The NAACP has announced its greatest education agenda since the federal government ordered desegregation in 1954, the group said this week.

The civil right group is asking local branches to lobby county and state governments to extend school time, improve teacher training and preschool programs and streamline spending to the neediest students.

The initiatives are being supported by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who said in a state the number of students dropping out, especially among minorities, is “devastating entire communities.”

A coalition of labor and environmental groups are targeting Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's self-filibuster, saying it underscores the need for reforms.

Speaking on the Senate floor Thursday, McConnell challenged Senate Democrats to support his proposal to give President Obama the power to raise the U.S. debt limit unilaterally.

Mr. Obama is asking for the power as part of the fiscal cliff negotiations. But when Democratic Leader Harry Reid proposed passing the measure by a simple 51-vote majority, McConnell quickly objected.

Instead, he argued, such a controversial decision required a filibuster proof 60 vote majority.

"Mitch McConnell has been the chief opponent of fixing the Senate and reforming the filibuster. And this is a prime example of why the filibuster needs to be fixed," says Melinda Pierce, a spokeswoman for Sierra Club, which is a member of the Fix the Senate Now coalition.

Here's what is covered in this edition of Byline:

At the top - It was a week of speculation and drama about head University of Louisville football coach, Charlie Strong. We talk with Courier-Journal sports writer C.L. Brown about Coach Strong's decision to turn down the Tennessee football coaching job and stay at U of L.

Standard & Poor's on Friday revised the outlook for the bonds used to build the KFC Yum! Center from "stable" to "negative" -- citing several areas of uncertainty.

In announcing its decision, S&P cites the Louisville Arena Authority's reliance on tax increment financing,  concerns about efforts to stabilize operating costs and questions about the arena's ability to bring new revenue under its new operator, AEG. The rating on the bond remains BBB-.

The tax increment financing has the potential to be volitile, S&P said.

The Republican state Senate has completed it's shake-up, after announcing new committee chairs today. 

With multiple chairmen retiring and others promoted into leadership, the caucus had many roles to fill, including that of chairmen for Education, Judiciary, Agriculture and Natural Resources. 

And in another move, the caucus named State Senator David Givens as c0-chair to the budget committee, with Senator Bob Leeper.

Incoming freshman Senator Whitney Westerfield is the new judiciary chairman. The full list of Republican chairs are below, with * by new chairs.

Gov. Steve Beshear is considering multiple options in the efforts to get the General Assembly to support expanded gambling legislation.

A constitutional amendment failed earlier this year in the state Senate -- and a major complaint from critics was that the amendment did too much to protect thoroughbred racing tracks over other businesses. The bill banned casinos from being within 60 miles of a race track, unless the casino was at the track.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer doesn't mind making silly online videos to promote local initiatives, as my colleague Erica Peterson highlighted earlier.

The folks at First Friday Trolley Hop got the mayor to make a cameo in their ad too, which also features Councilman David Tandy, D-4, and other notables lip syncing Tim McMorris's "Beautiful Day."

Watch:

Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship made news just last week when he told the Wall Street Journal that he doesn't plan to return to mining, and also doesn't have political aspirations. But as Tom Loftus of the Courier-Journal reports, Blankenship also just contributed $10,000 to the Kentucky Democratic Party.

It wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen to the country.

If President Obama and Congress can't come to agreement on new tax and spending policies by the end of year, the U.S. could slip into recession, defense and domestic programs will see damaging cuts, and the American people may become convinced that Washington can't govern the nation.

On the other hand, the lack of a deal would do a lot to help erase the federal deficit.

Chicago-based Walsh Construction has been granted approval to contract with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to build its portion of the Ohio River Bridges Project.

Walsh Construction’s $860 million proposal to design and build a new I-65 bridge and rework Spaghetti Junction was named the best of three bids last month.

A panel of transportation cabinet engineers reviewed the bid this week and gave it the okay.