October 20, 2026

🔊 Audio Overview of this edition. Give us your feedback!

What could international partnerships make possible for your ESA? West40 is exploring that question in Portugal with support from AESA Global, connecting with education leaders and institutions to identify opportunities that could benefit students, educators, and communities back home.

AESA Global helped facilitate introductions and conversations with CCISP, Portugal’s Polytechnic higher education network, and the FLAD team in Lisbon. Together, they’re exploring shared interests in professional learning, workforce and career pathways, applied learning, and educational exchange.

An AESA Global Reflection Lab also gave the West40 team time to discuss what they’re learning and consider how those connections could translate into local programming.

This is part of AESA Global’s work: helping ESAs build international relationships around their goals and the needs of the communities they serve.

Interested in exploring something similar? It doesn’t have to start with a trip of this scale—we can start smaller! Contact Jason Hiruo or Meimei Zou to talk about your ideas and how AESA Global can help you take the first step!

Jason Hiruo, Chief Global Officer

Meimei Zou, Director of Projects

Thanks to everyone who joined us for last week's webinar! AESA Governance and Policy Advisor Tina Viletto explored how affiliated nonprofits can help ESAs access new funding, expand programs, and prepare for opportunities related to the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit in 2027.

Interested in exploring your ESA's options? AESA offers contracted support to help you get started. Contact Tina Viletto at tviletto@aesa.us to learn more.

Planning to join AESA Global in 2027? We need a clearer count of participants to move planning forward! Confirm your team and commit by November 5 for the Global Leadership Institute in Vienna and Budapest or November 15 for the Educator Field Studies in Portugal or South Korea.

Need more time to assemble your team? Contact Jason Hiruo, Chief Global Officer to discuss your plans.

Did you know that when your ESA is an AESA member, every employee and board member is a member, too?

Join us October 28 at 2:00 pm ET for You Belong Here: Connecting with AESA, a virtual orientation designed to help you make the most of your membership. Discover professional learning opportunities, valuable resources, national networks, and ways to connect with ESA colleagues across the country.

Whether you're new to AESA or simply looking to get more involved, there's something here for you!

More than 700 people from across the country, along with international guests, are planning to attend the AESA Annual Conference & Expo. There’s still time to join them!

Connect with colleagues, explore new ideas, and hear from inspiring guest speakers:

Make your visit “magical!” Conference attendees can save on Walt Disney World® tickets. And why not extend your stay for more professional learning at the post-conference BSF 1.0 Workshop?

AESA continues to advocate for E-Rate and the affordable connectivity schools and libraries depend on. Following an October 15 federal appeals court decision involving the program’s administration, we are working with our national partners to understand what it could mean for members. Here is what we know so far.

New guidance from the U.S. Department of Education (USED) highlights their efforts to increase enforcement of the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA). The guidance details how school districts must approach parental consent, student surveys and the collection of sensitive student information. Read more.

AESA joined 22 national organizations in joint comments filed in response to the FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), which considers sweeping changes to the E-Rate program. The comments urged the FCC to preserve E-Rate, emphasizing that reliable connectivity is essential infrastructure for public schools, supporting both instruction and daily operations.

A new report on IDEA spending found that federal funding per IEP fell in every state from FY16 to FY24. Some states filled the difference, but most didn’t. The short version is that special education enrollment keeps rising as overall student enrollment declines, federal per-IEP special education funding hit a new low, and state special education funding is uneven. Read more here.

A new K-12 Dive article highlights strategies for making professional development more effective by emphasizing sustained support, opportunities for practice, and stronger alignment with classroom instruction.