The Council of Chief State School Officers says it needs flexibility from federal officials to manage the common core transition.

In their revised application, the nine California districts seeking a No Child Left Behind Act waiver dropped plans to count only the test scores from the last grade in each school for accountability purposes.

Florida's use of $1.25 million in Race to the Top funds to settle a contract dispute was allowable, according to federal officials.

U.S. Rep. Martha Roby, R-Ala., has introduced a bill that would prohibit the U.S. Department of Education and the education secretary from using federal grant money or waivers to encourage states to adopt common standards or tests.

Federally subsidized loan rates are set to double in just a month and a half unless lawmakers and the administration can come to an agreement.

The federal share of school spending is still well above where it was before the recession and the economic-stimulus package.

Most Race to the Top states are keeping their participating districts on board, even as a couple of states run into trouble.

Student loans were the number one topic when U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan testified before the House education panel today on President Barack Obama's budget proposal.

Thirty-seven states plus the District of Columbia now have their own federally approved but state-crafted accountability plans.

A spokesman for the U.S. Secretary of Education said federal officials are thinking through the concerns about high stakes tied to the common core "carefully."