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SEATTLE — Here’s an update to the who’s-who list I started yesterday, name-checking the notable people here in Seattle for the Gates Foundation’s announcement.

It really is remarkable to have so many players in one place. I guess the prospect of dinner at the Gates family estate, which was offered to all guests Monday night (plus a romp on the family trampoline, says Eduwonk) was hard to pass up. Or is it that Bill Gates is more powerful than even the U.S. Education Secretary (see Skoolboy at Eduwonkette: “Bill Gates, U.S. Superintendent of Schools”)?

Below the jump, and in no particular order, the list. I’ve added links this time so you can read more about these people. Warning: One link will direct you to a MySpace page with loud gospel music. This will not be an error.

UPDATE: Jim Hunt, the former North Carolina governor and a mentioned name for Education Secretary, was physically in Seattle; he did not teleconference. (more…)

The Fordham Foundation’s blog, Flypaper, is reporting that President-elect Obama will announce his education transition team either tomorrow or early next week. The blog reports that Clinton administration official Judith Winston would lead the team, which would lay the groundwork for the administration’s first moves in education.

I spoke to Winston at her office today and she said she couldn’t comment.

If she is heading up a transition team, the choice suggests that Obama is still side-stepping that little problem of figuring out where to land on the spectrum of policy positions. My understanding is that Winston is someone who knows the bureaucracy well, but not necessarily someone with a strong stance on education policy. Winston was the general counsel to President Clinton’s education secretary, Richard Riley, for eight years, and Under Secretary for two of those years.

Even if a transition team is named, big decisions like who will run the Education Department will likely not happen immediately. People close to the process tell me that the president-elect has not made a decision on which person to select as Education Secretary. In past transitions, that decision has taken about a month or so to make.

In that department, here are the names I’m hearing, including a new surprise that I’ll start off with: (more…)