Two key K-12 formula programs—Title I grants for districts and state grants for special education—would see slight boosts in a bill approved on a party line vote Tuesday by the Senate subcommittee that oversees education spending.

Everyone from groups representing governors, state and local school officials, and think tanks to individual citizens are commenting on the U.S. Department of Education's draft rules for the Race to the Top for districts.

The government agency analyzed reports that offered some conflicting information about the extent of bullying and whether it affects some groups more compared to others.

The White House announced today that the Education Department will work to make it easier for students to repay their loans.

Only three states--Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota--chose to continue buying beef that may contain lean finely textured beef for their schools, the Associated Press reported earlier today. Everyone else said they would pay 3 percent more for beef served in school meals that doesn't contain the ingredient. The company that makes beef containing pink slime, Beef Products Inc., is based in South Dakota and has facilities in Iowa and Nebraska.

Back in Massachusetts, then-Gov. Mitt Romney proposed ideas on turnarounds and teacher quality that closely mirror proposals that President Barack Obama put forth just a few years later. Case in point? Romney's turnaround plan, which never got through the Democratically-controlled state legislature, but which called for districts to remove a school's principal, turn schools into charters, and give local leaders more autonomy. Sounds very similar to the School Improvement Grant program to me. Romney was also hoping to tie teacher evaluations to test scores. Read all about it in this story. Some interesting details from Romney's record that didn't make ...

"Lots of these kids have had pretty good experiences," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said. "That's heartwarming," and not something he would have expected as little as five years ago. "Things are going the right way."

By now, ever education blogger has had over a week to hem and haw about Gov. Mitt Romney's education proposals. So if you haven't already, check out these good reads.

Republicans in Congress and Democrats, including the Obama administration, are still trying to figure out a way to pay for a plan to keep student loans rates stable.

The U.S. Department of Education today granted waivers to eight of the 26 states (plus the District of Columbia) that applied in February for wiggle room under the No Child Left Behind Act. The second-round waiver states are: Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Rhode Island. Ohio has not received approval yet on its grading system, but it's waiver isn't considered conditional. Notice a pattern there? Except for Connecticut and Louisiana, all of the waiver recipients were among the dozen states that won a slice of the $4 billion Race to the Top fund. That ...