In case you were wondering whether that $25 million or so that the Gates and Broad Foundations invested in ED in '08 paid off, Strong American Schools, which managed the program, is here to tell you that the campaign "has helped turn the need for education reform from a low-priority campaign issue into one of the Obama administration's top policy priorities." Take that Mr. Mouthing Platitudes! You can read all about it in a new report on the effort, released today. ED in '08's biggest road block, according to the report? Teachers' unions. And also the media....

Inside Baseball Alert: Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., is going to be the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, replacing Rep. John McHugh of New York, who is going to work in the Obama administration. That means McKeon won't be the ranking member on the House Education and Labor Committee anymore, because lawmakers typically don't hold that slot on two different committees. (For more on McKeon, check out this interview at the GOP convention.) Republicans will get to choose a replacement for McKeon, and the pick could have major implications for No Child Left Behind Act reauthorization ...

The Education Department gets a "most improved" from Politics K-12 for finally putting the initial applications for state fiscal stabilization funding online—and living up to the transparency standards President Obama has set for spending stimulus money. I've been making the case for this for weeks now (here and here), and other folks have joined in a call for more transparency as well. (UPDATE: To clarify, the Education Department has always posted online the final applications once they were approved, but at issue were the initial applications states submitted—before any changes were made.) This is more than just a ...

So, now that the original Reading First program is officially dead, Congress and the administration are scrambling to create a new program that would retain the federal government's investment in literacy, without all the unfortunate conflict-of-interest issues and effectiveness questions. It's up for debate whether there is a consensus out in Literacy Land as to how best to teach reading. But lawmakers are starting to put together reading legislation. My colleague, Kathleen Kennedy Manzo told you about a bill being crafted by the Senate. But over in the House, lawmakers are also working on the issue. Freshman Rep. Jared Polis, ...

Here's how the Education Department estimated the jobs impact of the stimulus.

The Education Secretary is warning once again that states' hostility to charter schools could put them at a "competitive disadvantage" in securing Race to the Top money.

The cover letter to Gov. Sanford's application for stabilization funds, signed "under duress," is worth a read.

The Education Secretary took states to task for enacting laws barring student test scores from being used in teacher-evaluation decisions.

The U.S. Department of Education announced Friday, in grand fashion, (meaning not just through a press release, but a site visit as well), that it was granting New Jersey's application for state fiscal stabilization funds. This comes despite the protests of advocacy groups, which have numerous problems with the application itself, and the education department's whole stimulus process. Apparently, their arguments didn't work....

The blogsphere reacts with a healthy dose of skepticism and realism to the news that 46 states want to adopt the same set of academic standards.