As the beginning of May heralds the end of the academic year, Time Magazine essayist Nancy Gibbs praises great teachers.

An Education Department report disclosed the ineffectiveness of No Child Left Behind's $6 billion student reading program. State education officials Douglas Christensen of Nebraska and Michele Goady of Maryland debate Reading First's merits.

Washington, D.C., with a struggling inner city school system, has seen nearly a decade-long experiment in charter schools -- publicly funded schools that are given more autonomy than their peers -- result in a mixed record of student performance.