Two years ago, only 150 students attended Holabird Elementary, then a K-5 school in the southeastern corner of this city. Competition from charters and from regular public schools in nearby Baltimore County had drained families from Holabird, a chronic underperformer. So when Andres A. Alonso, the chief executive officer of the Baltimore city…

Given George Washington University's reputation as being particularly pricey, the decision to host a national forum there last week on containing the cost of college could be seen either as highly ironic or as a perfect illustration of why the issue is more complex than parents and federal legislators would like to believe. At more than $39,000 in…