Education Week polled U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan last week on subjects ranging from future goals of the fed's controversial Race to the Top competitive grant program to how it is he expects the fed's controversial NCLB waivers to play out.

He previewed his intention to use a new $550 million appropriation to launch RttT II, which will bypass states and instead pit what Duncan calls "less functional" school districts one-against-the-other to vie for the pie.

"What we'll be asking of districts (in order to nab a piece of that pie) is still very much up for consideration," Duncan said.

On the subject of states that apply for a waiver to exempt them from NCLB's dictates, Duncan said "if we need to revoke the waiver six months from now, a year from now, two years from now, because folks can't deliver on what they said, we're more than prepared to do that."

As to states that don't apply for a waiver, Duncan said he's "prepared to withhold Title I money to states, if needed."

Irrespective of the fact that the legislative branch of federal government has shirked its duty to reauthorize NCLB, may the executive branch presume to make law, absent the vote of the people to restructure our government that way?

Duncan shrugs off any such concern for propriety.

"I hope at some point next month, six months from now, or next year that we get a strong bipartisan (NCLB reauthorization) bill; unfortunately that's not reality."

Neither is allowing Chicago to establish de facto federal education law.