Published April 28, 2011

Hailed by some as a historic education agreement, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino tentatively agreed to a deal with the city’s 14 independent charter schools that could end years of squabbling. Under the compact, charter schools would take more neighborhood students and special needs students. In return, the city may lease empty school buildings to charters.

In other education news, the city’s school committee approved a new contract for Superintendent Carol Johnson, allowing her to stay on until 2015.

The Bruins are in the Eastern Conference semifinals after a crucial overtime win over the archrival Montreal Canadiens. The game-winning shot came at 5:43 of the extra period in Game 7, giving Boston a 4-3 win. The team will open the conference semifinals in Philadelphia on Saturday.

While the NFL and its players battle each other in court over labor issues, at least one player is using the time off productively. New England Patriots punter Zoltan Mesko is trading his football pads for a pad and paper while interning at a private equity firm in Philadelphia. Mesko — a former business major at the University of Michigan — is working the cubicles and waiting to return to his day job with the NFL.

Sen. John Kerry is taking a less critical approach toward Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad. Kerry hasn’t called for al-Assad’s resignation, like he did with Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak and Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi.

What we’re following: We’ll continue to report on the proposed education agreement, the House budget and a drop in Massachusetts home sales.