You think getting the edujobs bill through the U.S. House of Representatives was hard, what with the whole Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., versus the Whithe House thing, and the veto threat, and the Polis letter?

Well, that was a cake-walk compared to what is likely to happen in the Senate.

Over at This Week in Education, Alexander Russo has a headline saying that the bill is “dead.” I think that’s probably premature, although it’s true that gaining support for increased domestic spending, controversial offsets or not, in the Senate is and was always gonna be tough sledding.

Still, the lobbying blitz continues. But it’s tough lift, particularly as the mid-term election draws closer, and right now, some key centrist GOP senators and conservative Democrats appear to be leaning against the measure. Not a great sign.

It’s possible, folks tell me, that the Senate may take a stab at passing the House bill, but if that happens, it will mostly be an empty move to show the world (and the House) that there just isn’t support for that version of the legislation.

Although edujobs was originally supposed to be part of the war supplemental, supporters now say a measure aimed at the Small Business Administration might be the best vehicle.

As for that $800 million package of cuts to Race to the Top, charters, and the Teacher Incentive Fund, no official word yet, but for now it appears unlikely, folks say, that those offsets will be part of the final package. (Of course, that would mean the Senate would have to find another $800 million in cuts...which could be messy.) Still, I think that those programs will most likely be spared, given this letter and also the veto threat.