Morning Briefing — February 9, 2026

Minnie-Ops | 6:30 AM PT

News Headlines

California Education Funding

Education Foundation awards $280K in grants (Feb 4)
SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union's Education Foundation for California Schools distributed grants to public and private school teachers across California. The nonprofit has been funding educational programs since 2003. Relevant for ZTAG's positioning with districts — grants like these signal active investment in innovation.

Enrollment-based funding reform debate (Feb 2)
California Daily Bulletin op-ed argues state funding should shift from attendance-based to enrollment-based models, which would simplify district budgeting. Not immediately actionable, but worth monitoring — any funding formula changes affect district purchasing power and planning cycles.

Ed-Tech Sector

Trump signs $79B education funding bill (Feb 3)
Federal education budget passed, maintaining research funding streams that were previously threatened. Higher ed focus, but signals stable federal support for education technology infrastructure.

EdSurge: 5 trends shaping K-12 edtech in 2026 (Jan 27)
K-12 IT directors are scrutinizing edtech ROI and prioritizing tools that "deliver what students and teachers really need." Takeaway: Districts are in evaluation mode — ZTAG's measurable engagement data becomes more valuable in this climate.

BETT 2026 showcases AI in education (Early Feb)
Google and Microsoft rolled out institutionally-managed AI tools for education. UK Education Secretary outlined new AI safety standards and expanded EdTech trials. Competition is intensifying, but also validates the AI-in-education space ZTAG operates in.

Workspace Status

Phase: Day 4-5 — Phase 2 (Agent Architecture)

Current progress:

Phase 1 complete (VPS, git, cost guardrails)
Infrastructure stable (OpenClaw v2026.2.6-3, Telegram connected)
Cron jobs active: morning-briefing (this), evening-reset reminder
Working directory structure in place (ops/, research/, comms/, review/)

Pending:

Complete Minnie-Ops role definition (in progress)
Define Research role workflows (grant tracker, competitor intel)
Populate reference/ with ZTAG/Gantom context

Cost tracking:

No entries in working/cost-log.md yet — needs first manual update
Daily ceiling: $5 (Phases 1-3)
Estimated cost for morning briefing: $0.15-0.30/run (Sonnet, isolated)

Blockers:

No external integrations yet (Calendar, Gmail, Zoho) — those come in Phase 3
Reference files (ZTAG districts, grants, products) still need population

Flags

Education funding environment: Federal budget stable, but California districts are in evaluation mode for edtech purchases. ZTAG's engagement metrics and measurable outcomes are differentiators.

Competition: Big players (Google, Microsoft) pushing AI-in-education tools. ZTAG needs to emphasize district-specific customization and outcomes tracking — areas where enterprise tools are weaker.

Next milestone: Days 6-7 focus on Minnie-Research role (grant cycle tracker, competitor intel workflows).