Roughly $100 billion of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money is slated for education. And about $5 billion of that will be up for grabs for applicant states to bring new ideas that might help struggling students. State law caps the number of Illinois charters at six, but legislation passed by the General Assembly over the weekend could boost that number and change how charters work. Catalyst Magazine founder and editor Linda Lenz explains how it works.

Music Button: Booker T. & the MG’s, “Behave Yourself”, from the CD Green Onions, (Atlantic records)