In today’s WSJ Chad Aldeman takes a look at the thunderous bipartisan applause that greeted the ending of school choice rights for a lot of families.

He’s everywhere! Michael Gerson channels Aldeman on the new education law in his WaPo column. The force is strong with this one.

Related: Keep those parents locked down!

This story – the Idaho school lunch worker who was fired for giving a hungry kid a free lunch – is the kind of story that doesn’t quite ring right and makes you wonder what else is happening. This kind of thing, feeding hungry kids who don’t have lunch money, happens all the time  formally or informally – as it should. But, even absent context the account is a good touchstone because it points up an important issue: this country produces plenty of food but that doesn’t mean everyone has enough. More on that here.

‘Tis the most ascriptive time of the year…. State pension politics. 

The Times looks at the high school graduation rate issue. Warning: rates don’t tell you everything! Jenn Schiess and I took at look at that in the rural context in this ROCI paper (pdf).

Education ideas in this AEI – Brookings working group report on poverty. Its title sounds vaguely familiar though…Ed privacy policy change in CA. Student loans versus home loans. Wade Henderson stepping down in 2016 – will leave a big hole for the civil rights oriented part of the education sector.

Panic with a clever round up of articles he wished he’d penned. Is restorative justice another good idea the education sector is about to discredit?

A little weather is good for you – at all ages.

Finally, thank you! Thanks for reading. 2015 was another good year for the blog on traffic, impact, and fun. Best wishes for the new year and see you in 2016.