Where goes national ed policy?

If you're wondering where national ed policy might be headed after Tuesday's election, you might read Representative John Kline (Republican of Minnesota) on his priorities. As the senior Republican on the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, you can expect that he'll be taking the chair come the January changeover. To wit:

pursuing education reform that restores local control, empowers parents, lets teachers teach, and protects taxpayers.

In terms of fiscal policy, keep an eye on the bottom line:

...the same reform-minded legislators planning to tighten Congress’ fiscal britches have also stated plainly that spending in the areas of defense, veterans’ affairs, and seniors will be off-limits. In other words, only the spending that doesn’t encompass the departments of Defense, State, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs, not to mention mandatory Medicare and Social Security spending, is ripe for spending reductions. (This chart helps illustrate how few programs would be left to “reduce” once defense and mandatory programs are removed from the equation.)
So, what does that mean? In short, education funding and other nondefense-related discretionary spending is where Congress will look first to find spending cuts in 2011 and beyond.