News: House Committee Leaders Join On NCLB Rewrite

Lawmakers to launch bipartisan effort to rewrite No Child Left Behind Washington Post:  Senior House Republicans and Democrats plan to announce Thursday that they will team up to rewrite the No Child Left Behind education law, a rare show of bipartisanship in the polarized Congress.

Courtney says state unlikely to get federal school money The Day:  Despite a frantic last-minute drive to Washington last month to submit Connecticut's application for $192.7 million in federal education funding, the state is unlikely to get a dime of the new money this spring, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, said Wednesday.

Arne Duncan Pushes Plan to Overhaul Student Lending NYT:  The Obama administration on Wednesday sought to bolster support for its plan to overhaul student lending, attacking banks that oppose it for enjoying “a free ride from taxpayers for too long.”

Districts refusing reforms could hurt California's chances LA Times: A majority of California school districts and about three-quarters of its teachers unions, as well as some charter schools and other education agencies, have declined to sign agreements that require them to abide by those changes.

Funds sought for school takeovers Detroit Free Press:  State Superintendent Mike Flanagan on Wednesday requested a $500,000 supplemental payment by April 1 for the Michigan Department of Education to set up a reform office as prescribed by the Legislature in December.