While you’re waiting to hear the verdict on the stimulus package—will ed funding be closer to $150 billion, or $75 billion?—check out these good reads:

On the Teacher Beat, Stephen Sawchuk explores the teacher distribution requirements in the stimulus package—one of the few strings attached to the federal education dollars.

Elizabeth Green and the Gotham Schools blog chronicle a heated, ongoing discussion in New York City about mayoral control of schools. Talk about Politics K-12!

Despite what a couple of Washington, D.C.-based blogs are reporting, Arne Duncan did not tell NPR that he’s sending his kids to a D.C. public school. A public school, yes, but he never said which district. Listen to the interview for yourself here.

For those who have studied the connection between paper mache and the GDP, House Education Committee Chairman George Miller will hold a series of hearings on how the arts benefit the economy.

Mike Petrilli at Flypaper dares us to call him a Scrooge for declaring that less money for schools might actually be a better deal in the stimulus.

Over at EdWeek’s Curriculum Matters, colleague Sean Cavanagh examines whether, given the economic meltdown, some school reformers are so quickly turning to “business” for lessons on turning around schools.

And finally, This Week in Education examines where things stand with Arne Duncan and the DOE.