in washington, i'm ray suarez. check check >> good morning, welcome to al jazeera america. i'm thomas drayton, let's get you caught up on the top stories. a soldier opened fire in fort hood texas injukilling three, injuring 16 others before putting the down on himself. >> we don't know a motive, we know the soldier had behavioural and anxiety issues. >> he being treated for depression and anxiety. he spent four months in iraq in

2011. >> an aftershock of 7.2 hit chile, triggering a soourn warning. >> donors can give money to as many candidates, votes. it will influence the wealthy. some signs of life in the mid east peace process. israel stuinging they'll stay the course with negotiations over a palestine state. this after-palestine president mahmoud abbas resumed his campaign for international recognition of palestine. >> those are the headlines. "america tonight" is coming up next. vé

years, good win said the school system had all sorts of problems. things like large class sizes, crumbling buildings and a dysfunctional school board. >> there were teachers that schools. this is a teacher that did not work in a failing school. this teacher could have had the opportunity to work in some of the best schools in the city. >> i didn't think we were failing schools. some may have been but not all, administration were doing what they were -- administrators were doing what they were supposed to do. i feel we should have been able

to come back. education. after katrina, the state took steps to replace almost all the city's regular public schools with charter schools. >> the third one we said was modified. >> charter schools get public dollars and must meet state educational standards but they are largely free to manage their own affairs. many are run by private companies. nearly 80% of students in new orleans attend charter schools, america. these schools have no obligate to repyre these teachers. >> i had -- rehire these teachers. >> i had been 31 of the 33 years i had been teaching. i felt like we should have been seniority. i wasn't a problem, all my evaluations was good, my attendance was good and i just loved my job.

>> after fleeing katrina hearn hearns -- alexander wen -alexander came back. on. >> what kind of info were you finding out? >> the first the thing they told us, they asked if you intended to return to the new orleans public schools please indicate so and i did. and you could also call, you about i called. >> you got a different sort of word. >> yes, i got the word i was fired. >> how did it feel that you were terminated by letter? >> it felt like i was kicked to the curb. the school and the children in that community. >> this is mcdonald 35.

>> stan smith was named interim superintendent, he works for the local public school board. it was the board that fired those 7,000 employees. >> we would have preferred not to do any of it but we didn't have the students, there were a lot of uncertainties. >> smith said beyond that the change. before katrina 65% of students were in failing schools according to state ratings. >> i don't think anyone is going to sit here and say the performance of orleans school system prior to katrina was adequate. >> it's not just local officials who believed the school system in new orleans needed an overhaul. in 2010, arne duncan said, it took hurricane dreent wake up the community to -- katrina to wake up the community and say we

need to do better. the numbers siem seem to back him up, judged around state standards, the new system is dramatically out-performing the old one. now fewer than 6% of students are in failing schools. >> are you happy with performance? >> no. you're never happy with performance. if you ever get to the point where you're happy with performance it's time to retire. there is room for improvement and we need to continue to pursue that. in i get the impression that people are looking at louisiana, new orleans as the model. well, look twice. this model has many problems. >> many in new orleans debate whether the schools are really better. willie attorney. >> the point is many of them are not working so people around the country need to understand that. that this for the most part has been an experiment.

>> the politics of education are complicated. in new orleans especially so. we reached out to several people involved in the charter school movement. other than stan smith all were reluctant to speak to us for this report. when it comes to the public schools overhaul, a lot of people say race matters. predominantly black. the majority of public school students and teachers black. >> it was a far heavier blow to happened. the teachers had you prior to the storm in the community a lot of kids wanted to be like that person, that was somebody's aunt, you went to the grocery store, church with that person. all of that was taken away after the storm. >> revamp a mostly black student body are often wide or from out of town creating tension. it's been said they don't appreciate the role public schools have played in the

crescent city. >> because in new orleans we have a very well documented history of inquit inequity and injustice around children of color. struggle just to get the schools open. >> in new orleans seventh ward, this neighborhood was once home to many middle class blacks and at its core a public school, one of the things that held this neighborhood together. >> this generation of kids in new orleans had really been denied the opportunities that many other generations had, that strong relationship with our teachers, with the people in the neighborhoods. and i believe it contributes to the destabilization of the neighborhoods. >> the pastor is close friends with ingrid hearns alexander who lived here most her life. the pastor is worried about what

happens in the future and where you go from here. >> i always pray and ask god what's my new purpose, before my purpose was an educator. i don't know what's next, i wish i do. >> reporter: sarah hoye, al jazeera, new orleans. >> looking ahead, it is a school where kids rule. >> we're learning a very intense rhythm, what we're doing at the end of the fir month is mostly what they do in the university at the end of the first year. >> making the grade at paris's school 42. imagine this, no professors, no lectures and no tuition. "america tonight"'s sheila macvicar, visits a classroom you have never seen before. that's on thursday. and this hour, taking on a brighter future, homeless children playing the game of a lifetime.

>> evey saturday, join us for exclusive, revealing, and suprizing talks with the most interesting people of our time. >> thinking differently is actualy punished... >> this saturday, is public education actually failing america? >> education is the biggest investment we make in our futures. >> but what are we really teaching our kids? >> i think it's a catastrophe that so many school disticts have cut arts programs back... >> could his reforms lead to happier, more fufilled lives. >> schools need to encourage the development of imagination... >> sir ken robinson talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera america

>> al jazeera america is a straight-forward news channel. >> its the most exciting thing to happen to american journalism in decades. >> we believe in digging deep. >> its unbiased, fact-based, in-depth journalism. >> you give them the facts, dispense with the fluff and get straight to the point. >> i'm on the ground every day finding stories that matter to you. >> in new orleans... >> seattle bureau... >> washington... >> detroit... >> chicago...

>> nashville... >> los angeles... >> san francisco... >> al jazeera america, take a new look at news. there's more to finical news than the ups and downs of the dow. for instance, can fracking change what you pay for water each month? have you thought about how climate change can effect your grocery bill? could rare minerals in china effect your cell phone bill? or, how a hospital in texas could drive up your health care premium. i'll make the connections from the news to your money real. >> well finally it's tonight's kicker, in tv termination that usually means an uplifting story

to end the newscast. fit, the kicker's literal. millions of children around the world live on streets scavenging to survive. al jazeera's rob reynolds traveled to rio de janeiro. >> two of the teams competing in the street child world cup. teams from 19 countries are taking part, organized by a british charity. these children are growing up in poverty and have spent time living on the streets. now, they've been reunited with their parents and are attending school. clearly, the boys and girls visited rio's stadium. >> now i'm playing a role as an

ambassador to those children who are just like me. in he was eager for the pakistani boy's first match. >> striker for the south african girl's team. >> i was but now i'm okay. >> pretty is pretty sure her team will do well. >> i'll keep up. >> the competition is intense, but so are the friendships. for the kids, this tournament is an adventure. but beyond the fun and games, there's a serious purpose here, to draw attention to an often neglected global problem. >> these children will go back and they'll continue to work on the issue, raising awareness, raising understanding of away these children go through and lobbying governments to do more, lobbying society to do more for

street children. >> after the opening round of matches, the burundian boys did a victory dance and his buddies were all smiles. pakistan beat india, 13-nil. rob reynolds, al jazeera. >> fantastic program. thanks >> scared as hell... >> as american troops prepare to leave afghanistan get a first hand look at what life is really like under the taliban. >> we're going to be taken to a place, where they're going to make plans for an attack. >> the only thing i know is, that they say they're not going to withdraw. >> then, immediately after, an america tonight special edition for more inside and analysis. >> why did you decide to go... >> it's extremly important for the western audience to know why these people keep on fighting... ...it's so seldom you get that

access to the other side. >> faultlines: on the front lines with the taliban then an america tonight: special edition, only on al jazeera america >> >> struggling to cope. >> the u.n. says there are 1 million registered syrian refugees in lebanon. appear >> this is al jazeera, live from our headquarters in doha. also coming up, a gunman goes on a shooting ram page in a u.s. military base. four people are dead. >> armed men kidnap two women the a popular tourism resort in malaysia. >> two stolen paintings s