After more than a year of heated campaigning, President Barack Obama remains in the White House, Democrats continue to control the U.S. Senate, and Republicans are still in charge of the House of Representatives--leaving unchanged a political landscape that has paralyzed congressional action on education policy and led the president to flex his muscles on K-12 issues. Education advocates and state policymakers said last week they hope Washington can get beyond its differences and give states and districts assurances on such crucial matters as the future of K-12 funding and renewal of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. "The lack of consensus coming out of Washington on [the ESEA and] budget issues is creating quite a bit of uncertainty at the state level," said Ronald Tomalis, the secretary of education in Pennsylvania. Even before the newly re-elected president is inaugurated in January, Mr. Obama and the still-divided Congress face an important test: They must work together to craft a deal to reduce the budget deficit--or, if they fail, face automatic cuts in a broad array of federal programs, including many in the U.S. Department of Education.