calling out elected and also pokes at the university system to say here's what we need to succeed as well. >> we call for a major investment for the states to increase their investments into the administration called for similar programs but given the level of activity in congress that might not have happen in the short term i hope it will but it doesn't work the others you have at the federal level to address these issues? >> it's the conversation of the conversation we are having. what can we be doing and i think as your report is doing it starts to change the conversation which is important but there are other things we can be doing, so you are

involved helping to craft the grand constitution which we put out to the community over six months ago and the response was overwhelming 500 institutions put in applications for innovative practices that they wanted to experiment with to try to improve access and outcomes and drive down cost and the fact that 500 institutions are responding so yes we have to do our part, too. so at the state level i think that our work is to help identify some of the things we are learning from the first in the world grantees and scale them up so they can become more common state practice. in the same vein, one of the areas in which the states and federal government and the k-12 system have a common interest is

in the teacher preparation. in a particular area of overlap working with the states now to create a set of regulations that will put more tools in the hands of the states to be be a lot of work with institutions to raise the level of the teachers which we think is a key leverage not just in the higher education world but in the k-12 world if we are going to seek to bring high school graduates ready to do college-level work. so there are tools and innovations around empowering the states with policy regulation. >> ralph and david, to the point of that connection in the postsecondary system and the k-12 system we point out in a report the report that one of the areas of cost that seems insurmountable is the fact as

david mentioned so many students are showing up on the campus and they are not ready for the college-level work which means they have to take three mediation cases and so there is the cost of the student increasing the student debt and the costs to society since we are basically teaching the same content twice. are there ways that your institutions can help tackle that issue which is a k-12 issue but help ensure that by the time they get to the door they are ready for success at the college-level? >> absolutely. we work on a regular basis for the local school district to provide the college-level programs in particular for students that are looking to move on to postsecondary education. most particularly, there is as i mentioned. we have an articulation transfer with community colleges and

state colleges. one of the great advantages of the state in florida is we have a well-established two plus two articulation. we have a common core numbering system that i noticed in your report as being an essential mechanism i think for streamlining passage for the community colleges and universities. we are actually working to words jointly admitting the students to the university as they are admitted to the partner so they receive a joint letter but these are the conditions on the rate to enter the university.

we recognize the tuition for students about 3,000 as compared to what we think is a very reasonable 6500 i-india diversity system. but again, that is only part of the story because the full customer attend is closing in on $20,000 we realize that is a strain on the limited income families. >> before i comment, let me just say i think it's important to appreciate the broad context of the relationship between the federal government and its higher education traditionally in state government and even the local government. the reason why it comes to mind in this particular context because much of what is being

done in this area is being done at the state and local level and so there is a question of what is the large role the federal government might play in this area we all know that the traditional role in the government has been providing student financial assistance to a greater or lesser extent and i would be remiss if i didn't note in this context that as we talk about the impact of the recession on the higher education higher education and participation post secondary education that the funds that the congress and president jointly provided. the reauthorization in 2008 stimulus bill and the increasing pell grants and opportunity tax credit that was provided data play an essential role in the plugging the hole that would have been created otherwise for the increase in tuition which was caused in turn by the state

budget cuts. so the government by providing the dollars to students from our point of view the federal government did something that even a few years down the road from now deserves to be remembered and applauded and we need to make sure that we keep that level of support for students because they are at this point in time dependent upon it. so in the question of what the colleges can do to help the students be more prepared in fact they are doing a tremendous amount right now that is to some extent unheralded. probably most people fear that the community colleges provide in almost all cases some type of enrollment however you want to label it which is an opportunity for high school students to acquire community college credits they might be having those courses delivered to them

after high school. they might be going to community college to take those courses at the concept of the dual enrollment is relatively new although it is very broad-based at this point and it was designed interestingly and importantly not for your classical advanced placement student who is an honor student in high school but for those that are on the margins maybe they were not sure. in the original idea behind the enrollment was to get the students expose her to college and so that is being done on a very broad-based us right this right now and so that does play a role in preparing students to be ready for community college. another thing that the clutches are giving and this is more than at the local level to the state level. you find many presidents and institutions finding aggressive

reaching out to the local high schools to simply increase college awareness for the students that maybe don't know about student financial assistance. they don't know the options that are available. they have wonderful transfer opportunities in the institution to do all those sort of things and in fact some of them are so effective i just heard one grading a little bit that he but that he was providing all these great resources and then they were going off to the four year institution. be that as it may, it is something i think the colleges are doing that again, it isn't so much a state-based policy in most cases. but it really up to the individual presidents to do that and one of the things i want to mention because it is so interesting and potentially helpful in increasing the college readiness is the administration of placement testing community colleges that require almost all students to

take when enrolled in the institutions to make sure they are ready to do the community college work. the institutions some cases on their own dime and the placement test commonly used across the country leading the students know whether they are ready or not for college-level work and if they are not the tests would be administered no later than the 11th grade and the radio coursework when they are in high school, whether it be just fine to work at the community college or four year institution. so they come to the door to check or prepared than they would have otherwise. and i think that these few innovations stand to increase college readiness in a dramatic way. of course we have all heard about the common core but they are consistent with it and stand to take students better prepared when they are in the institutions or others.

>> on david's point about administering i think it is an example of a great opportunity for the state policy records because there are a few states. california is one of them where they ended the placement oriented questions on the regular stakes testing regimen. so the sophomore in high school juniors can get an accurate picture of what they need to do to really be college ready on day number one. and i think that those kind of policies take what is good institutional practice and left it up to the state policy position to benefit of the students. >> i could also add particularly for the students that are first in their family to go to college not all of the families fully

understand fafsa. they understand funding available to help them and we do participate in the college goal. we work closely with the families and the community organizations to help fill out the federal forms which incidentally have been tremendously simplified and improved in recent years. thank you for that. but we still find in florida where the programs have more than doubled over the past six years we still find we have $138 million a year of funding on the table. florida isn't alone. there's an awful lot of available that isn't utilized and we all need to do a better job of communicating and facilitating the application

process. >> the bills david mentioned the student advocacy groups played a huge role in getting across the finish line. do you see the millennial generation getting engaged on this issue that we are talking about just on the additional aid to demanding the k-12 system given what they need to be ready for college as well? spinet i think so especially the point on the remedial courses. people when they are ready to go to college all of a sudden they realize they have to take these courses and it adds onto that. the people that are already working to support themselves and their families, that come at a time, that extra semester allows the difference between college happening at all or not at all. and i think that being able to look at them is like common core hell do we make sure people are

prepared and how do we make sure people are not having to take these remedial courses that they could finish school sooner. if you look across the generations parents want to make sure that their kids can go to college and that they are able to do things like pay off their own student debt. they want to make sure that their own children are not taking out a massive load of that they are impacting their decision for employment. there are so many of my peers and i'm sure somebody so many in the audience of a story where her friends wanted to go to public service and maybe they wanted to be teachers or nurses that to tester asked to be shifted the course because they have so much student debt that they cannot imagine paying down that debt with some of the public sector jobs that exist. if you look whether it is the student that cover yes when they

are talking directly to the college system and state legislators the ticket to the ballot box as well which is something that we think is very exciting. >> the president has made it a top priority to increase student aid and then admirably changed the conversation from one about access to one about completion. so they did focus on making sure that there is a good outcome in the postsecondary sector and recently he's also talked about the need to keep the price down. there is only much the federal lead can do if the price continues to go up. one of the big concerns in that space is pressure around price could lead to reduced support at the state or the institutional level for the low income students. because as you know, not everybody pays sticker price and we ought to make sure that all income students were getting the support they need to be successful. how do you think about that in

the department pushing the policies in a way that doesn't have an unintended consequence for low income students? >> part of the policy conversation that we are having at the present and the place it comes up for example is our discussion about the college ratings. how can we create a rating system that doesn't create the unintended consequences of encouraging institutions to accept it easiest students to teach or those that could afford the higher education being framed. we are thinking about a mixture of different metrics that identify and institutions ability to attract and move through the first program students as a focal point so we

are not creating an incentive to take those people out of the kitchen to find people who are better prepared. we don't think that is in the public interest. i want to go back to some of the other underlining dynamics around the student debt. i think the student debt issue is not just people changing their behavior once they are in. one of the things i worry about is the student debt issue may be preventing more and more young people from pursuing a college degree because they are afraid of the very front edge what they are about to embark on is going to make it harder for them. so, i think the more that we can talk about and get very clear

about public service loan forgiveness programs and about the president's income driven repayment programs that we are just beginning will making on a pay-as-you-go expanding the pay as you earn the program that we need to work on reducing the price and we need to work on reducing costs and we need to make sure young people understand the range of opportunities that we were dealing with student debt. >> they drop out before any kind of degree that will help them get a better paying job and that is a population we should have a look at focus on to make sure they know about some of the programs. i just met with a group of latino interns in dc and they are very committed to the public interest and they'll have student loans and do you know about the income-based repayment, these are all people that are for the most part

senior aides were in college. these are programs that guess we should make sure students know what they are graduating but also in the junior and beginning of senior year in school because they could be making different decisions if they knew some of the programs existed and so i think that is something we all have a role from the university system to the department to us as individuals and talking to our peers. >> is the something that your institution is taking deliberate action so that people are aware of them because it does seem like a tragedy to your point about programs being left on the table. it seems like a tragedy if if they're for students that there are students that could benefit but they don't know about them. >> absolutely. we are tidying tying our efforts to communicate such opportunities. i would like to go back to the point and focus on funding or

support. on the input if you will, it's true after six years of diminishing the public investment and increasing tuition in the state of florida, for the first time this year in a long time we have seen an infusion of new investment in public higher education around performance-based funding and while across the nation it has perhaps received mixed reviews for a seat state that is investing $100 billion which came to the university of florida so we like it. based upon the completion rate and based upon the attention rates and the percentage of how the students are served and based upon the number of students graduating with --

without excess hours if we keep piling on the completion expectations many of our students will never get them and they will become so discouraged that they got out and we lose them for a long time. so yes i think of this as representing a change for us. new funding came to us six or seven years ago on the basis being wide open. it's one of the reasons why a think that five of the top ten largest universities in the nations are found in a state the state of florida. we haven't quite recovered from accessing to the state of access. now with a refocus on completion and placement injury confidence

we move in the right direction. >> a couple of comments first of all the issue of the money that students leave on the table in the form of not filing fafsa is very disturbing across the sector. on the source that you cite but clearly at a minimum a quarter of all community college students enjoy a part-time student at a don't complete the application process. and as i say, it is a very bothersome fact per institutions. colleges are doing what they can to promote awareness about the financial systems and counseling students throughout the application process is remains a hurdle for them and getting back to what i initially started talking about the quandary that the institutional ceos have about the limited resources in one of the financial aid offices have a hard time processing the

paper or the applications that are coming as opposed to making sure. it's been touched upon fortunately because the low tuitions in the institutions they are able to ensure that the vast majority of coach students don't graduate with that upon completion. about four of the students that attend the associates degree have debt and only 17% of all of the credit students borrow and that of course is a function of our low tuitions. in terms of getting students to complete the incentives for them and of course there are a lot of institutional incentives in play which is gaining ground across the country at the state level, one of the things that we think will enhance completion but also the better information about the

student outcomes. and we do remain disappointed that there isn't a system that would follow students throughout their postsecondary education course so that the institutional performance would be reflected in the federal data but also the individual students who are considering enrolling would have been more complete picture of the likelihood of getting a good degree. then related to and related to that in the basic architecture is in place in the form of a good employment regulation. my association believes that we really ought to know what type of earnings students get after they leave college at some appropriate point. we understand there's a lot of complexity interpreting the data and we understand it is and comprehensive in all cases but all things being equal, we believe the students that complete a given program at the college and we believe they should apply for all programs, not just to the employment programs as it were.

they ought to know two years or five years on average how are the students doing economically. they increased the career prospects. it's by no means the only reason they go. they get all sorts of benefits. they sort of come along free of charge or just along with going through college but the notion that students go to the institutions simply as it transforms lives is simply just a benign reality. so we are hopeful that some point some mechanism going over the politics of this that when a student enrolled at the local community college and they know not just what the ipad graduation of 150% of time is but how likely to graduate from any institution may be a four-year institution and after that they might expect economically with the returns

would be because we all know that the best investment you can make in the future is by going to college and completing college. >> david answered what was going to be my next question which was if there was one thing you would like to change at a policy level federal or state committee and you will have an opportunity to ask this, but i think that the data that you are describing is something that the federal government and state government could provide on a policy basis to help institutions improve their performance. just wondering if there are other federal or state policies that you think you would enact to help your institution to be successful. >> one concern that i've always had with federal reporting is the focus on the traditional threat.

that may have been the experience of many in this town but the increasing reality is that more and more students are finding their way to four-year colleges and universities, so recognizing that reality and tracking the students pathway to success to completion i think would add an awful lot to the experience. >> if i were a king for a day i would solve and resolve the transfer problem once and for all. your proposal includes a transfer in the states. this is a tragedy for students that accrue the credits in the community the community colleges and then move on to the institution and find that the

credits cannot be applied to the degree at the four-year level. and although we are making progress both through the entrepreneurial community college presidents and the chancellor's who are hashing out articulation programs with local colleges and although there have been improvements at the state level there are still in far too many places students or may be able to transfer all the data that we have showed that if you are able to transfer all of your credits to a four year college that you are much more likely to complete in fact the data from the fact a few lose a few credits on average it is a much more likelihood of getting a degree of the institution that could transfer into. if i can wave a wand and create a common course number and articulation and perfect

information from the students when they enroll in community college is there are some places like florida where it is a very good state as well i think that would have the single biggest impact in completion certainly the baccalaureate attainment in this country. hispanics from a student perspective if we have a magic wand this is something that we have the students across the country that is a starting place for so many of our young people but in the meantime. they make sure they would be able to access money and how does that change so drastically and if they find out in the junior year they wouldn't be able by their senior year to start in school. we think that it's important to make sure that students know this is how much federal aid you can get that covers the cost of

the community college and in most cases i think the other thing that we have seen with students is that far too many students were taking out private loans before they max out their federal loans to read and i think that it's something like half of students that have private loans. and this is a huge concern because federal loans have so many more consumer-based protections than private. as income-based or public service loan forgiveness and i think that is something that we need to do a better job on educating students before they get those private loans. now wait a minute you have these federal loans that are a much better use ideally you don't have to take them at all but if you do it is much better position to take out the federal loan. ..

>> not only is there traditional student not the majority student any longer, but even those quote-unquote nontraditional students are seeking higher education in different ways. america you've created for transfer credit, i think we're to recognize students are just transferring from one institution, two or three, or assembling course credit online. and so i think it's our responsibility develop the financial aid system that is ever but flexible as the students are today, and likely

to be tomorrow. that would be my ad, flexible students. >> with that we will turn over to the panel and give all your chance to ask our terrific panel some questions. >> good morning. i'm a reporter with diverse issues in higher education. i was hoping you could say a bit more about the proposed compact itself. makes reference to 10% of funding. i'm unclear what the 10% refers do. have to speak about the workability of the compact like a spreadsheet do something about the likelihood of such a thing coming into existence, what role congress needs to play, what needs to happen in congress, things of that nature. thank you. >> david answered the part about 10% am not sure what you're referring to but in terms of congress' role, it can't happen without congress.

ted doesn't have a magic wand at this point to use substantial differences it have to enact the program. but we think they should. it's an issue where it has historically been a bipartisan issue to ensure that people have access for post secondary education. so hope they would take action in the next congress. >> him this proposal calls 490% of the money providing for the program, and the former takes into account a number of pell grants. 10% of the funds would be held by the federal government to be used to help support the work of states, to to evaluation and other kinds of, provide other kinds of technical assistance that might be helpful to states as they go about doing their work. also, maybe some work in regions

where communities that are closely linked could come together and develop holistic solutions to higher education problem in a geographic region. so we were thinking that a substantial amount of the money would go out to states and states would use it and use it effectively, but there should be some reservation of funds to make it possible for the federal government to support that work. >> so, we think that this is going to require very substantial investment of funds. and, you know, when we talk about this internally we benchmarked it to work that's been done by our economic policy team here at cap where they begin fight about $1.4 trillion in additional funding that could be made payable through

bipartisanly agreed upon tax reform. and so you could say that 10%, 5% of the money, the kinds of things, the dollar amount we would be think about being necessary in order to drive the kinds of changes we want to see happen at the state level across the country. >> other questions? anybody else lacks great. maybe each of our panelists could get some closing thoughts before we finish up. >> we are all shy. i guess as a closing comment, david mentioned this earlier, sort of like to reinforce it. i think at the heart of both

this report and the plant at a lot of our discussion today has been this move of ralph, you called a move from input, through input and outcomes. i think increased focus on outcomes for individual students, outcomes for taxpayers, outcomes for us as an economy and as a society is probably the most critical trip we've seen in the debates over the last 10 years. and i think it's important as within about outcomes that we do it in a robust way. that doesn't narrow our focus but it actually increases our aperture as we look at the range of things that we seek to gain as a society from higher education. >> i guess i will go next. maybe we can go in line so you all can be prepared. i'd like to get back to the, the

undersecretary met at the beginning of the panel, and that is the fact that we do have an implicit but yet very real cooperative triad of sorts between the federal government, states and families and students to finance higher education. and the reality is overtime the state, we could call historically define to the extent that is tapered off and drop from what was 20 years ago and before that, but that the states implicit share of that partnership, in the bargain, states haven't been keeping that, their side of the bargain. there are a lot of reasons for that, and one of them perhaps the next chair of the committee lamar alexander will see the growth in medicare spending we just got out a lot of other spending that we also know the share of dollars going to post secondary education has decreased as a percentage of the state budget. so i commend the center for the

proposal for trying to put the spotlight back on the need for big governmengovernmen t to be more robust in terms of its support of post secondary education. we could argue about some of the particulars in your proposal. it's extraordinarily ambitious proposal but a lot of the goals that are implicit our specific in the proposal, things that we certainly agree with and would like to see enacted. but the reason why i mentioned the data record issue and the earnings data is because i believe that that is perhaps one of the last best chance as we have to stimulate the governor and legislature to provide greater support for post second education by having greater documentation of impact that we have to. and as i was thinking over the weekend about this panel, i would bring back to the goals which you will remember, and what president herbert walker

bush did in this area, trying to perhaps potentially galvanize what you try to do some time ago, state leadership in the area of k-12 education. but perhaps something out to be done nationally by this administration and maybe congress, maybe both, maybe something they could agree on actually that the states need to provide a more robust financial support for her education to students and to the institutions themselves. because from my perspective, the federal government has been doing, certainly more than states have relatively speaking has really stepped up to the plate in the way over the last five, six, seven years, that state governments have not for whatever reason. and that balance needs to be changed. so again i just want to thank you for having me, and begin for thanking the center for casting

a spotlight on this act. that we need state government to provide more support for post secondary education. >> i think something i'd like to close with is, you know, despite all these problems, challenges exist is that the millennial generation is doing a great job. we are the most educated generation in our countries history, and are seeing massive increases in the amount of african-american and let tina students going to college. it just hasn't happened before. that should be applauded both to the generation drug but also to the college of systems and the secondary schools that are really pushing, and pairs to get young people to go to college. we have to remember that as well. and we have to remember to engage young people come and teach students at all levels of this conversation. students are the ones who are finding those holes in the system before we are. it was just last week i met a young woman over coffee who's telling me about some struggle should start with the pell grants and do something we have

not thought about before but it was because directly speaking with this young woman that this issue came to light. i'm looking for to chat more about how we can fix it. but i think if we're really talking about making sure that we continued the most educated generation, that future generations like a more educated, is that we are acknowledging diversity, whether the amount of vaccine school which we are talking about, students with pal and those in the g.i. bill in the same category because they should be of a particular focus because as a generation that has gone to war, and it is our generation that has hideouts of low income students. i think the other thing i would just mention is when it states get involved, invest. because when students are attempting to make the right decision to go to school, you are a lot of bad actors out there that will scoop them up, that will take advantage of them like a lot of the for profit schools when they could be going to great community colleges that will not charge them nearly as

much and make sure that the good to great when they graduate and can get a good job. so we all have a role to play in this, and i would ask for those with the decision-makers out of there to really be sure we're talking to students on all kind of students, 18, 19-year-olds, yes, your 28 year-old mom who was going back to school. those are the ones we should be looking for. >> last word. >> that's the challenge. i think what's become clear this morning, and again, thank you so much for putting the spotlight on this, that higher education today is not your grandparents experience in college, or for that matter your parents. in the state of florida we, half of the degrees, in fact half of the student enrollment in the state universities occurs at three of the 12 institutions in the most populous areas, the university of florida,

university of central florida in orlando and florida international university in miami. we have recently launched a consortium of the metropolitan research members in the state that graduates, again, just about half of the baccalaureate degrees, two-thirds of the baccalaureate degrees awarded to hispanics in the state. about 55% of the degrees awarded to pell recipients across the state. their experience is quite different than that, if you will, the legacy institutions. we are committed to collaborating, for sharing best practices, to leveraging resources across the three universities with the minds of better serving the new population of college attendees and college graduates in the state.

and we believe that absolutely it's essential if florida, and this nation, is going to compete successfully in the global economy, and maintain what has become a commitment to providing social mobility through college education. >> thank you. thank you all for doing this, and thank you all for joining us this morning. thank you. [applause] >> [inaudible conversations]

>> [inaudible conversations] >> if you missed any of this discussion on state funding of colleges and universities you can find it online at c-span.org. later today, 12:45 p.m. eastern time join us for a press briefing with spokesman josh earnest. we could hear him address the response to the ebola virus in the u.s. and some of the new restrictions put in place by governors in new york and new jersey. that briefing live 12:45 p.m. eastern time right here on c-span2. at noon on c-span, a look at the options a double to officials to

protect the public from ebola. take elected the heritage foundation for that policy discussion at noon eastern. later tonight, 7:00 eastern, one of the 100 of its c-span is covering for control of the white house. >> lie that date from massachusetts a debate in the governor's race. during the debate you can join us via social we did, on twitter at c-span or on c-span space book page. >> be part of sees dance campaign 2014 coverage, follow was onto it and like as a facebook to get debate schedules, they do clips of key moments, debate previous from

our politics team. c-span is bringing over 100 senate, house and governor debates and you can share your reactions to what the candidates are saying. the battle for control of congress. stay in touch and engaged by following us on twitter at c-span and liking us on facebook at facebook.com/cspan. >> recently candidates in washington, d.c. his mayor race met in their final debate before the election. they debated education reform, a formal housing, job skills and legalizing marijuana. a number of polls show muriel bowser with a 17-point lead ahead of fellow council members david catania and carol schwartz. they are debate was held at anacostia high school in southeast d.c. and comes to us courtesy of wusa nine. it's about one hour. ♪

>> moderator: good evening, everybody and welcome to the historic anacostia high school in southeast washington. we are here for the final most important debate of the d.c. mayoral campaign. while a lot of have already decided on who you are going to vote for, you know there are a lot of undecided people out in the audience, watching this on the web, they will be watching the broadcast. let's respect them. let's respect the candidates. opening statements also decided by lot. going first will be democratic nominee for mayor, muriel bowser. one minute for opening statement. bowser: thank you, bruce, and good evening, everybody. i have muriel bowser and and i'm running for mayor of my hometown. i'm very proud of the progress that we've made together in the city, but i'm also concerned that not everybody in our city is enjoying that progress. that's why as council member i

thought for common sense solutions that help everyday families all across the district of columbia. like kids ride free on metro bus which has allowed thousands of families to get to school. before kids ride free, kids are paying $30 per month per child just to get to school. the school in their neighborhood had been closed when you come other schools will be closed the next. families have been able to keep money in their pockets and get tickets to quality schools. i fought for saving d.c. homes from foreclosure to keep families in their homes and going to keep fighting for all eight wards and the district of columbia with your support. [cheers and applause] >> moderator: ms. schwartz. schwartz: good evening, everybody. i and carol schwartz, a former at-large member of the d.c. council. some of you may remember me from

my 16 years on the council as well as my two terms on the board of education. and may also remember that i lost five and a half years ago my reelection for the council because i gave set to lead to workers. and i'm very proud of that, even though i have been threatened by some in the basest immunity that it would come after me if i pushed ahead. i think it's important for people have part-time jobs and to work to have some sick leave. and so if i had to do it all again and have taken this leave of absence because of it, because i lost my election, i would do it all again. but i want to come back so i can continue doing things or people who need it. helping our vulnerable population, getting affordable housing, helping our homeless, giving drug treatment and alcohol treatment to those who need it. thank you all very much. >> moderator: thank you very much. mr. cat. catania: i think you.

it's very much respect i want to think of him for being here and the organizers for arranging this. we have a big decision to make him a couple weeks now and that is what has the experience and has the experience in the values and vision to lead our city? for the last 17 years i've been privileged to be able to get up everyday and run towards our cities challenges. i'm also proud of some the things we been able to check and. during my chairmanship of the committee on health before the affordable care act we reduce our rate of an insured to the second lowest rate of the country up by 20%, 3.2 virtual. we were able to cut our new hiv infections by 50% and our death by 69% and the real tenacious ever were able to invest $100 million to united medical center and saved from closure. for the last 30 or 21 months i've chaired the committee on education and through 100 conversations with school leaders we have been able to end social promotion, make the biggest investment in her city's history and at risk children. we are on the road to fixing special education.

i'm running because the d.c. can do better. thank you. [applause] >> moderator: thank you, mr. catania. the order of responding to questions also decided by lot. the first question goes to carol schwartz. ms. schwartz, could you name the single biggest contribution you've made to ward eight? schwartz: , probably i would say the sick leave where people who need it have it. the department of the environment trying to clean up the anacostia river which can negatively impact the neighborhood. also come in my private life, not just my public life, bruce, but in my private life of the enormous amount of volunteer work, including coming out here having been on the board of the metropolitan boys and girls

clubs and had to work at the center out here for all those years several decades ago. something both in my political life and my community life i think ward eight has benefited from all those activities. i also, if you remember, chaired the committee that public works under it. we were able to do far better at trash pickup and we were able to make dmv be better. unfortunately, it has fallen back since i don't chaired the committee anymore. i've always made life better for everyone. >> moderator: ms. bowser, same question to your single biggest cogitation. bowser: a single biggest a division of one of the residents all across ward eight is the transit, the free transit for school children. as i mentioned in my opening it does make a difference in everyday lives of families who were leaving their communities to go to school and had to pay to do so. so that's very important. i think that i've also made a

tremendous contribution of working with residents that surround part of southern. [shouting] i'm sorry -- >> moderator: excuse me. please, please. we are early into this debate. please don't do that. judiciary put all of us when you do the. please continue five as i started, i wanted to say that a problem was brought to me about violence in the community on metro bus that surrounded a committee called parkway overlook. i have worked with all of the housing agencies to make sure that that building could be saved. it was most recently purchased by the housing authority and will be converted to hundreds of units of a formal housing. >> moderator: mr. catania, same question. your single biggest cogitation to ward eight. catania: thank you, mr. johnson. so years ago when it first became chairman of the committee on health, not medical center

than greater southeast was borrowing pharmaceuticals from neighboring hospitals as well as bandages. nurses walked off the job or go to be paid and the radiology department had been burnt out. it was operate as barely more than a clinic when i became chairman and i was proud of leading the council's effort to invest of $100 million to that facility. in the extra, new equipment, new wound care, new dialysis, but most importantly the new united medical center partnership with the children's national medical center which brought a pediatric er to that site josie 40,000 children alone issue. i'm proud of the fact that while not perfect, that hospital would have close but forever. the army who say it was a band-aid or waste of money. i believe that people are entitled to the same quality of health care i expect in my neighborhood and that's why i led the effort of the proud of it and that hospital is there with 1000 jobs because of it. [applause] >> moderator: okay.

now we have random questions. we'll start a dissent and work our way of. up. first question is to all three candidates. you are elected mayor. you get a call from marion barry and he's complaining about the reduction in the business broken. you take the call or to give it to department head? mr. catania. catania: you can't not take a call from marion. that's just -- marian cannot be deferred. marian and i have a story i have a store just to pick something to love each other, sometimes we don't i've got to tell you that no one can diminish his legacy and his work. when he had dashed business one minute? >> moderator: that would let a one word answer. catania: yes, i would take the call. schwartz: of course i would take his call. in fact, i have the great privilege and i would never understand exactly why, but marion before he went in for his kidney translate operation, i had just gotten on the council and i was out of town actually, i got a call from marion barry

from hospital, howard universiuniversi ty hospital and so i had a conversation with -- >> moderator: thank you very much. schwartz: always have, always will. bowser: yes, i would take marion's call. in fact, i took is called about five calls a day, talking about what's important to the residents of ward eight. [cheers and applause] >> moderator: okay. we would like -- we'll keep it on ms. bowser and work away down. one minute responses because of a but have a lot of time to think about this. talking education reform. everybody says he or she is for education reform. specifics, please. you become mayor. what is the first thing you do to speed up reform? bowser: just. i think we all are for education reform and we have to decide how fast this government is going to make a quality in our education

investment every. we worked very hard over the last seven years. we've made a lot of progress, some of the very difficult than some of the decisions very difficult to now we see parents are choosing d.c. public schools again. we see our numbers are growing. that's because they have confidence in leadership. and i think that we have to have continued leadership in our schools. that's going to be strong for closing educational gaps. the biggest thing that it think that remains is making sure our middle schools are ready, but we are telling parents that will have great buildings, great leadership, great curriculum and that the student is going to be ready for high school and career. when they graduate from high school they would be prepared to going to college or get great jobs so that they can afford the great life in the district of columbia. [applause] >> moderator: okay again, ms. schwartz, one minute. and again, my question is can a specific it is there any one thing you would do that you have

in mind that isn't being done up to speed up reform? schwartz: well, listen, i've a lifetime working on education reform and my own children went nowhere but to the d.c. public schools. one of the things i've called for in my education plan, i hope you look at it at my website is a call to service. weber lot of retired educators not only in d.c. but throughout the metropolitan area. i want to literally bus them in to go to our schools where there's a large number of high need students so they can do one on one tutoring to give the children some tender loving care and attention so that they can get cut up at very early age to also want back around services at those type of schools so that the parents can go in for adult education classes in the evenings and on weekends. so i very specific plans of how we tackle this terrible

disparity that we have in the test scores of our children's. >> moderator: thank you very much. mr. catania, specifics to a specific you do to speed up reform. catania: i will continue to vote on the work the committee started on education 19 months ago. we've ended social promotion that we need to make sure children are on grade level. we would expand the at risk weight which is the largest investment in history of our city and at-risk youth, $80 million continued work of special education. the one thing missing is stability in our leadership and our schools. this is the perfect example. fiscal lost a terrific principle last year in dr. roberts. there's a feeder system, to illustrate the point there's a feeder system that elusive perfect what i'm saying. you have simon and kramer and blue, all in fun of each other right across the street from each other and every one of those leaders this year has changed. l. austin elementary school, they lost a middle school and lost to principle school leader.

unless the stability leadership our schools are not going to improve and i would make that a focus. [applause] >> moderator: mr. dent, follow-up question to talk about the absence of leadership. are you referring to the chancellor or talking about the mayor? catania: i don't think it's important to focus on playing. we need stability at the top within a chance to but we need stability in our schools so that reform can matriculate, and so reform can actually take root. when we're changing school leaders as were doing every year, we lose 20% of our vegetables ever you. we're not giving our schools a chance to actually get set up to succeed, and that's a problem. [applause] >> moderator: ms. schwartz. schwartz: i think we need some stability in our teaching staff. we needed to reform, when they did the reforms they just threw out the baby with the bathwater. there were a lot of of veteran teachers that were really good. and instead they brought in all these teach for america young people, all good, all good but,

but they usually stay for two to three years. even if you look at the website of the teach for america, two to three years. we need teachers where one child will have them and their brother and the session will have this good teacher, and we need to also get a tour of veteran teachers, and stop throwing out the baby with the bathwater and for ms. bowser, and we move on? bowser: i would just add i do think that we need stability, but we also need continuity in leadership at the top. i would set some goals in working with the chancellor. our goals are retaining principals, retaining principles that are effective for the schools. i would set some goals for retaining teachers, teachers who are effective for the schools. what's most important is that we're moving our children along and that every adult in the building demonstrate how they're

helping in that case. >> moderator: one more question about schools. this is on school boundary. i could be wrong but he seems to me all three of you are punting when it comes to the issue of school boundaries. you want to put off until after you're in office. let me ask this. let me give you an example. let's talk about crestwood which is on the other side of the river but right now residents of crestwood can send there kids to wilson junior high school. under the mayor's plan t they would have to send their kids to roosevelt to anybody got a problem with that? bowser: it is in my ward but we are in ward eight so let's talk about the impact of the boundaries on board eight neighborhoods first. [applause] and with the boundaries of on the table would do is say to families who are in ward eight is that there's going to be a line down the anacostia river and join not in boundary for anything across it. and our families right now who

are in boundary for eastern high school. so i will not support a plan and they do not think a plan is ready if it exacerbates educational into gold. the same is true for the neighborhood that you mention that i haven't approach of. drawing a line down rockford park is not acceptable and it is bad for educational inequality in our city. [applause] >> moderator: wait, wait, wait. i want to redirect the question. what is acceptable? transit and i'd like to answer that question, bruce. my children went to the d.c. public schools and one of the reasons i wanted them to go is because i wanted the glorious diversity that is washington, d.c., for them to have that experience in school as well. and they did. and now i think that some of the boundary things that are being proposed are going to integrate a school system. and i'm not going to allow brown v. board of education to go backwards on my watch, i can

assure you. [applause] catania: you know, i appreciate representative bowser's focus but the rebound every drawing has an impact on this committee. simply taking mode in elementary away from johnston moving it to kramer is going to cripple johnson. we know a couple of years ago there was an effort to try to close johnson. there are currently only four elementary schools that feed into the johnson. it's the largest, responsible for about 42 of the incoming 100 kids. moving to kramer is going to cripple johnson and it would be the predicate to its closing. that three remain schools are not enough. when people say to support it, there are parts of the program and to support but there are parts which a look at. we have to understand it can be a dominant effect without visiting implemented. i think it's not important to do it quickly. we've waited four years.

it's important to thoughtfully and to understand the decision we make today are going to have a cascading domino effect. [applause] >> moderator: one of the well-known community leaders talk about this very issue, especially new talk about diversity. because you don't have it. what do you do to make sure the children are also exposed to the diverse education? schwartz: one of the things it is done through the boundaries that i do like is that every school will have an out of boundary. elementary schools will be 10%. middle schools will be 15%, and high school, second or schools will be 20%. i actually make those instead of 10, 15 and 20%, i would make them 15, 20 and 25%. so that's how we can get the kind of diversity that i think we should all have. i mean, one of the reasons i think washington is so special except not aware such a boom town and people are bringing

priced out of many people of color are being priced out, but i want this to be able to not don't have our diversity, but sure that diversity among each other. and schools are certainly the appropriate place to do that. cut for mr. capcom how to bring about diversity? catania: that's one question but another question is how we make schools better? we spent some time talking about the boundaries, and what we need to be done about is how we set our schools up to succeed. anacostia high school is a perfect example. last year only 36% of the young men in this school graduated on time to only 49% of the young women. when only 43% of our kids are graduating on time, that is a state of emergency. diversity is very important. what is also important is making sure our schools are resourced so they can meet the kids as we find them and we can have success. [applause] >> moderator: mr. catania with

all due respect a lot of people believe there's a direct correlation between lack of diversity and status inequality. what would you do to make sure catania: among our top performing -- >> moderator: ms. bowser, what would you do? bowser: i think it's important and actually think ms. schwartz in talking about the out of boundary allotment is right in making sure that we protect a fair out of boundary allotment. it's also important that our schools, like the school without laws, duke ellington our recruiting and making sure children of east of the river have those excellent opportunities as well. is and will support having a specialty or application school. i think about a lot of discussions of specialty application schools east of the river were children from all over the city can apply and get in.

we spent a lot of time talking about proficiency, and it's important that all of our children achieve proficiency. but it's important that they move forward in other ways, that they are responsible combat their learning, that they're improving, supporting each other. that the their for filling themselves, their athletic talent, academic towns and we're supporting children along the whole spectrum. >> moderator: let's move on. let's move on to affordable housing. every candidate has ever run for any office as he or she is for affordable housing. could each issue defined for us what you talk about when you said afford housing? what duty to make sure there's more of it and not less? schwartz: i'd like to jump in a deal to jump in and he would not want to listen, i've been gone for five and half years as i stated earlier, and i am as a formal housing has become less and less, the movement of this government to get more of it has also become less and less.

and so i think those who have sat here in those five and half years i've been gone should have been moving more aggressively on the area of affordable housing. and one of the things i want to do is bring back public housing, a did we can't get the fed to be part of it, we will do ourselves. what we'll do is we'll make sure, and i talk about using what you talk about about a formal housing, public housing is a 30% and below of the ami. so we're talking about real people the project at the poverty level. and we need to be able to give them decent housing and also -- >> moderator: thank you. schwartz: keep up the public housing. >> moderator: what would you do to bring about more a formal housing? catania: i think ms. schwartz is onto something with respect to reinvestment in a public housing. we have about 8000 public units in our city.

there are up to 600 vacant were not utilized. it's important because wha where homelessness crisis which is crushing our city. as recent as last week when i was walking through ford lakin susman as 40 vacant units, and these are single, double, triple four-bedroom apartment and there's no worry reason in the world we have have will units that are into. we need a government with a sense of urgency we do the resources to back it up. >> moderator: ms. bowser? bowser: we know that affordable housing, the target is no person should spend more than 30% of their income on housing. we know that thousands and thousands and thousands of d.c. residents are spending more than 50% of their income on housing, which means they are house for. so that is the definition of affordable housing. i would do several things. the first thing that i would do

is commit to $100 million every year, sustainable, to create and preserve affordable units. the second thing that i would do is commit, is commit to making sure we are renovating our public housing. this is the thing. we have 8000 units and just about everyone of them needs investment. just about every one of them needs investment. this government, you're right, defensive back up from it. so are we going to step up to the plate as a local government and you summer housing production trust fund to invest? i say yes therefore we would like to talk about the family shelter, d.c. general. mayor gray came out with a plan that a lot of people feel was merely a goal, what would you do, what would be your timetable for closing d.c. general as a commercial do? catania: the mayor has established a wonder timetable. i don't know if that's doable.

there's so many moving parts but rather what about what we'll do with d.c. gen-xer we need to understand we have a problem this year. we have as many as 820 families that will be seeking emergency services, and as recent as this week waste and we'll have accommodations for about 409. half the families that we need emergency shelter this year, this winter don't have the. we are behind the eight ball. we have not budgeted for hotels this winter and we have quite a crisis on our hands. what we need is an emergency effort right now to begin finding the hotel accommodations and the budget capacity for this very winter. longer-term, the mayor is right. we need a longer-term strategy. we would've had a longer-term strategy, which would've included the hebrew home in word format but that was stopped by my colleague from ward 4. >> moderator: one minute. ms. bowser from one minute to

respond to. bowser: thank you. i'm glad my colleague brought it up because i will tell you in a bowser administration we won't replace d.c. general with another big shelter that doesn't work. what we've learned is that large shelters are not suitable for families and raising children in. we will not support it. what we will get because i have led and worked with the community, new and old, people have been there for five generations and people have been there for five minutes. what the old hebrew home will become is a wonderful mixed income property where people who were exiting homelessness will do, people who are teachers and firefighters and police officers will live, and where we might even have the opportunity for people to buy their first home. and that is my approach to dealing with closing d.c. general. >> moderator: ms. schwartz. schwartz: i think we have to look forward, i think we have to look for good examples.

the second street shelter which had its good days and it's bad days are i could tell you i've been there visiting recently, and i've seen that they have some exemplary services there. where they are really doing it right. and so i think we have to look at those kind of the samples. i do believe that obviously d.c. general with its rat infestation, with itself, obviously has to be closed, and the sooner the better. but i do believe that we should look in the future for either renovating d.c. general or look for something comparable. because of the belief families who are homeless, nobly this will only be temporary, should be housed where they can have total wraparound services. and the children can have playgrounds and the mothers and parents can be a support to each other as they try to work their

way out of homeless situation transfer of asking you again to be specific. a lot of the building trade industry, a lot of i.t. folks see the reason why people in this committee and others are getting these jobs, d.c. residents, because they don't have the skills. it's a two-part question. do you agree to that? how to make sure the d.c. residents at the skills so they can go to compete with suburban residents and others for the jobs that are here? schwartz: i think we first over the education. we can't have a better education system so they will have the kind of reading and writing and basic skills they need to go anywhere. i think our vocational education programs that we've expanded within the schools are very important, like the hospitality high school, those kinds of things are giving him a jumpstart. >> moderator: is there enough? schwartz: i think we could use more of that. in addition i think we have to do job training that is going to

be specific to the jobs that are out there. and so i think that there's lots of areas we can do. tommy brown and i did come when i chaired the committee on government operations and workforce development, we actually did a law and we said if they didn't give us a 51% they were supposed to, the people that got contracts for the city, they would have to pay huge fine. at work. but guess what? they ended up in court. i sure hope we went. >> moderator: what do you do to put people to work? bowser: the first thing is make sure we have a real laws and enforcement of support for ex-offenders and are returning citizens in the district of columbia. we know that we have a high number of people that served their time and have completed their debt to society, and their home and they want to be productive and we've made changes to the lot of things are

going to be helpful. but we also have to have the support of the office of ex-offenders and that's important to i think that the government has a role to play in helping people gain skills and be trained while they are working to i will create a department of general services academy in the district of columbia, and what that academy will be focused on is how we train people for the jobs that d.c. government creates. those jobs include harbingers a people who cut the grass and people who paint the walls. and that is what everybody here is focused on, how to get people back to work. we can talk about a formal housing, and that's important, but the closest way to get to a formal housing is to get people into good jobs with good wages. >> moderator: on that note, mr. catania, how do you get people the job training and how to get into these jobs? catania: this is an area that i'm particularly sensitive

about. my own mother was in a situation very similar i think that many people find this out in the city she was orphaned at 16 and didn't finish the 10th grade. so finding a job to raise a child by herself without a high school education was very tough. it was tough and and it's got no easy. there are unfortunately to many other people in our city for one reason or another who haven't finished high school and to likk the skill to quit to get aggressive about having been re-engages centers were young people can come back into school where we can get them on a glide path so they can have skills so that they can actually support their families. we've done a couple of things. a few years ago i authored a bill that required 35% of all the principal hours on d.c. government funded projects go to district residents. it created a demand for our young people, so much so we keep those treat market project and the marquis hotel project issue,

60% of the apprentices -- >> campaign 2014, the final debate. you're watching wusa nine. we will be right back. welcome back. >> moderator: u.s. attorneys investigation into corruption in the d.c. government. everybody's mind is investigation is ongoing. a lot of people wouldn't be surprised if the mayor is indicted. i need edge of you to comment on this investigation and how he has handled this investigation but is there but okay with how he is handled as an, including the plea bargain? catania: i think the timing looks awfully suspicious. the timing, right before the primary. i made that a particular point of view about the whole shadow campaign but i think the timing of the plea bargain with geoff thompson just a couple of weeks before the primary, it appeared as if the thumb was placed on the scale, that ther there was n

pressure there was immediate action being taken against the mayor. when it didn't come it leaves many others wonder whether not it ever will, and whether or not the mayor was unfairly treated. [applause] >> moderator: ms. schwartz. schwartz: well, i think mayor gray was unfairly treated by my former colleagues on either side of me. immediately upon their even being noticed of the shadow campaign, they both jump out there and said he should resign. unicode i think you're innocent until proven guilty, and here we are three and a half years later, and the mayor has not been even indicted, much less proven guilty. so i think that you will help get that ball rolling with our u.s. attorney. and i think what he did before the primary, that three weeks and one day before the primary

was unconscionable. unconscionable to act like he just had something ready to drop on ahead of us. and here we are, what is it? seven months later, not a, nothing but i think you should put up or shut up. [applause] >> moderator: ms. bowser, one minute. bowser: so the u.s. attorney as you know was not accountable to the voters of the district of columbia. that's one reason why it's so important that we fight harder and find new pathways to statehood so that we could have prosecutors that are accountable and answerable to us. this u.s. attorney has put a lot on the record, it's going to be up to him to follow the timeline to get to the facts. what's important to me that anybody was done something wrong will be held accountable try for ms. bowser, if we can, again,

the short answer the better for us. if voters decide to legalize marijuana, has made you tried to delay this legislation? will you enforce it? what is your position? bowser: i will be voting for initiative 71 and i was signed into law if voters agree. >> moderator: ms. schwartz. schwartz: i will be voting no to an initiative 71. i voted for medicinal marijuana. i am for the expansion to different illnesses for those who need it, and i also worked with congress to try to get that bill from being stopped up in congress so that we could implement it. i would have, had it been on the council, voted for the decriminalization of marijuana because i thought it was obnoxious, and even worse that someone of our young black males were in jail because of it, and not the young white people.

and so i thought it was terribly unfair. and so i would've voted that, but on this i'm going to vote no. folks, we are have a lot of people in our community that needs sobering up. and i don't think we need to add another drug that will make that even harder. what people do in their own home so it's up to them. i am not going to judge on what they do in their own home and for how will you vote on this measure? if elected will you enforce it? catania: i intend to vote yes along with ms. bowser. [applause] i think prohibition hasn't worked. prohibition has led to an underground economy and the violence that comes with it. i think marijuana should be regulated like alcohol but it should be licensed and taxed like alcohol. we need to protect children. that's important to me to make sure we can protect ourselves on the roads and we can make sure that a public safety officials

are not obvious engaged in the practice. but i think there is -- [applause] there's -- there's a good deal, there's a good deal, there's a good deal of common sense that comes with making sure that we can tax and regulate and use those revenues are good purposes. >> moderator: thank you. schwartz: i don't think we need to be a laboratory. >> moderator: i think i know the answers to this been going to ask it anyway. on november 4 you go to the polls and you can vote for yourself, is there anybody out. you would vote for? to be your second choice? catania: i think i will decline. schwartz: i already said i'm going to vote for myself, and if i wasn't on the ballot i would write my name in. [cheers and applause] >> moderator: ms. bowser. bowser: what she said.

what she said. >> moderator: you would write your own name in? ..

to answer the question i don't identify at all with the existing republican party. plus then, i added the party that i belonged to for many years dear to far too right for me to stay there but i do consider myself a fiscal conservative. i don't take more money from the taxpayers than i'm willing to put to good use. so when it comes to the social issues i've always categorized myself as a moderate to liberal and certainly i've went down on the most liberal of policies and that is getting sick leave to workers and i'm very proud that i did. i've never been a democrat.

-- i've never been a republican. i'm a democrat because i believe in the values that have made or city strong. i've never gone to a republican convention to nominate george w. bush as the next president. i've never raised $50,000 for george w. bush to get a seat at the table instead table instead went to denver to nominate barack obama as the first african-american president. and i even served as the elect are. i cast the votes to get barack obama elected and more than that, i am proud of my democratic roots and you should be, too and i'm very present full of my opponents who make fun of it saying that democrats are puppets and that's just not right. i am respectful of their choice to be in the republican party, and they should be respectful of hours.

[applause] >>moderator: i had a question specifically for you. you've been identified and i think that you claim to being a protége of the former mayor. he did well and he won every precinct the first time it ran that he did do very well at all in the last election here. how are you different from adrienne and do you still consider him a political ally? bowser: i'm happy to answer this. my name is muriel boswer. i learned a lot from adrienne. i learned how to get things done. i learned how to be patient and set high expectations and hold people accountable. i also learned the lesson of his term at a loss and that lesson

was never to lose touch with the people. always come out to the community, check in. even when we have difficult decisions to come out to the community to hear what the issues are. let them know what my issues are and then move forward with decisions. >> moderator: we have a couple questions. we would like to get to a couple questions from the social media. the first question to all three candidates what is the biggest professional mistake that you've made and what did you learn from it? again a question from social media what is the biggest professional mistake that you've ever made and what did you learn from it? bowser: can we just remind everybody that there are young people in this audience.

there are young people here, folks. there are young people here. and i hope that all of us adults can be respectful of the children who are trying to learn the democratic process. [applause] if we can't respect each other what the least respect and be an example for these young people. [audience shouting the >> moderator: we are going to try this question one more time. hold on one second. [audience shouting >> moderator: do we want to continue?

bowser: yes, we want to continue. >> moderator: again, the question from the social media -- bowser: skylar, please. [audience shouting >> moderator: let's continue. if it gets worse we will end. maybe it was the question that everybody got upset about. let's go to another question. question to the candidates, if elected mayor, what would you do to address the gentrification in seven and seven and eight, who wants to go first, mr. catania. catania: there is no stopping progress. what we can do is setting our residents up to succeed and compete. i think after 40 years of our home or will i want to put some statistics out. we are in the ward where the average household is $30,000.

in board reads over 200,000. in this ward is over 17.5% unemployment and a number three as 2.5. in this ward only 12% had bachelor's degree and an ward three days 82%. the most surefire way of making sure residents can stay here is by giving them a high-quality education and setting them up to succeed with college. so that they can come home and stay here. that is the only long-term solution. short of that, the only way to make the city affordable is to make it unsafe. and no one wants to make it unsafe. >> moderator: ms. schwartz? schwartz: i have a specific plan and that is to bring back ward nine. in my affordable housing position paper, which you can find on carol for dc.com, you

can read the whole thing. i call for a tax credit for those individuals that used to live here and many of them laughed either because of education or affordable housing and went to ward 9. you all know what i mean, don't you? well, i want to bring them back. and with a tax credit, they have to show that they are here. they have to show how long they have a certain link that they will have had to be here in a certain length that they would have had to be a way. so that we don't just have some developers jumping in and grabbing this. but i think that we will bring ward 9 back with incentives such as those i proposed. >> moderator: ms. bowser? bowser: i believe that ward 7 and ward 8 have had the investment that they need. i believe that it hasn't had a private investment and it hasn't had public investment [audience shouting i'm committed to getting that investment in ward 7 and ward 8.

i'm committed to appointing a deputy mayor whose sole job is to focus on closing those gaps. the income gap, the educational achievement gap and the economic development gap in ward 7 and ward 8. [audience shouting >> moderator: okay -- we have got specific questions from this audience that we would like you to address. the city has experienced over 2500 murders since 2000. that is a small neighborhood with a disproportionate number of currying east of the anacostia river. if elected mayor what do you do to stop the violence and the murders over here? schwartz: can i? >> moderator: go ahead, sure. schwartz: i want to get the police force up to the authorized 4,000. but i want out of their cars. remember when you used to have the patrol?

he is to have officer friendly programs. we had a metropolitan police boys and girls clubs so that the police officers and young people people got to know each other so that there wasn't a confrontational thing going on. they actually established relationships. i'm also glad that the police chief is doing these cameras so that we don't have a ferguson going on here and i think sometimes we think we do. but those cameras are going to make sure that everybody acts the way that they are supposed to. but i think having the foot patrols, said wade, bicycles and not just driving around in cars with windows -- i wrote here in a convertible. i always do right here in a convertible whether it is night or day time. and i think that we all need to be walking the streets, and being on the streets will also help the criminals go into their

houses. >> moderator: mr. catania? catania: murders are up in this war. in the last year there've been 33 homicides and in the one year before that there are 22. that is a 50% increase in one year. we know that 26% of the crime in the city have been on for% of our blocks. mrs. schwartz is right. we had 1500 of the force of the 3500 that is eligible for retirement in the next three years. we have an immediate hands on deck issue and we have to do our best to recruit new and horizontal but there is nothing to do something else in the way. there is a sickness in our community when it comes to violence. and it is pervasive and it has to become the hunted. part of the capitol street measure that i worked on was to make sure that we build our mental health capacity in our schools. and as a result we have 90 schools with full-time professionals to help our people

work for the violence and hopelessness that often leads them to the violence that afflicts all of us. [applause] >> moderator: ms. bowser? bowser: and in many parts of the city it's been said people feel safe. into many parts of the city people feel safe than they did. we know in this community only recently that a young man was gunned down right in one of our local establishments. and so, we know that people don't feel safe. i of course am going to support a very robust police department. but i don't think that that is half of the equation. i think that focusing on the community groups that are working with young people and understand when the violence is about to happen and can work hand-in-hand with the community to stop it before it ever happens, that is a missing link )-right-paren in the public

safety strategies. >> moderator: we have one minute each and the order was decided. ms. bowser you go first for one minute closing argument. bowser: i want to thank everybody for coming out to listen and i want to thank everybody for bringing their passions, their questions, concerns and aspirations for the district of columbia. it's been my great honor to campaign across the city for the last 19 months in every ward in every neighborhood talking to people about how we can move forward together. this is a very important election for the future of the district of columbia and my pledges to make sure that we continue our prosperity to build on our prosperity and make sure that more people are included in that prosperity can read we get trade we get there by equalizing our school investments and we get there with a strong plan to build our middle class with schools and jobs and affordable housing and we get there by

building a government that we can trust that is inclusive and reflective of our whole youthful city. so, that's why i'm asking you to come out and vote on november 4 for muriel bowser. i will be a mayor for all eight words. [applause] >> moderator: ms. schwartz, one minute for closing statements. schwartz: may i have your attention please? thank you very much. i think many of you in the audience have known me for a lot of years. i served you well in the board of education on a test scores went up. i served you well on the council for several decades and things got better cut taxes got lower. now i'm asking you to bring me back to run our city and help.

now i'm meeting you halfway. i'm hoping and i also wanted to say i married a democrat and i raised three, so you should be tolerant of me. [laughter] but i'm asking you, those of you in the audience that have given me your vote for mayor one time before, just join with those that haven't given me your vote and sometimes wish you had, and those that have missed me in the years i've been gone if you would all join together, i will try to be a very good mayor for all of us. thank you. [applause] /back >> moderator: mr. catania, one minute. catania: i want to thank you and everyone for coming out. look come and there is no question that this board has yet to see the prosperity that is being experienced throughout the city. and in 40 years of promises, 40

years of promises made and promises broken, the only way that we are actually going to bring opportunity is if we eat like a mayor that can get things done. when you look at 17 years on the council might work in extending health insurance to 30,000 people, 37,000 children going back to school without risk and the list goes on and on. not to mention the 100 million-dollar investment in the hospital up of the road that others have given up. we need a mayor who has his heart in the job that will get up every day and keep his promises. for 17 years i've done that and i'm asking for your consideration this november. thank you very much. >> moderator: mr. catania, and his ms. schwartz, ms. bowser, thank you very much. we would like to thank all of you for coming and all of you for watching out there.

monday starts early voting. november 4 get out and vote. goodnight. ♪ just one of about 100 dates that c-span is covering during during a 2014. you can watch those and get an aged over twitter at c-span and on c-span facebook page. facebook.com/c-span. join us at fault:40 fives at the white house for a press briefing with spokesman josh earnest. you can hear him address the response to the virus in the u.s. as well as new restrictions put in place by governors in new

york and new jersey. we will have to briefing at the white white house at 12:45 eastern ip or on c-span2. at noon on the companion network c-span, it would've the options looks the options available to officials to protect the public from ebola. one of about 100 dates c-span is covering for the cultural of the white house, the illinois u.s. senate debate where the current senator durbin is being challenged by republican investment manager.

as you remember i was at the commerce department and this is reproducing the spectrum from the department of defense and this process, the lessons learned have really been learned. it's going wonderfully. and the free spectrum is paired with internationally harmonized. and then we are going to turn around and have the broadcast incentive option i think the discussion is really going well. and the fcc put out that values the spectrum those numbers have really turned the discussion from a policy discussion to a business decision which is where that discussion needed to turn to so we are excited about both options. it is going to be a win-win situation for everyone.

one of the most closely watched races illinois democratic incumbent and former republican congressman bob dole met for a debate in the tenth district race. the rothenberg political report rate it a tossup and they debated for about half an hour. i along with my colleague. congressman brad schneider or responses first welcome to both of you thanks for being here. your responses will be limited to 60 seconds for each of the questions we will be asking you and then only 30 seconds for the follow-up question. then in addition to our question something a little different. they will have the opportunity to actually ask a question of each other and have a person respond to that and then at the end of the debate today you will have one minute each for your

closing statements. we will begin with charles thomas at and the first question and we will begin with mr. schneider. >> moderator: both of you have served representing the illinois tenth district. one after the other. with would either of you returned to the house next year what specifically will you do individually to help break the gridlock in the chamber? that are going to begin with you, congressman schneider. schneider: as i travel around the district talking to people, the frustration that they feel and the frustration i feel blocking progress on immigration reform as an example which passed the senate a year ago and it's stuck in the house without having a vote raising the minimum wage and extending unemployment insurance, passing a long-term transportation funding bill or completed tax reform all these things are stuck because of the gridlock that we've seen the republicans

using to bring the debate or allow a vote. my goal is to work with colleagues to find a way to get these issues to the floor. i led the effort last winter to try to force a vote on extending unemployment insurance, trying to force john boehner to bring it to the floor. i respect people's votes to vote yes or no, but the citizens of the tenth district and the american people deserve congress to have a vote on these issues and i'm going to work to get these on the floor. >> moderator: esther dold of your answer to the same question. dold: let me say washington isn't working. everyone realizes that they are falling behind in washington isn't stepping up to solve their problems. i'm pleased to have been ranked as the most bipartisan member in the congress. working with those on the other side of the eyelid is a hallmark of the tenth district and something that i'm in something that i'm pleased to say i have upheld and i'm pleased to have gotten the endorsement from the daily-year-old into "the chicago tribune" who have said time and again bob dold will be the one to end the gridlock. i do believe that it is

bipartisan solutions putting people before the politics to be able to get solutions on for the tenth district and for the country. that is the record that i have a mast mast and that is exactly what i'm going to continue when i go back to the united states congress. >> moderator: gentlemen, with all due respect i didn't hear anything but talking points. what are you going to do specifically when you get back there what are you going to do individually to break the gridlock? dold: what i did in my first term, finding people i can request on legislation and foreign affairs -- republican congressman from georgia and indiana, north carolina. people that i have good relationships with that can introduce unjustly shed network in the process of trying to build coalitions and bring people together to make sure we can get it to the floor for a vote. we passed legislation to put things on ebol this summer. we passed israel qualitative

military edge. there are things that can get done >> moderator: mr. dold, what are you going to do individually what is bob dold going to do? dold: this comes down to leadership and it means sticking your neck out working with the other side something i've been able to do so let's take a look at the budget. in 2012 for the first time in a generation there was a bipartisan budget based upon the president's deficit reduction commission there were four republicans and for stuck their neck out to cosponsor the budget and i was one of them. these are the types of things that we've grown accustomed to. everything was in bipartisan support because as someone that meets the payroll and as a small-business owner i realize we have to work together to solve problems and that is what the american public -- >> moderator: charles coming to the next question. >> moderator: i want to begin with mr. dold. during your term in the house in 2011 and 2012, you voted several to repeal the affordable care

act, the so-called obamacare. will you continue to vote with your party if you are elected this time? dold: we need to take a step back at what we want in our healthcare system and what we want it to look like going forward. i think what we have right now is far too politicized. people say they are for it or against it and what we should be saying is what do we want in our care. we want patient centered care. it to be able to fix what is going on in this right now. we want to allow the president to keep his word to say if you like your healthcare plan you can keep it. if you like your doctors you can keep your doctor because so many families and small businesses have been going to the mailbox and and finding out their plan has been canceled. they can't see their oncologist that they've been getting treatment for. those are the things we have to fix and i will step up to try to fix those problems, something i'm committed to do because we need a health care system that works for everybody.

schneider: i was disappointed when i watched my opponent voted 28 times two repeal the fund. the affordable care act is far from perfect but it's an important step forward in our healthcare system. we can't go back to time people can't get insurance because of pre-existing conditions. we can't go back to the time families are not able to keep their kids on their health plans or until someone gets sick they can receive a notice from their insurance company kicking them off the plan. all of these were addressed by the affordable care act and so we need to move forward. i helped introduce legislation that would repeal the medical device tax. this is a tax on innovation. we needed needed to move the healthcare system forward to provide the technology and the cure that will allow us to reduce our overall cost of health care. when mr. dold was in congress he joined the party every time as you noted to repeal the care act and move backward. i'm committed to build on what

is working and fix what isn't working to find new ways that we cannot repeal this. >> moderator: mr. dold i presume from what you said earlier that is a yes but as a yes but you will work to repeal it again. dold: i think it is absolutely critical and with my opponent says his 28 times we voted to delay the fund. some of those actually passed the house and senate and went to the desk and were signed into law. that is actually called fixing this. he does it and it's called fixing. we look at what is going on one party bidding for one fifth of the economy without a bipartisan solution we are going to have a lot of issues that need to be fixed and frankly we need bipartisan solutions of people coming together. >> moderator: schneider: with all of those republican votes time and time again wasting money and other issues to repeal the affordable care act every single time mr. dold voted with his party to repeal the affordable care act.

that's not fixing it. we could find agreement such as medical device tax but where we disagree is i don't want to reveal the affordable care act, you do. we need to move forward as i said before to build on what's working. we can't go back to the time people are not able to get insurance. >> moderator: now we are going to move on to the questions that were submitted through the abc facebook page. this first question is for him a gentle man named chad and he says workforce participation is at a 30 year low what are your plans to integrate the jobs market. schneider: around the district and i talked to people struggling having a hard time making ends meet they are not feeling it and we need to create more quality well-paying jobs. manufacturing is a component of that and we have in this country 600 to 800,000 open

manufacturing jobs because are not able to find people with the skills. i've been working hard to fill the skills gap. last year i helped introduce legislation that would work with educational institutions, community colleges, technical schools and industry to make sure the people that are going to these schools get the schools they needed to expand their manufacturing base. if we can do that on every manufacturing job adds five new jobs to our economy. about growing our economy. we will help people get on-the-job training through the co-op and internship that will expand our economy. dold: it is vital. we live in the third in animation and what's interesting is my opponent voted against against an against infecting at least 70% of the time. when you are looking at trying to grow jobs to grow 70% of the time it is a step backwards without question. we have to talk about how to fix

the tax code. we know businesses have picked up and left and have been put out of work. we need to fix the tax code to make it work for everyone not just the well-connected. we have to fix jobs in terms of how to be trained them and science technology, engineering and mathematics to make sure students have good skills to take jobs in the 21st century. iab vp of a key ingredient we have to make washington work. we have to have people willing to come together to solve these problems in a bipartisan fashion because right now washington is not working and people are falling behind and that's what i think is critical. i could together a main street division at talks that access and resources to invest in the business as. >> moderator: now we are going to give each of you the opportunity he want to ask the gentle man sitting at the other side of the table a question this is your chance in and first of all we are going to start with you to get a chance to ask. >> moderator: you say one thing and do another.

you rallied against coke brothers and the fossil fuel and invested hundreds of thousands to line your. you say you are for business and to vote against the small business. 70% of the time. you say you're going to be bipartisan kind if you've produced nothing but a partisan record as noted by "the chicago tribune" and are running a very partisan campaign. you said you wouldn't cut a single penny for medicare but you've got to the program by $700 billion. after you misled the voters this many times i how can you expect to trust anything? schneider: devotes that are criticized and devotes i've taken to protect the affordable care act i will protect it because we need to move forward with the national community to protect the social security and medicare has said that the affordable care act doesn't cut benefits to medicare. only one of us voted to cut medicare and that's you. you voted for a plan, you voted for it twice and it ends medicare guarantee.

aarp says it is more than $6,000 a year more for the medicare insurance. wall street journal says it it ends up as we know it and yet you voted for it twice. you voted to fund, dismantle or appeal the act time and time again with your party. he voted 200 times against the environment. that's why the sierra club and the league of conservation club and planned parenthood and jack has given me their endorsement because i said i would vote for the women's right to choose 100% of the time and i have. the voters in that district deserve someone -- >> moderator: you have a chance to read that. dold: what's interesting is my opponent talks about how that will end the care and i was the lie of the year according to kodak. what's interesting in the campaign he's trying to start off things because he has no record to run on bad therefore ye wants to poke holes at me

when in actuality would have actuality what happened as he cast a vote cutting $700 billion out of medicare, $156 billion out of medicare advantage. that impacts the senior on a fixed income. go out to the beach and fox lake. the seniors that are sitting around a table right now are having a real problem. schneider: i need to respond -- >> moderator: you can can follow-up on that in final comments but it's your chance to ask him a question. schneider: with me first respond because medicare cuts to medicare advantage simply do not have an impact there was an increase this year. the affordable care act i voted to protect it. you want me to vote to repeal it. i won't. when you served in congress, yes or no, didn't you vote every time all four times that the republicans brought the bill to the floor didn't you vote to repeal the act?

dold: what i think we need to do more than anything -- schneider: it is a yes or no question. dold: now we need a bipartisan plan. this doesn't need to go down without a single republican vote and what we have right now when nancy pelosi says we need to pass it to find out what's in it that isn't something we need to put healthcare on the line for. i'm committed to fixing the problem because it needs to be fixed. when people say i can't see my oncologist or women are not able to see their doctors or go to their pediatrician when they thought their relationship with and when small businesses go down to the mailbox that is a problem and that is a problem for the american public and something i am going to fight for the people in the district. schneider: is that you said you would vote to repeal it again. dold: you legislate as well as the listing. >> moderator: you have a chance to read that at this time schneider: its bid and the it did end the medicare guarantee. that isn't me saying