NCLB: Act II

Several Capitol Hill aides appeared on a panel at the Alliance for Excellent Education's conference in Washington this morning. Nothing they said had stop-the-presses news in it. But they did give a few tidbits of note. That's what blogs are good for.

A member of the audience asked whether NCLB would be reauthorized in the current Congress. "The answer is a resounding yes," responded Roberto Rodriguez, a staffer for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., the chairman of the Senate's education committee. "Both chambers are working tediously toward that goal."

Yes, he said "tediously." I guess diligently goes without saying.

On the goal of universal proficiency by 2013-14, Rodriguez suggested that the Senate is looking for ways to push states to align their standards to readiness for college and the workplace. An interesting signal, I thought, something I would have liked to have in my recent story on the goal.

From the House side, Jill Morningstar suggested that House Democrats want "significant new funds" to help turn around the lowest-performing schools. She also said that a bill to support middle school improvement from Rep. Raul M. Grijalva was likely to be accepted as an amendment when the House education committee marks up its NCLB bill.

When that might happen, she didn't say.