To the Point

For-Profit Public Schools?

Parents and school officials from San Francisco to New York are fighting over whether for-profit school operators can turn around troubled schools. Are private sector ventures like Edison Schools bringing needed innovations to calcified public bureaucracies or working the system and duping parents to please shareholders? We'll evaluate for-profit schools with education experts from San Francisco's Board of Education, Edison Schools, the American Federation of Teachers, Columbia University, and a parent whose children attend an Edison school in Wichita, Kansas. (Matt Miller guest hosts.) Newsmaker: Hamas Claims Responsibility for Israel Suicide Bombing - Israeli war planes bombed a Palestinian security installation in Nablus to retaliate for a suicide bomber who killed 17 and wounded dozens at a shopping mall. Alan Philps, of The Daily Telegraph, updates us on the latest violence, claims of responsibility, and accusations of blame by Israelis and Palestinians. Reporter's Notebook: Pie Politics - There's been a recently rash of egg and pie throwing into the faces of the powerful. Are such pranks an effective means of communicating a political message or merely amusing ways to spice up the news? University of Oregon graduate student Audrey Vanderford offers some new insights into such "acts of visual Esperanto."