Education Week is reporting the U.S. Senate voted Mon., Mar. 14, to confirm John B. King Jr. as the U.S. Secretary of Education on a vote of 49-40. King had been serving as acting secretary since January. He served as New York state Commissioner of Education from 2011 through 2014, where he oversaw the state's transition to the Common Core State Standards and new standardized assessment. While the state's Common Core curriculum garnered national praise, the state teachers' union and other education advocates became vigorous opponents of King's approach to policy and his relationships with educators. King began serving as a senior adviser to former education secretary Arne Duncan in early 2015. King's nomination by Pres. Barack Obama did meet with some resistance. Prior to the vote Monday, the conservative Heritage Action Committee urged senators to vote no on the nomination. The group criticized his record as New York state education commissioner on issues related to the common core and testing. Testing opt-out advocates also pushed back against King's confirmation. Read the full story at Politics K-12, an Education Week blog.