Taking a break from vacation to bring you all some breaking news: There’s a new half of the Politics K-12 duo! I’m thrilled to announce that Lauren Camera, who just wrapped up a Spencer Fellowship at Columbia University, will be joining the blog, and Education Week, as a staff writer starting on Monday.

For the past year, Lauren has been digging into Race to the Top implementation in Tennessee, including a number of trips down to Memphis to take a close look at the Achievement School District. Ask her about the impact of Race to the Top on NAEP scores, state-run turnaround schools—and Gus’ Fried Chicken.

Before becoming a Spencer fellow, Lauren worked at Congressional Quarterly, covering labor and education issues—and sat next to me at the press table for countless hearings and markups of the dead-for-now renewal of No Child Left Behind. She’s also covered higher education, following every twist and turn of last summer’s debate over student-loan interest rates. And she’s written about health-care policy as well, including the development of the Affordable Care Act in Congress, for Elsevier Business Intelligence.

Lauren will start on Monday, and she’ll fly solo for a week before I return on June 9. In the meantime, send her lots of tips. And follow her on Twitter @laurenonthehill, and, of course, in just a few days @PoliticsK12.