K-12 Policy Shifts Loom in GOP Surge

Aiming to take Congress, many in GOP stress concern over federal education role.

The conservative wave sweeping toward the 2010 midterm elections could put in power a group of congressional Republicans who are largely disenchanted with a recent expansion of the federal role in K-12 policy and leery of offering incentives for states in areas such as adoption of common standards and assessments.

A slew of victories in November bringing GOP control to one or both houses of Congress would also almost certainly spell the end of federal financial help for schools facing layoffs and other cuts. Republican lawmakers nearly universally voted against Democratic bills to give states and districts emergency cash to weather the continuing economic crisis.

Still, any Republican majority would likely include influential members who see eye to eye with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on certain priorities, such as encouraging the spread of charter schools and rewarding effective...