Since the stimulus now makes the ed world go ‘round, here’s a sampling of good reads of late:

Massachusetts, an oft-cited reform-y state, wants to set its graduation rate goal at a whopping 65 percent. Surely, this is not the kind of high standards Arne Duncan is looking for as he starts awarding those Race to the Top funds.

Mike “The Pessimist” Petrilli isn’t convinced that much innovation can go on during tough times with this, even with the help of $100 billion in education stimulus money.

Perhaps Petrilli has reason to be pessimistic, as this latest article by yours truly shows. The first priority of many states seems to be filling budget gaps rather than sending extra money to schools.

And the result of these competing priorities, as Switch & Changeable demonstrates in pictures and in words, is a different kind of March Madness.

Finally, over at the Teacher Beat, Stephen Sawchuk’s post may give teacher-union folks bad dreams.