In just three weeks, Americans will head to the polls to vote. The entire U.S. House of Representatives, approximately one-third of the U.S. Senate, and roughly two-thirds of state governors are running in this important election.

There are a number of reliable pollsters, news media, and online journalists covering the elections. You can follow your favorites, but here are two with proven track records worth considering:

• Real Clear Politics
• FiveThirtyEight

It’s no secret that this election might result in one or both chambers of Congress switching party leadership. Both the House and the Senate are currently controlled by a Democratic majority (255-178 with two vacancies, and 57-41 with two Independents, respectively).

Of the two chambers, it appears that the House is more likely to switch to a Republican-led majority. What might this mean for education funding and programs?

• The House education committee, currently chaired by Rep. George Miller, D- California, would likely be chaired by the current ranking Republican on the committee, Rep. John Kline, of Minnesota. You can learn more about Kline by reading the Republican’s House Education and Labor Committee website. Kline recently penned this piece on education as a jobs issue for The Hill, a Capitol Hill newspaper. 
• The former Republican chair of the House education committee, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, is now the Republican leader in the House. He would be the presumptive speaker of the House in a Republican majority, replacing current Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California.  As former chair of the House education committee, Boehner oversaw the crafting and passage of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, the current version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).
• ESEA reauthorization will likely resume in the spring when the new 112th Congress convenes. There are some areas of agreement between Republicans and Democrats on possible reforms to the law, including: improving graduation rates, focusing on global competitiveness, the need for public school reform, and incentivizing quality educators to stay in the professional while shepherding out those who are not performing. However, there are areas of disagreement as well. Republicans are committed to shrinking the federal role in public schools to shift control to states and local districts and would like to increase school choice and voucher options for parents in underperforming schools. Their Democratic counterparts, meanwhile, appear to be expanding the federal government’s role in public education through requirements, competitiveness criteria, and incentives, and prefer to expand access to charter schools instead of school choice and vouchers. It’s anybody’s guess whether these challenges will prove insurmountable or whether Democrats and Republicans will work together to find common ground.

Do your part. Learn more about the candidates in your area and don’t forget to vote on Election Day!