Education Secretary Arne Duncan has apologized for his off-the-cuff statement that Hurricane Katrina was the best thing that could have happened to the New Orleans school system— though the state superintendent says, Duncan was right. While it’s made progress since then,  the Crescent City seems like it still has work to do on setting its priorities, as officials signaled the likelihood of school closure on Monday (kids couldn’t possibly be expected to be present and alert the day after the Super Bowl, after all)— a decision,  John Merrow typifies in his blog, Taking Note, as “irresponsible behavior on the part of adults.”

While we’re talking about Duncan, did anybody catch that New Yorker profile of the top school’s chief? Kevin Carey’s Quick and the ED  and Andrew Rotherham over at Eduwonk did and both disagreed with the author’s simple division of education reformers into two camps: free market types and liberal traditionalists. What’s your take?

Speaking of take, it’s all or nothing when it comes to national common core standards, says the point people for the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association, the two organizations that have spearheaded the initiative, which 48 states have signed on to.  Currently, the first draft is being rewritten based on feedback that the English standards were unclear. Indeed, the folks over at Core Knowledge were so displeased with the first draft, they decided this week to make their K-8 curriculum available for free.

What to do with that extra $35?