Charter advocates say the federal charter program, which was last reauthorized along with the rest of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act back in 2001, is way overdue for an update.

The legislation calls for new or improved collection of data, and it would add a new focus on examining the implementation of a particular policy or strategy.

The stakes in keeping close watch on districts could be high for states—so far the department has put states on "high risk" status (meaning that they are in danger of losing a waiver) for problems relating to teacher evaluation.

Samuel Halperin, a longtime leader on education policy and among the architects of landmark federal laws of the 1960s, died May 6 in Washington.

Bipartisan charter school legislation is expected to sail through the U.S. House of Representatives later this week. And now a cadre of bipartisan cadre of senators are slated to introduce their own, nearly identical charter bill.

In a May 6 "dear colleague" letter, the federal education department upheld the rights of schools to use affirmative-action policies despite a Supreme Court ruling in April.

Senators discussed NCLB waivers, early-childhood education, and overall funding with the U.S. Secretary of Education at a hearing about the president's education spending request.

The administration would award $250 million in new early learning money, in two kinds of grants: one to states that already have robust early learning programs, and another to those just getting started.

The big partisan education legislation logjam seems to be breaking, at least a little bit, for more targeted bills

Arizona, Kansas, Oregon, each had until Thursday to submit a proposal to the U.S. Department of Education addressing the agency's concerns with their waivers.