Senator-turned-presidential candidate Ted Cruz's education platform could be described, in a nutshell, as Not Jeb Bush.

States need to count on a permanent federal education policy, the head of the Council of Chief State School Officers told the group's annual legislative conference Monday.

Nearly every state with a waiver plans to file a renewal request, we found. But, in Louisiana and Texas, renewal is complicated.

Colorado and Kentucky are eyeing flexibility similar to what New Hampshire got. Meanwhile, Colorado is seeking other big testing changes, including on opt-outs.

Colorado wants to add language to its No Child Left Behind Act waiver through the renewal process, ensuring that opt-outs don't count against a school's 95 percent participation threshold.

The U.S. Senate's fiscal 2016 budget proposal would fund the federal government to the tune of $493 billion, keeping in place the across-the-board spending caps under sequestration.

The House Republican spending plan includes $493 billion for discretionary spending across the federal government and would make $5.5 trillion in spending reductions in the next 10 years.

Congressional efforts to give the outdated No Child Left Behind Act a facelift headlined this year's Council of the Great City Schools annual legislative conference.

Graduation rates for black students in the 2012-13 school year was 70.7 percent and for Hispanic students was 75.2 percent, but white and Asian/Pacific Islander students still out-performed both other groups.

Prospective grantees would be urged to pitch projects designed to increase the number and percentage of students who graduate from high school ready for postsecondary education and the workforce.