Schools for Profit

Torn between a desperate plight and a radical plan, the parents, teachers and politicians who jammed the decrepit Hartford Board of Education building in Connecticut last week agonized over their chance to make history.

Jane Carroll teaches second grade. "I've heard people here tonight say they feel good about the Hartford school system," she said. "Well, I'd feel better if I had a copying machine at school. I'd feel better if I could get construction paper for my classes, if my child had a globe in her geography class. Nothing has changed over the years, nothing has happened. Now, I want...