Lauren Camera of Edweek reports that the conference process to reconcile the House and Senate bills to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act began this past Thursday.  There are four people at the table: Senator Lamar Alexander (R), Senator Patty Murray (D), Rep. John Kline (R), and Rep. Bobby Scott (D).  Alexander and Kline have the votes in their respective branches to largely gut the federal role in education and eliminate serious accountability.  Murray and Scott have the President's veto threat, which they are hoping will help them maintain some federal accountability, particularly in the nation's lowest performing schools.  I have no idea of what the final result will be, but it is clear that the number of opinions that count on ESEA reauthorization have shrunk to one hand's worth.  And I am relatively sure that whatever three of them can agree on will become the new Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

More here.