Sometime in the next three weeks or so, the Michele half of this Politics K-12 duo will be taking a hiatus from blogging, and from Education Week.

I’m expecting my first child at the end of August, and the real question is which will come first: baby, or Race to the Top Round 2 winners?

This is really up in the air because last time, in Round 1, the winners were announced two weeks after the finalists made their in-person presentations to the judges. In this round, those presentations start this week, which would put an announcement of winners as early as Aug. 23.

If anyone from the Education Department is reading this, I would strongly prefer you to announce the winners as soon as possible because I enjoy having closure in my life, and getting to write about the Race to the Top Round 2 winners would allow me to start my next adventure with a sense of peace.

Regardless, you’ll be in good hands with Alyson, who will probably be flying solo on the blog until I return. So send her lots of good tips and suggestions.