The incoming and outgoing education secretaries teamed up with John McCain and other big names at the "no excuses" group's MLK Day gathering.

That it wasn't going to be an ordinary field trip was apparent from the moment that 12 students from the KIPP Academy of Opportunity in south Los Angeles headed downtown to the Lincoln Memorial.

The drinks flowed, the sushi rolled, and the head of President-elect Obama's education-policy review team, Linda Darling-Hammond, sparkled in an elegant bronze silk gown for a reception held in her honor tonight at a swank downtown Washington hotel.

Instead of champagne flutes and string quartets, this "ball" had cotton candy, hot dogs, story time, and a puppet theater.

The kids will hear from former Vice President Al Gore, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers, and others during their time in D.C.

Bloggers are breaking out their tuxedos—and their long underwear—to bring you live coverage of the celebration.

Even though schools didn't get much play in the campaign, the incoming administration and the new Congress seem to see education as a priority.

The House of Representatives Appropriations Committee released its stimulus package today. And education programs are a big winner: Hot off the presses, here's a copy of the House Education and Labor Committee's release on the education section of the bill: EDUCATION FOR THE 21st CENTURY We will put people to work building 21st century classrooms, labs, and libraries to help our kids compete with any worker in the world. 21st Century Classrooms • School Construction: $20 billion, including $14 billion for K-12 and $6 billion for higher education, for renovation and modernization, including technology upgrades and energy efficiency improvements. Also includes $100...

For those wishing and hoping for some federal aid for schools in the stimulus package, it looks like your prayers may be answered, at least in part. There's going to be an $80 billion fund, the majority of which will be earmarked specifically for education, Democratic congressional staff say. It's unclear, though, whether it will flow to states or districts. The other big news? There's going to be money for Title I and students in special education in the stimulus, separate from the fund, Democratic congressional staff told me. No word on yet on just how much, though....

Apparently there is a letter writing campaign underway to express concerns to the transition team and members of Congress about Wendy Kopp, CEO of Teach for America, Jon Schnur, co-founder of New Leaders for New Schools, and Andrew Rotherham, co-director of Education Sector as potential choices for top jobs at the Department. This was written by Sharon Robinson, the president of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, to education lobbyists and others and passed to me by a source (not Robinson): It has come to our attention that Education Secretary Designee Arne Duncan has proposed a leadership team ...