staff writer, Washington Post
Staff writer for the Washington Post and author of Escalante: The Best Teacher in America
PROFILE
Jay Mathews
Guest
FROM Jay Mathews
Which Way, L.A.?
Legacy of the Teacher Who Made Students Stand and Deliver In 1988, the film Stand and Deliver made a celebrity out of a Bolivian-born calculus teacher at LA's Garfield High School. Edward James Olmos played the starring role of Jaime Escalante, who died yesterday of cancer at the age of 79. Jay Mathews was LA bureau chief for the Washington Post in those days, and he had written a book called Escalante : the Best Teacher in America. We remember this giant of education with Mathews, colleagues and former students.
To the Point
New Orleans, Charter Schools and the Education Reform Charter schools are being touted as the free-market alternative for parents whose kids are stuck in failing institutions, especially in inner cities. In the aftermath of Katrina, with 53% of its public-school students enrolled in charter schools, New Orleans has embraced so many charter schools it's become "ground zero" for the entire movement. It's the logical place for this week's conference of the National Alliance for Public School Charters . We ask New Orleans' superintendent and others what works and what doesn't. Are entrenched bureaucracies being overcome? Are teachers' unions coming around? Most important: are charters upgrading student achievement?
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To the Point
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.
To the Point
What is Trump's plan for Middle East peace? On his first foreign tour, President Trump has promised "peace" between Israel and the Palestinians. Are there any details for re-starting talks that have been stalled for the past three years?
To the Point
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.
To the Point
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.