In brief: Senate OKs revised No Child education law

WASHINGTON – More than a decade after No Child Left Behind established a stronger federal role in public education, the Senate on Thursday approved a rewrite of the much-criticized education law that would return much of that power to the states.

The 81-17 vote comes a week after the House passed its own rewrite and sets the stage for what could be contentious negotiations over the federal government’s influence in education policy.

The Senate version would leave in place the law’s annual testing schedule. But, in a major shift, it would give states and districts more control over whether and how to use those tests to assess the performance of schools, teachers and students.

The legislation, sponsored by Republican Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Democrat Patty Murray of Washington, would prohibit the federal government from requiring or encouraging specific sets of academic standards, such as Common Core.

Alexander called the bipartisan vote “remarkable” and said it sends a message to the many superintendents, teachers and parents who have told him that No Child needs to be overhauled.

Murray said the legislation represents a “strong bill that all sides can be proud of.” But she suggested a tough battle ahead to merge the differing House-Senate bills. “Their bill really represents an unacceptable partisan approach,” she said, referring to the House bill.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan offered cautious praise after Senate passage.

The bill, he said, makes progress toward replacing No Child Left Behind, but “still falls short of truly giving every child a fair shot at success by failing to ensure that parents and children can count on local leaders to take action when students are struggling to learn.”

Astronauts take shelter from space junk

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A piece of space junk forced the three space station astronauts to seek emergency shelter Thursday.

For nearly an hour, the American and two Russians hunkered down in their Soyuz capsule, which is docked to the International Space Station, in case they had to make a quick getaway. The fragment from an old Russian weather satellite ended up passing harmlessly, about 1 1/2 miles away.

“Happy there was no impact,” NASA astronaut Scott Kelly said via Twitter. “Great coordination with international ground teams. Excellent training.”

It’s only the fourth time in the 16-year history of the space station that a crew has had to rush into a Russian Soyuz for protection from potentially dangerous debris. The exact size of the object was unknown, according to a NASA spokesman.

Normally, NASA learns about incoming junk sooner, and the space station moves out of the way. But there wasn’t time for that Thursday; the crew was notified just 1 1/2 hours in advance.

Kelly and his Russia roommates, Mikhail Kornienko and Gennady Padalka were already up and working when Mission Control ordered them into the Soyuz on Thursday morning. They did not need to put on their Soyuz flight suits, and there was no rush, said NASA spokesman Dan Huot. The all-clear came 1 1/2 hours after the initial alert, around 8 a.m.

Tornado sweeps through Illinois towns

GALESBURG, Ill. – Illinois Emergency Management Agency Director James Joseph said no patients have been received at area hospitals after a tornado swept through the towns of Kirkwood, Monmouth and Cameron late Thursday. However, it’s possible anyone injured could have been treated at the scene of the damage.

Photographs posted on the KWQC website show damage to a grain silo and heavy damage to at least one house.

Emergency management agency spokeswoman Patty Thompson said the agency hasn’t learned the extent of the damage in Warren County.