Dodd Watch > Harkin Watch

A lot of folks are now saying that it’s going to be Senator Harkin (IA), not Dodd, to replace Kennedy as chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee occasioning a shuffling of other committee chairs.   Rumor was/is announcement tomorrow.   Instant reax:  Good news for special education and pre-K.    Not such good news for structural education reform.  Harkin is not a big fan of the Teacher Incentive Fund, for instance, charter schools, or harder-edged accountability measures.    He’ll wield a lot of power as the chair of the authorizing committee and the big wheel on education appropriations and this seems likely to impact some of the Obama – Duncan plans.

Update:  Dodd makes it official – staying on Banking.