Education Week

As educators prepare for a new school year, concerns about students’ behavior, achievement, and well-being are top of mind, even as schools and districts face ongoing challenges from financial uncertainty and political headwinds. The EdWeek Research Center surveyed more than 1,000 teachers and school and district administrators about major challenges they expect to face in the 2026-27 school year. Given a list of 27 options, the largest proportion of respondents, 75%, identified student behavior as a major concern, followed closely by student engagement at 70%. The top five most common responses to the survey question, administered from April 29 to June 22, related directly to students. The sixth most common answer was budget uncertainty, which 42% of respondents expect to be a major concern. The finding comes as declining enrollment, strained state budgets, inflation, and threats to federal funding have led many districts to make tough budgeting calls—including layoffs and school closures—and brace for continued uncertainty…

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Note: Special education ranked 7th among 27 concerns noted by educators.