Sen. Rand Paul to Sit on Education Committee

This from Politics K-12:

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., aka Mr. Let's-Ditch-the-Department-of-Education, got a seat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Paul is also a member of the Senate's new tea party caucus.

Paul's appointment, obviously, isn't curtains for 400 Maryland Ave. But Paul is going to be a tough customer who probably won't rush to sign off on the administration's ideas for ESEA renewal...

Student Loan Overhaul Advances: Votes Expected By House, Senate

Democrats in Congress are pushing to overhaul the nation's student loan system with legislation that would cut federal subsidies to lending companies by as much as $19 billion, channel most of those savings to student aid and ease repayment rules for borrowers.

The Senate education committee overwhelmingly approved its version of the legislation yesterday, one week after the House education panel took similar action. Senior Democrats predicted that the bills would come to a vote by the end of next month and would be reconciled without significant difficulty.

Momentum for the legislation has grown this year as the $85 billion-a-year industry has come under intense scrutiny. Federal and state investigations have found conflicts of interest among lenders, universities and government regulators. In addition, the Democratic takeover of Congress this year has allowed the party to drive its agenda on student loans for the first time in more than a decade.

This from the Washington Post.