Tom Harkin Out? This weekend, Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) announced he won't be running for reelection. While the "liberal lion's" announcement made news, what I didn't see mentioned in many stories about the retirement is that Harkin is chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions committee -- the very one that is in charge of dealing with the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind. So what's next for HELP? Harkin has told me he intends to reset the reauthorization process while he's still there, but as the folks at Politics K-12 note, that desire could "set up an interesting dynamic with the Obama administration," which is more focused on implementing the waivers it has issued from the law to 34 states and Washington, D.C. The White House wasn't exactly thrilled with the bill his committee moved last year.

So There Was An Inauguration... As you might have heard, this weekend, President Barack Obama was sworn in for his second term. And at the inauguration, he gave a speech. The Washington Post's Valerie Strauss teased out O's references to education. (Hint: There weren't many. For the most part, Obama lumped in education with other domestic policy issues in need of reform). More here from Politics K-12.

NEW YORK -- As New York City school bus drivers head toward a strike, slated for Wednesday morning, the national president of the drivers' union accus...