While policy experts debate details and many administrative orders face legal challenges, school leaders must continue their daily work of improving academic outcomes, supporting staff and student well-being, and fostering positive school cultures.
“We’re spending more time reacting to politics and budget uncertainty and focusing less on what students need most.”
“Leading now feels like steering through constant waves—juggling academic recovery, student mental health, and teacher burnout while policies shift around us daily.”
So what can school leaders do now to support their students, schools, and communities? The antidote to uncertainty is intentional, values-driven action. Above all, staying informed is the foundation that enables everything else:
1. Know your policy landscape.
Understand the difference between what's proposed and what's the law. Use tools like our "A School Leader's Guide to Understanding Federal Education Policy Proposals" to keep you and your staff informed. Attend webinars. Don't make assumptions based on headlines. Find trusted, informed sources who can help you understand what truly requires your attention.
2. Don't pre-comply.
If there's no mandate from your state, local council, school board, district, or network, there's no obligation to change based on executive orders. When schools comply in advance, we signal to our staff and students that our decisions are reactive rather than principled—potentially eroding trust.
3. Over-communicate!
During periods of change, silence is the enemy. Share what you know and what you don't know. Reaffirm your values consistently. Given the rapid rate of change, this will require more frequent communication than usual. Create space for questions, be transparent about decision-making, and reassure your staff they're not navigating this alone.
4. Lead with your values.
In uncertain times, our values must be louder than the news cycle. What commitments have you made to your students and families? Stay rooted in those. Do not shrink your vision out of fear.
I see leaders every day who make bold choices that are in the best interests of their staff and students. They remind us all of the power we continue to have and that our core values are most powerful when we live them, especially when they are challenged. These leaders aren't waiting for permission to center student needs or to create environments where everyone belongs. They're moving forward with conviction, showing us what courage looks like in practice.
If you need to adjust your strategy or language, clearly state what remains unchanged—your ultimate mission of serving all students.
5. Tell your story.
The most powerful advocacy tool school leaders have is their voice. Share how policy changes are affecting your school community. Describe what it means to lead through uncertainty. Convey the experiences of your educators and students. These stories cut through political rhetoric and center the lived realities in our classrooms.
“We know we need more resources, not less. We need fewer distractions and changes, not more. The biggest concern is what’s going to happen to our kids.”
Most importantly, we must remember—we have power. School leaders ensure students receive joyful, rigorous, and inclusive instruction, regardless of shifts in federal policy. This starts with staying informed through resources like our guide, which equips you to make decisions based on facts rather than headlines or speculation.
As we navigate these challenges together, I'm reminding myself to stay engaged and resistant to helplessness. As Abby Wambach recently said to queer youth at the GLAAD Awards:
“For the world order these guys dream of to take hold, they need for the rest of us to submit, to slowly go numb by becoming dead inside. Now listen to me, they are not scared of you because you are bad. They are scared of you because you are so alive. They are scared of you because you are free, and freedom is contagious. They are scared of you because they need gray, and you are neon. Hold onto your freedom, your aliveness, and to each other. We can do hard things, and we will do them together.”
Here's to being neon together. Our students will be the ones who suffer if we dim our light.
About Erica Beal
Erica Beal is the Executive Director of School Leader Lab in Washington, D.C. School Leader Lab develops leaders who create schools where adults want to work, students thrive, and everyone feels valued through comprehensive role-alike, cohort-based professional development at every level of the pipeline.