What do Tuesday’s election results mean for education reform? Kentucky’s Rand Paul is among the newly elected candidates who want to dismantle the Department of Education. That won’t happen, but what lies ahead for our students and teachers? Right now all eyes are on John Boehner, the Ohio Republican expected to become Speaker of the House when the new Congress convenes in January. A seasoned negotiator who in the past has succeeded in passing education laws, he could hold sway over policymaking in Washington. But in many ways, his views about education matter less than the question of what he can accomplish given the fractious caucus he will be leading.

Read the full column at TIME.com