The author reports on the push to renew the Elementary and Secondary Education Act which faces steep policy and political hurdles. Although the legislative machinery seems to be clanking along, with an Obama administration blueprint for renewal on the table and House and Senate education panels holding hearings on a variety of issues related to the law, the political prospects for the renewal are much more dicey. A crowded calendar and policy puzzles cloud the prospects of Congress completing the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act this year. Officially, the Obama administration is aiming to pass a bill this year, even though no formal piece of legislation has yet been introduced. The administration has put muscle--and even money--behind renewing the law this year. However, Congress has a full plate of other priorities, including overhauling the nation's financial regulatory structure, and possibly considering energy and immigration legislation, not to mention the usual spending bills and the nomination of Elena Kagan, the U.S. solicitor general, to the U.S. Supreme Court. A rancorous debate over the health-care overhaul sucked up much of the political oxygen on Capitol Hill, leaving lawmakers with little appetite to delve into another tricky domestic-policy issue.