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Today’s breaking news in the Boston Globe reports that Massachusetts was not named as one of the recipients for the first round of federal education money under Race To-The Top (RTTT) funding. Many folks were surprised to discover that Massachusetts, considered to have the best public schools in the nation based on national test scores, was not included in this first round of awards. The Commonwealth had been selected as one of 16 finalists among 40 state applications; yet, according to the Globe report, only Delaware ($100 million) and Tennessee ($500 million) won in the first round, with another $3.4 billion remaining to be awarded in June.

With the Massachusetts legislature indicating cuts in state aid for schools, the federal money is highly coveted. Lowell has been told it could see a four percent reduction in chapter 70 funds, state aid for education, which means the district will face an additional $7.5 million shortfall for next year. This on the heels of more than $8 million in cuts last year as well as eight years of consistently reducing positions (about 400 less positions) as revenue has not kept pace with costs.

I never go to the movies, hate animation, and wasn’t interested in a 3-D movie at all; however, I did finally go out to see Avatar. I’m glad I did. The 3-D wasn’t just for over-the-top action and violent special effects, it added so much to the beauty of the planet and the believability of a wholly-created world. I heard that Cameron held off from making this movie until he thought the technology could do it justice, and he was right. (Watching an older sci-fi movie, “Stargate”, recently, the whole concept nearly fell apart with the appearance of a goofy looking alien animal).

Probably at this point, anyone who was going to see the movie already has done so; however, I’m thinking of people like me who might shy away from going because it’s in 3-D. It’s also long – I went in thinking that 2 hours and 40 minutes was going to feel endless. Wrong. It is tightly plotted, and it doesn’t assault you every minute with action sequences so the length wasn’t an issue for me. Sure, it’s somewhat predictable, but it is also a very beautiful and powerful movie in a lot of ways, and it’s not too late. Avatar is still showing in Arlington, Boston and elsewhere around the hub.