communities and as a group of gifted people who have been here and done that and worked in the communities and made a change. one of the groups of people is seated to my right. the executive director of the secretary at the united states conference of the bishops. in her role she is responsible for supporting and assisting the bishops in the development management and communication of pyrenees, plans and policies. she is frankly the go to person when it comes to the education and understanding the schools in particular which isn't a surprise. doctor steve perry is the founder and ceo of one of the top public schools in the

country capital, preparatory magnet school in hartford connecticut. it is for the mostly low-income families graduates 100% of its children and has done so every year since 2006. the contributor for cnn and msnbc about the best-selling author and host of his own documentary, and as soon as you will hear him talk you'll you will see him be one of the most passionate voices for the education reform and change in the country. the president and ceo of the national alliance for the public charter schools. she is has over 20 years

experience in dc most recently as the senior vice president for the strategic initiatives in the universe, which is an amazing thing to help kids. .. previously served as the

director for the new york program senior advisor for the charter school policy for new leaders for new schools and executive director for charter schools so we are to do the same thing that rick did. a bunch of the social media please get involved. please use them. i will start following up with what senator scott asked. he said we need to have a grassroots conversation about what is happening to our kids today. what is what is really happening to our kids? how bad is it? >> first of all, thank you and thank you, sen. scott and all the folks who have assembled you this morning to have a conversation about the most important issue of all-time which is education the enlightenment of a generation and the opportunity to transform the lives of individuals for

whom opportunity has not been there. what is happening is the very life force of a generation of young people is being robbed from them and given to the employees of the status quo. we don't we don't have a school system that is put in place to help children. we have a school system that is kept in place to ensure that grown people keep there jobs. i have seen too many beautiful children like those you will here from. [applause] who if you had the opportunity to talk to would tell you the story of struggles in their communities, but they we will not be held down because their at a good tool to the good choice schools. we cannot continue to poor good children in the bad schools and expect good things to happen any longer. the biggest challenge to our community is not the people in the status quo the

teachers union. it is our advocates who are weak and unwilling to fight, to apologetic, have an issue with calling a failed school of failed school because a local mayor said that it offends or. if we don't hold our allies accountable then we ain't never going to get out of the whole that has been done for us. i'm sorry you got me warmed up. >> that was the intention. [applause] sir that was the intention intention, of course. >> please pray for me. that's why they sat me next to her so she can put her hand on me. >> sister john mary you are part of the catholic schools sector. school sector. why do you support parent options? i i want to ask that for everyone. why should we have competition be a bad thing?

>> i i don't know if this is on. thank you. charters have paved the way for options for parents that are important. we educate students in catholic schools. there are many catholic children in the public sector. we we are as interested in excellent schools as we are necessarily catholic schools that is why we are interested in parental choice. it is part of our dna. we exist because we wanted to give parents the right and the choice to choose public schools. hence we are supportive of it 100 percent from the vantage.of continuing to do that. and that is why we are interested in parental choice. we are interested in parental choice to piggyback very concerned about children. the hope of our society is

in his room right now. these are the kids that we have. we offer hope through school, education. and so we are making a statement to the kids out there that we care a great deal about who they are and not just what they learned but who they are by giving parents the opportunity to choose the best schools that matter them. that is why we are interested in school choice. >> thank you. there we go. thank sen. scott senator scott for hosting this great event. whenever you have a sen. interested senator interested in this topic and able to attract so many individuals we greatly appreciate it. in terms of why by way of background i am i am extremely proud of the fact

that we have charter school laws in 42 states and right here in dc serving a little over 2.7 million students everyday. one one of the reasons why charter schools are so important is there serving the needs of low income families where they are. i am a huge proponent. they can just move and go to the school district a lot of studies it is not available and we don't have enough school voucher programs to meet the needs. right here we have such a bustling goal choice movement that close to 50% of 50 percent of the students in the district are attending charter schools. as a result the overall quality has also dramatically improved over time. i am a believer in the

impact of charter schools on the traditional system and in making sure that we are transferring the knowledge is much is possible to the traditional system so that the overall system is improved approved at the end of the day. [applause] >> thank you. >> can i just jump in real quick? >> please. >> vitiate, vitiate like papier-mâché. i come at this from a personal perspective. i have an identical twins sister. at that.my parents took us out and put us into private catholic school which made all the difference. i generally believe every parent wants the best for they're child. we believe that parental choice is widespread but not for low income and working-class families. if you have resources you do two things moved to a committee where traditional public schools are great or put your child in a private

school and i believe that children in low income and working-class communities deserve that same access to quality education and it should be a right to know whether are in southeast washington dc or newark, new jersey. you deserve access to a quality education. [applause] >> i think it is worth noting i am a school choice advocates, not simply a charter school advocates. there are some raggedy charter is the need to be shut down and some rainy traditional schools the need to be shut down a couple years ago. simply because a charter school struggles is not mean charter schools struggle.

we need to get past either charter or traditional. we need to get past either private or public. we need to get down to what education is about, providing differentiated instruction to children so that you can meet them where they are and take them to where they need to be. we spent too much time having a conversation a conversation about the ends of the conversation, the ends of the issue. that is not what this is about. it is about what is central, which is the children. we have forgotten somewhere along the way that education was supposed to be about children but it is. it is. it is not a jobs program for a tenure conversation to read you here people talking about traditional schools need more resources. for what? to do what? if i give you more money we will you be worse or better? the overwhelming majority of charter and catholic schools function on a fraction a fraction of the amount of money the traditional schools get. if money was an issue the best place to send a child would be present. that that is where we spend more per pupil than anything

if the issue were money and we would already have those parts of the conversation. quality of instruction simply because you have a certification that says you should be a teacher does not mean you should. this is a calling. [applause] for a long time the catholic schools were there for us. baptist would go to catholic school just to get out of the raggedy school at the end of the street. when they get out they go to

school. children will live families will lie about a child's address. if if race is considered they we will lie about the race. this is america, a place where you can go into a store and find so many different types of gum that your head will spin, and we are supposed to only choose from the school closest to our house? it is an absurd notion. you cannot think the best indicator of a compound ability to a child or family is because it is close to the house. it is interesting that people call themselves

liberals and say they are pro-choice when it comes to having a child but anti-what it comes to where you send the child in school. school. interesting to say that someone calls himself a liberal and is so focused on making sure social programs are in place. that is not what they want. they want to maintain the status quo. i submit to you that if you are not willing to fight then get out of the way. [applause] she is praying. she is praying for me as we speak. >> you know, talked about it being a calling. what makes your school's unique? what do you offer that others do not? >> in the catholic environment we offer jesus christ preached in the gospel. that is the fundamental reality of our schools.

but what but what we believe is that the individual, the human person with that our school is of inevitable dignity and because of that dignity we held them within our environment and asked what education that we will help them flourish as an individual person and human being. and therefore all the things that make up a good a good education are part of the conversation for our schools and good teachers, community excellent governance, good use of resources all of that is part of the larger question because it matters to who the the children are. we believe that education has two ends and the church's teachings on this and clear for many years. but the flourishing of the person here and now as a

citizen of this world and their eternal and as a citizen of the world to come and so the mission and the vision of our schools we try to keep that very much within our minds because it matters to the children in front of us. that is what makes our schools different. [applause] >> i'm going to assume that is the same mission as the charter schools. what makes the charter schools unique and different? >> again, it is a diverse committee. depending on the state law that allows for the creation of charter schools you we will have different types. one of the things we do is grade charter school law based upon strength and last year we produced a document that looked at the movement and the quality how innovative. and the thing we base it on

is whether as an entrepreneur or you are able to open a school and come up with different types of curricula, different modes of delivering and different ways of attracting families and running schools. the more the more freedom you have to do that the stronger your law is. here again in washington dc some of the strongest charter school movement's because you are able to create online charter schools charter schools focused on math and science bilingual education character building and whatnot. depending again on the strength of the law you have different types of schools. we are as in the teeth of agnostic as agnostic as to what type of education is provided as long as they make sure all of the students regardless of race background are achieving graduating command going on to college. >> that's great. [applause] >> i will just add, i think you asked earlier like what

is happening. in happening. in many schools particularly urban and working-class communities kids are dying without hope teachers and believe in them. they don't see going to and through college as something that is real to them. this problem is urgent, real, and we have to have a three sector approach. sometimes i here it is all about having great charter schools or traditional public schools. the reality is we need a three sector approach great charter schools, traditional public schools, private schools, independent schools., independent schools. if they are not quality than they need to close. we need a no excuses no time no patients for schools and organizations or people were people who don't put children and student interest 1st. >> that is a great question. the last couple of months or last six months to schools in indianapolis of closed. parents did not want it.

is there a distinction between the idea that we want accountability based upon test score and performance and it parents still don't want the school to close? >> you know i think it is on us as reformers to think thoughtfully. if the if the students are going to go to a worse off school that is actually not a better choice. we have to engage the community in the process and be more transparent about what is a quality school. it is not just test scores family engagement, teacher satisfaction, accountability are multiple measures. i would argue that there is not great transparency around what is a quality school. the more we can engage in the discussion about quality some more thoughtful we can be about closing schools and providing students and

families better options. >> when she looks at me i have to say yes. >> and i would agree from the vantage.that we use the phrase principal subsidiary. the local level level in the catholic school, the community should be vested in that environment which means parents administrators the pastor, the bishop, a vested miss. the other.is that in doing so that relationship is a partnership. it is not just a consumer experience but an actual partnership with the school takes on the obligation to educate that child on behalf of the parent. i think that element of relationship related to education is extremely

important and maybe sometimes missing in this conversation. the parent has an obligation to communicate well with the school and the school vice versa. when we talk about accountability it is a relationship not necessarily just a gavel. i think that is an important part. >> can i take that? if the charter school movement were to operate the same way as a traditional system operates it would be no different from the other system that we are trying to save students from. it is important that we are firm on accountability and advocate for closure when a school is continuously failing. having said that, the reason why families are not reacting could be that the schools are not as safe or as high-quality as high quality as the school that they are currently sending her children to.

as reformers it is important for us to come up with sensible options whether through giving the governance of that charter to another charter school in explaining the families why it is they would be better off in another school making sure that other options are available is important. one last thing that we often think of this is something that only impacts low income families, but as a parent who is exercising choice right now it is extremely confusing to understand if a school is a high quality school and whether it is actually expending taxpayer dollars effectively. it is extremely opaque. the more information that is out in the public domain it would be better for our nation as a whole to understand what makes a quality school and what type of schools are likely to put you on the path to success in college. >> agree.

>> i am pro- vouchers 100 percent pro- vouchers. [applause] and most people are pro-vouchers. they just get caught up in the politics of what the words have come to mean in the political theater that is education. if you are pro- section eight and some of you might be using it, if you are pro- food stamps or the most recent iteration thereof pro- student financial aid pro- medicaid pro-medicare you are pro-vouchers, for public money being used for other public good or private goods or services. further, we don't don't have a problem with sending brigham young university notre dame, boston boston college cooperating of the other jazz of the schools federal student financial

aid. we see this as part of the thing that we do to educate at the next level. but then you here people saying they are against pre-k to 12 vouchers because they might go to a catholic school. isn't school. isn't notre dame the catholic school? why would you be okay with notre dame the university receiving a voucher but not notre dame high school or notre dame elementary school it is because the university doesn't have as good a lobbying group as the pre-k to 12 folks do. we need to do a better job of making it plain too much of the education conversation is held in the minds and mouse of wonky politicos.

love love you guys and your khaki pants and your blue blazers. love you but you don't make sense to the rest of the world. your echo chamber conversations don't mean anything to regular people. you wonder why people don't sign on to what you're talking about. it's because you're talking over people's heads. if you did you would take the time to make sure they understood what you said have them ask you questions, teach them. too too much of the conversation goes over the heads of our community and as a result they just sit they're. making it plain is this every child has a right to go to a good school.

and we have found the federal government through the courts have found every single time it has been brought before them if you put children from one community in it to disadvantage circumstance then that is inherently wrong. they need to be given choice. we need to fight to make sure our community understands if they got a scholarship if we can explain it a scholarship pre- k-12 grade they understand terms like a voucher. your people on both sides of the political conversation talking about how they want to save money in public education. you are you are paying for it twice not because there is a charter school or magnet school that because it's a school a school that you paid into that the children did not attend. all these children who are hear attending charter

schools, if there school the neighborhood school receives one dime you are paying twice. i'll say it again. connecticut, if the child is slated to go -- well, every child is slated to go to a neighborhood school. snow school elementary school of the street the one that kept me back in the 3rd grade. my sons don't attend. they attend my school. it gives $13,000 per pupil. capitol prep gives 12,000. we're paying $15,000 to thought that's why that they're are great and workout, 25,000 for for my sons to go to one school, a school that they have never set foot in for any reason at all. if they were voucher they would only be paid once.

the reason why we are in the situation we are in is because we're trying to keep the other school open so that they grown people can keep their jobs. what even they neglect to understand is the number of students does not change. it is static. if there are 1000 students that need teachers, there are a thousand students that need teachers no matter where they are. you will have a job as a teacher. we need to make it plain that our community that they are being played by the system so that the people who don't utilize these urban schools and send their kids to suburban, charter or catholic schools they send their own children the catholic school that don't support private schools. we need to make it plain for our community so that our

community can fight with us as opposed to a simply simply fighting and then not understand what we're fighting for. [applause] >> one of those packets suited grassroots politics. done some incredible work. grassroots activism. the big challenge is that you face and in particular dealing with people in khaki pants and blue blazers? ..

. >> what are some examples of grass roots activism. >> and they rallied

community leaders and parents to make sure that it would stay open. that is of greatest symbol of an effort that they insisted in an effort to to bring the leaders to the forefront. we have to leaders in the room today from the charter school association aunt mary carmichael these two individuals can probably teach tell you more in their respective communities but one of the things that you notice is the sense of learned helplessness. people have come to these communities to offer hope they and they have left. unfortunately that is what happens cop with the school district leaders. they may have support at the time when office but unfortunately the average

tenure is less than three years. then the next person comes with new ideas so understanding where they come from to make whenever infrastructure will stay there and one reason why a charter schools trumps any systemic reform because families are choosing them. because they are assigned to those schools. >> we obviously overlooked the most obvious grass-roots effort, in the waiting list. parents are voting with their feet. that i don't want the school that i am assigned. to the standard 20 or 30 or 40 or 50 percent of the entire student population. there is no other movement.

a hour school has 4,200 children on the waiting list. one school. 70 seats but because of all week school board in the week mayor and the leaders have no vision in the community our school is not allowed to expand. with vouchers we don't have to go through this. each child would be then we would just open another school as many when the community says so resoundingly that they want something and the politicians stand in the way because literally a union person says something mean it to them or about them there is so weak in their conviction the same people do not send their own children to the schools set the legislative over.

we have micro activism. to look at the conversation new york of the grass-roots movement. they have found a way to understand which schools are the best performing. there may not understand the test data or with the theme is or what step means but if you look at the longest waiting was there also the best performing so the streets are talking the drums are playing and our community wants out. we, the powerful people are not letting them out. we need to make sure when they do our -- they do their part we do our part and that allows them to have the choice. when you have cities with the school after school with the waiting list that is the

clearest example of the grass roots then we blame the parents for not wanting to participate? are you kidding me? guess who they are mad at? us. they shouldn't me because we don't explain the reason why is not because the charter school association but it is because the weak school board and the overzealous union member have put a cap, a limit on how many of you can get out of this school. until we can make it abundantly clear who is to blame for this we keep getting the blame. i still m a principal. mind your gm business. [laughter] i am working. it is a snow day today. [applause]

[laughter] when i am doing bus to be and save my child has been on the waiting list six years i am not proud of that. there is nothing makes me feel i have done something right then i have wasted in the entire academic career on the school they know what to be in. i would open more schools if we could just get to the children. we have a grass-roots movement fight to make sure the with the parents have done that they could do to vote with their feet and move out of the failed school systems to major vouchers are real the choice is real so they can get the children out of the doldrums of the very system that uneducated them. [applause]

>> as the private catholic school parent for many years i don't know of a more grass roots based organization than the catholic church. so how have you been so successful? my school was filled with a wide diversity. lot of people were in poverty how have you created this success? >> the projects parents what an excellent education for their children and catholic schools have graduated students at 97% and 87 go on to the for your institution and do very well. so the reality within the school itself is that parents want to that and will do what they can't do

to be a part of that. we have 6500 schools approximately in the united states according to the most recent data 41% our urban or the inner-city setting. support of the challenge still although parents want our product is to help with those structures that give parents more voice and opportunity to say why it is important they are involved there in choosing the school that matters including the opportunity to have a full education for their child. so parents recognize a good education when they see it and that has been helpful to attract people to the catholic school but we need

to do more structurally to give them greater voice of parental choice. we use the term very specifically not school choice because we believe that is what this is about it is much more about having the right to choose the and supporting a particular institution in. [applause] >> one of the things that is important to do is point out the hypocrisy. we have a conversation around school choice that is not typically engaged by other people purport lofted disappointed by the latino in congressional black caucus day as parents emphasize school choice but do not send their children to the neighborhood school

in the good that they represent because some gatt very lucky into lotteries and get their children in or the magnet school. that is how lucky they are. [laughter] if we don't call out the hypocrisy of the individuals to benefit from choice but then pulled out bridge up behind them then we would not get to where we need to be. in america, in this country, your fate should not be decided by lottery. but in many cases there is because the law is written as such when there are more applicants than states there needs to be a lottery. but if there were more seats or more options than there

would be no more lotteries. then we all get to enjoy the same benefits of those that we elect to represent us. with all due respect he was not always the president. heated and send his children to public schools at any point. i want what he once for all kids. i say i respect and support him but i want him to respect the other children the same weight of his own children have been respected [applause] >> everybody ask last question. we have a lot of people in the audience. you all have been involved with grass-roots schools

what one piece of the price would you give to reformers and in particular the young ones about the grass roots activism to get involved? >> thanks again for having a but i want to impress with his intellectual debates is that i often hear care of -- parents of low income cannot make great choices and we have to go away with that idea to meet parents where they are. every parent wants what is best for their child and the tools to fight in did to the children your voice matters perverse helping a child would be on the panel maybe

we could hear from the children because they know what is happening in the schools. [applause] >> i completely agree but i would leave with one bit of a vice. the congress will mention to the reserve program that supports the growth of charter schools it has been around since the mid nineties with huge bipartisan support but it doesn't keep have enough funding. lot of families put their children on the wait list we have over 1 million names right now. but there is a way to a dress this to create more seats in congress could put more money into the programs so to engage of the federal level tell them to put more funding in tears the charter

school program. and to make more opportunities available for families. [applause] >> chavez and richard wright are here and if i've missed anyone i will meet you after words. you are here how to learn to make it possible for your brother's ancestors and cousins to get off waiting list to get into good schools. so many of you have watched your family and friends who didn't have access as you did with your educators you see them fall down even worse and that is not cool. talking to you like my own

that on the one hand you are special but don't thank you were so special that you were different. they deserve what you have and you do not have the rights to sit still or be silent as they suffer. you have to fight to expand school choice for you don't have an option. since it has been given to you and you partaking have a moral obligation to fight the for every seat every one of you is you get 10 more kids behind you. as far as i am concerned if you got into the party and you didn't pay you had to go hold the door for your brother's. [laughter] >> and shot up to the archbishop and another catholic school?

thanks for being here today. i don't have to lay down the moral got lit. [laughter] but dealing with advocacy respecting the of local community is fundamental in any reform. the parents do know what they want and they're looking to us to help give them a voice to be sure the legislature knows. so that partnership is critical to discuss in the reform also education education education. so many that don't understand what parental choice is all about. therefore we think they do so it is important to keep remembering a lot of people who could be with us to help us but it may not fully comprehend what it is about.

education advocacy and implementation. [applause] >> we're 38 minutes over. one more round of applause. [applause] >> and ray will come back. [inaudible conversations] >> let me start my introductory remarks about dr. rod paige. what an amazing life listening carefully you will have a glimpse of why dash

excited to have dr. rod paige present to you today. has a son of a librarian teeeight i thought this is the longest introductory in the history of man. a school principal, library and that produces a doctor. does that not speak to the power and necessity of education? he rose from segregated small-town mississippi all the way to the united states department of education. as secretary he championed student achievement and employed best of breed solutions to raise standards of educational excellence. . . urged his reputation to seek out innovative

approaches from when he was the dean at the college of education at texas southern university. there he established student for excellence in urban education it and also has a knack for inclusive leadership. as a school board trustee then superintendent of the houston independent school district that was the seventh largest in all of the united states. appointed superintendent 1994 and the first african american in the district's history to serve in that position. in 1989 dr. paige was named of one of to educators in the country from the council

of great city schools for '02 years later he was honored as the national superintendent of the year by the american association of schools administrators. following his time a secretary of education he served as a public policy fellow at the woodrow wilson international center for scholars. in 2006 he authored the war against hope in published the black-white achievement gap wide closing it is the greatest civil rights issue of our time. the oldest of five siblings and has a son and a daughter. he resigns in houston with his wife please help me to welcome dr. rod paige.

[applause] >> thank you for the warm welcome but he left out part of my history. i was also a football coach. at cincinnati and texas southern we were playing one game at the astrodome at that time was the largest crowd the third largest ever assembled i think the largest was sandy koufax pitching. minute texas southern university football game.

at the end that has our score on the wrong side of the scoreboard. you didn't get that. [laughter] they had the biggest gore and we had the smallest. i felt bad about that old lady dropped her purse on the floor and she said it excuse me know offensive she said i didn't care about your defense either. [laughter] i hope you got that one. i am not altogether certain i deserve that introduction as was shared but i want to think him for that and begin

and we owe him a round of applause for this event. [applause] thank you for your leadership of this event and although i am the system of the states of texas at watching the election results and was so happy when it was announced you were the winner. thank you for your compassion and powerful leadership. to borrow of phrase fly on. also the founders of the great organization. in the founder of the modern movement of united states of america. always keep in mind.

and also the alliance of school choice and the freedom foundation. i would like to think his leadership and the membership of the men and women who do the work with this great organization. fly on. 50 years ago thousands marched in selma alabama a. and in turn for freedom. two days ago to 200500 school choice supporters walk through a recovery for another kind of freedom. the freedom of school choice.

this was led by two american heroes the first great warrior for children dr. howard fuller. second the american federation for children mr. shaw vesper -- mr. chavez. [applause] in the book the al line of history h. g. wells author and historian and futurist and avid socialist advised the world that even history is a race between education

and catastrophe. we'll get the current situation to see how we're doing. almost 32 years have passed and that current generation for the call to action. even so the public school system debate is closed to insolvency. even with the well intended efforts especially with minorities they are falling short because of education inadequacies. although they were replaced -- replete of skilled and well-meaning practitioners

there's still with us unabated. the school opinion polls, newspaper editorials editorials, talk shows, with the very concept of public education evidence have found the public view or the attempt to prove that the public school system and public education of our children is the appeals told by in india. -- india. from the recent protest to emphasize this condition. today's public schools are not equipped with the you

today's problem of diversity in the schools. there is a reform effort from population. the bottom line is public-school thus far have failed and will continue if we don't find inappropriate way to manage the crisis the current reforms could not be attributed during the middle and late '80s and '90s of the first half of the decade school reform was dominated by education period. a long list of governors, a corporate america, the judicial branch the parade to reform america's schools is long. despite that effort with the

education system that some describe as increases even secretary duncan says education stagnation british is indisputable. our system is now working. and it seems clearly and why is. to be sure to have the glimmer of hope but it is indisputable america's children are still lagging behind. furthermore the gap still exist. these and members of pope can only be described as random pockets of improvement. so how do you explain the lack of progress?

everybody has opinion. so do i.. i'd like to share my with you. the opinion that is. [laughter] since the publication says it has been heavenly -- heavily influenced or has been sabotaged by of guardians of the status quo. the sources are well-financed, highly organized and extremely motivated. so far we have failed to meet pergola they have three very clear strategic goals, the more money less accountability and more competition. phase three guiding principles are set forth the

as members of a reform movement understand this to have any expectations of success. where do we go from your? here is where my opinion comes. were already to reform america's schools, but with the school operations my suggestion is to design operations around universal school choice. completely remove the cover of government to dictate where a child is in school and give that to parents and children. [applause] now asking why i support universal school choice. last week a journalist from

the dallas morning blues -- news ask why i supported universal choice. i just naturally support this banal i have to frame a statement it because education school choice now sits in this legislative session i needed to make sure i had this precise. so i figured out when did i come to this conclusion? where did i get these thoughts? i found out what it was. and i will share. i support universal choice for two reasons. first, i believe chaining a child to a school that is not serving them well as in

this marriage of justice. this is with that conclusion in the but trying to make schools work better in was all about making schools work better and it was from school choice there was a voice coming from the back of the room. the tall black gentleman stood up and said that is not the reason. the reason is it ain't right. is not fair.

and was almost intimidated. [laughter] but that's right. it is right. it is not right to change a child to a school that is not performing. is not right to have a child go to school that has crippled him. that reason was embedded in my mind in their work but i think it is also right to hundred thousand student the

third largest issues in texas. is a very complicated system i came to the conclusion within to be embedded in a monopolistic. i believe a school choice is a necessary condition while efficient school operations. talking about performing schools will go nowhere unless they are free from the grip of a monopoly. our part as teachers students or parents or the public would benefit from the creativity inspired by

universal school choice. but no. texas policy article entitled teachers women of a case for school choice pointed out the upper very effect but to increase their salary is the basic impact and we have the resources but with that average raise him in debate or the average teacher, think about them but they would increase demand.

it was an entrance for becoming a teacher for young people entered to direct more school funds into the classroom and a powerful force. it would help but it was due up to the changes all prices go down as the economy goes down. at that time there was solid.

but to have the big group of luxury apartments, this is for up-and-coming young people without children who are basically middle-class and above there were literacy good lives driving though lexis. windy economy was down, and stayed down for a long time, these jobs in there were no people to put into these apartments. but they had to sign a market. guess where government supported housing. so they've moved them into the luxury apartments. thousands of them.

splenectomy and -- and by the way they move before they have children. so doing their best with the fire department to issue tickets to the principle for over crowding schools. after liking vestar he came to a solution i have no idea would cause problems for gore for posted to the school board if we are a school certified by the texas education agency, in this area what we are coming there are four schools that are also accredited.

but they said those are private schools. here are our options. we can take the kids and bless them 70 miles across the city during drive time to put them in schools and adding 45 minutes for that time to get to school and 45 minutes to get back. or we could have them go to the private schools and when it comes to us we could paid a private school people. i don't have to explain what the newspaper did. [laughter] but to lay did it anyway.

so we selfhood a problem. it sold one for me he. those buses rolling every morning and leaving to deliver children to a school every day and every day somebody ran into somebody. so then this is to assist me to solve problems. so not only in a vintage for children but also makes available the school operations themselves that make them better.

hot -- i came directly from a professor of education in texas. i did not come up through the traditional routes so i had to make the schools. it is that could not deliver educational services to children. the reliable old director and to guarantee results for

children? so part of the study calls for taking class's at the center that teaches 500 ceos how to be the ceo. reading books. several made sense. we have a book called is there public in public schools? by the way we determine there is it because they did not create the public but that made a big difference. bed as and i'll look around why do the charter schools work?

why isn't the specialized schools work for the magnet schools? i concluded it is because the people who work in those schools are there because of their choice students who were there. the thing is they steadied is what they chose to use steady. the situation of choice that made perfect sense. looking around with the forces that are changing our society. oneness technology, the second is choice. this is an idea whose time has come.

we can continue to live alone to raise the power of technology and choice. in his book the author of the democratic platform is speechwriter for al gore said our current generation is a choice generation. he said we in the middle of a choice revolution. all americans should have the ability to make choices for themselves because to

save or how to prepare. choices of what school your child should attend that is now only reserved to wealth. the time for choice has come. today's technology provides people with more and more choice. war individual power, more personalization based on choice. as they expand these opportunities of choice by themselves, they were not long tolerate this situation where there is no choice of where their children attend school. my parents had a choice of three tv networks when they wanted to watch television. childrens have hundreds.

they to watch their favorite program when they want to. not to be waiting when it comes on or they can go to msnbc if they don't like fox news. and fast food. even services like the post office has now ups or fedex. this is a choice revolution. the notion is there told how to live their lives. and to become more and more repugnant. >> in a fast-paced world.

with the other party is that reform would not work. universal school choice of school reformers in choice pioneers to strategically tie school choice to school reform.

that for those people who want to reform should be a natural ally. there is any reasons not only that they are paid more but it would increase the environmental movement but now to make a better bet the candidate culminate must recruit them. because it ain't right is

only a matter of time. but they would have to embrace the choice revolution. they have no choice. but soon. is in the words. so god bless the united states of america to five --

[applause] >> let's see if we can emulate the senators example of what it is useful. we have an outstanding panel for the third panel of the day you want to talk about the realities the school choice what are the obstacles? she is president of the louisiana federation of children rashid continues to work but said the and the

seven blood this state takeover of the rarity of schools that led to the rise it made that you see today. a and it is in the alliance but i recognize you as a reform leader and to usher in the nation's capital and chair of the education committee creating the most prolific six - - in the country. >> legal officer of successful academy charter schools operates 32 is in new york city. she also put before

adjourning and back with us they would recognize from the second panel, but this is school choice. kevin you have been doing this for a long time. but let's give him a hand to put this together. [applause] ion gesso impressed with him and his commitment to kids the fact that young people can ask questions is important.

to have innovative thank previous schools for those who wanted a residential school where kids could go and live and some came from homes that were not served well. i said that is the great idea but bin they said but my thinking was why don't we

>> but the politics of education has been the biggest barrier to what works for kids. i adopted a simple strategy that is will this help the child learn? if yes i am for it that is the yardstick we should discharge our responsibilities of adults as advocates for parents our policy makers we should embrace any and all ways to help a child learn and the politics of education is the biggest barrier. another that is equally as troubling is the fact when you hear all the talk or even debates on standards or early childhood education

they're not grounded in a practical reality of parents today. when i had said debate with reality, what do you say to the low income parents making less than $30,000 a year in harlem or bronx or los angeles? take a city. the parent knows going to the school or 90 -- or high-school that the present are failing. they know they have limited options. what about the parent that wants something different? the problem with our responsibility is there is no sense of urgency. is numbers on the page. but all stories or

individual challenges or frustrations matter. and for us to act like it is okay that does not work on a practical basis. in and. >> care and today, but that is not supposed to happen in. but the biggest obstacle is the policies of education and the fact everything we do is with a long-range plan and there is nothing with the immediacy of these needs that is very get educational choice.

>> if you work on these in the vienna -- louisiana louisiana, that's cool choice might have possibilities downstream but now you take dollars away from schools that are struggling, how do you justify that or make the numbers work? >> the queue to scott to put on this forum. it truly is very important for us to hear not only the issues but also solutions. at was funny when i became an elected official i didn't think it was my job to deal with the public school system. . .

what i cared about was using the dollars we had in a more efficient and effective manner. >> as we think about efficient and effective schools where they are doing the most good for kids with the dollars they have do we no much about how traditional district schools compared to charter schools compared to private schools? >> i think we no a lot about traditional public schools or what i would call state-run schools. essentially the same thing if you want to grocery shop. what we know when that happens?

the costs are extremely high. the revenue sources for traditional public schools come from free areas, local dollars, state dollars, federal dollars on average of 13 to $14,000 a year. in some states like new jersey is up in the $20,000 range. so this is because there is a bureaucracy that has been built up around supporting a system, not students. the system has been made for the adults. the money has to flow that way. let me reflect on that, the ability of parents to choose a charter school or prep school using the public money set aside has started to see that what does it cost to educate children? charter schools are

typically doing it for 80% or 80 percent or less. private schools about your programs are doing it for much less than that. an elementary school student receiving a voucher was borgess $4,800 to go private school. what we do now, the current system is inefficient. we know the foundation just did a study, like that the ten voucher programs that have been enacted since 1996 to 2,000. $1.7 billion in savings to states. the sad thing is we can't tell you where that money went. the states of save that money because it cost less. >> when it cost 13, $14,000 to educate a kid made it less than that. why is that?

they have been charging tuition and subsidizing. the voucher you can your parents if they are able to a scholarship tax credit the schools themselves multiple sources of revenue. they are actually running cheaper but it is cheaper to the families. >> the cost the same to operate. >> economic terms, one of the suit pants where the market is supposed to draw a line through supply and

demand, basic economics. this is what every student will no. this for this to get this money. public schools have traditionally charged more. >> success academies is a growing organization of charter schools in new york city. could could you talk a little bit about how much it costs to run academy schools compared to new york schools >> the success academy charter schools as well 32 schools in new york city nearly 9500 scholars the

entire state of new york in the top 3 percent. [applause] very proud of the accomplishment of our scholars. what rob said, there is a tremendous funding disparity between what public charter school students receive an district school students. in new york it's about $6000 between $6,000 between what doe spends a much harder is a receiving by the time our scholars will have graduated from high school we we will have offered about four years of additional education compared to the traditional district counterparts. so their is a profound disparity. all we are doing differently is merely her on the bureaucracy.

the charter community in general, we have to be very cautious that we are not allowing bureaucracy to overtake what it is we're doing and it is harder as we go. the reports that our schools were required to prepare over the course of the year something like 60 major reports that request the man's reporting that we get. twenty-five. twenty-five of which from various sources, city, state, federal that require hundreds and hundreds of hours of personal time thousands time thousands and thousands of pieces of paper and that we would argue 1st of all i don't think anyone is looking at and more importantly it is not relevant to whether our schools are doing well. the authorizer should be the one holding charters accountable at a very high

level. charters are not are not performing their should be closed. the reporting requirements and bureaucracy that is slowly entering into what is charters do it is crippling the charter school movement. i believe that bureaucracy created actually take the charter movement down. if i may add a little bit tangentially i do think our opponents and the teachers union is very much aware of that. what we find is in the attacks that we are getting if along the lines of bureaucracy just as a quick a quick example: last year there was an arcane real estate law that we heard was sort of passing through the legislature more quickly than usual. we could have tasked a notice.

what it was was a knew procedure the charters would now have to undergo true real estate law and order to get your facility. fortunately folks noticed this and there was a little bit of an outcry. what it did was add tremendous layers of bureaucracy in order to stop this in his tracks. bureaucracy is definitely a danger they say it's quality control way to make sure that children are not being done wrong but how do we make sure it is not given the way of educators being able to work with kids and make good decisions? >> one thing we are very much in favor of his accountability because that is what this is all about. and so, you know, what we what we have to do is ensure that the measure in the policies that we put in place are not a hindrance to

that school's ability to be unique. so so that is what we like. what i love about the charter school environment is that schools are allowed to be unique as it relates to operations. one of the things that i want to piggyback on about, comment about the cost savings of i'm a we have found with regards to we are finding that the dollars of taxpayer dollars the money that is originally

provided to a failing school for a child given to a voucher school to help educate. >> when you say $24 million was saved,. >> absolutely. louisiana the foundation formula which creates an amount that is allocated per child. child. louisiana has about $8,600. and so that traditionally would have gone to a failing public school. a private school or catholic school. it's about 5,000, 4500 to 5,000. when when you look at the difference, over 4000 per child that's a huge tremendous amount of savings

>> when you talk about this bureaucratic freedom can you give a couple of examples to folks who don't do this stuff everyday, what it looks like. >> you make a good. every hour spent on reporting those are hours that are not spent on kids. and the many charter school students here i think you would agree with me that charters are staffing more lamely and so we don't have the additional staff to spare to dedicate to these hundreds and hundreds of hours projects. our local districts asked us to have one person at each of our school to operate the atf system the computer system that our public schools in new york city have to operate, and it is this dark base system with the green blinking thing.

from my understanding you have to if you make a mistake and have to go back you may be 30 out of 500 students and and have to start all over. the reason why i say from my understanding is the best we have been able to resist using this. it's a little bit ironic. but they wanted us to do nothing but enter student by student attendance data and things of this nature which we can do every single person in that school every single person is striving to have each child perform at the highest possible level. that is the kind of thing.

amongst the reporting it is incredibly duplicative and would be okay if we could say let's take this report from our authorizer. the the state wants it. let's pass this over tremendous amounts of money in creating their own computer system and it must be entered in their own format meaning you can't take the data you have produced elsewhere and shared across the board. we have developed a bureaucracy busting arm in our organization where that is just as important to fight the bureaucracy creep not quite as important as the education the part and parcel. >> in this sounds disconcerting.

how much of a concern is this? >> well, we look in the mirror and become the very thing we have been fighting. and that happens, this natural tendency to over bureaucratized things. the things. the end of the day we have to go back to the basics and remind ourselves why we got into this. i am somewhat concerned about the fact that we do imitate and replicate the monopoly that we tend to fight. putting rules and regulations, putting in barriers for parents who want to engage in choice. and the bottom line he said it was terrific. and this is not a jobs program. this is about education and learning. we have double education spending of the last 30

years. you know this. yet the outputs are going down. and now even when we have so-called autonomous school miles working we have principles, for five people from central office. they want they want to rent out their jam. there is this tendency to over bureaucratized all aspects of education, and i think that the way we have to do it is have a little. the shift in our approach. when i was in texas a couple of weeks ago they asked me, well, how we will school choice affect the local district? if you think about the tone and tenor of most of these questions, how we will it affect the system? the pivot is how will this

affect the kids if we don't change? with how we engage in this whole notion the school district or the system but the kids. this is the way i look at it this great example. let's imagine you have a child. call that child a student. you you put them in a room. college classroom. in adult adjoined to teach them. them. college teacher. everything you do should be tailored toward funding that interaction between the students and that teacher so that that child can learn. but we do with the school bureaucracy, only 60% of the

dollars in some states are 50 in some states going to the classroom is spend it on everything else. we need this. and it's important. central personnel and we can do without it. if you ratchet it down down to that dynamic that is most important, the children and the teachers in the classroom there is no way if you have a school district the 1st thing any superintendent should do , where you have less than 90 percent of the dollars going into the classroom then you are not funding education, teaching, and learning. you are funding a bureaucracy. that is part of the way to get rid of bureaucracy, bureaucracy this notion that we end up replicating the thing we're fighting, to make sure that we keep tabs on how we are funding those extraneous jobs and services that

really don't have anything to do with that main dynamic of teaching and learning in the classroom. classroom. i think that is the discipline that politically is hard because folks have to change the way they do business. [applause] >> you are absolutely right when you talk about changing the way we do business. unfortunately, where we are today is this is big business. the education education is big business. we are fighting money. we are fighting tradition. we are fighting people's jobs. so until and unless we can get past the issues that this is some tradition that we must maintain and tell we can have people understand that we need to create new traditions, and so we can get past the jobs

of we are talking about are not jobs that we need to protect if those jobs are protecting our kids, kids we have to get past that. unless we can get our elected officials to understand that this will all be even more, continue more, continue to be more of a challenge. >> this is why school choice and particularly vouchers are so important. and every single state at least half if half, if not more of every dollar goes to k-12 education, a huge business. >> yes, it is. >> we are talking about fighting the power of that business. you you create this symbiotic relationship where legislators and public school groups come together. the largest employer in the rural and suburban areas the schools have the power

and so they have the legislative power, therefore they have the pack in the money that goes to candidates and there is an incredible relationship between half-year state budget. it budget. it is just, we would call that in other states corruption. if you think about it. this is the the reason why all the dollars up to follow the kids. you have to have vouchers. total choice. you're never going to change the structure of a monopoly. so so much money. my favorite example, who here knows they get kicked out of the program. that's the kind of regulatory environment you can get in. this is a system that has built itself up. is not just the legislators it's every single community the regulatory concern it

is not just a district a district charter school but also for private tour program. >> an absolute move from people who oppose to make all the charter schools and private schools if anything this is a line in the sand and when we say accountability we mean for results. in our state you can get know more knew money. >> way to change that. >> it's okay to report even though.

>> and when asked how can private schools how can private schools. >> ways we can do that i look at mine. i have two children. eighteen and soon to be 16. i have loved them to death. are they going to become taxpaying citizens? people who have a job and pay taxes. one of the best ways they can figure that out is to show how much money they bring back. >> you were talking before

about bureaucracy busting. what are some of the things you guys have done or that folks can learn? >> i think one of these things that we do kevin and i can tell you. our mantra and for folks who come into our organization the 1st thing that we ask is is it good for children? if it's not if it's going to take away from what we offer the kids we are we're going to take a position to try to push back. so every single thing i think we have become accustomed the regulators are coming the various

folks, feds, state, city, they just want one little thing and it is easier to kind of scribble it out or type it out and write it the way that they want and send it over. before too long it becomes a monolithic bureaucracy. we resist, look very carefully and enter into a regular conversation with our authorizer to understand maybe we can shortcut that for you and just give you the information and in the documents that you need. interested when people talk about accountability for charter schools the answer

they often face. the easy answer we've got it now. the additional paper. one one example of a peace of paper. every year, the teachers who are not certified have to send home in the backpack folder for their scholars a peace of paper saying just wanted you to know, i'm know, i'm not highly qualified. yes, i have been teaching for five years, but i just wanted you to no that i didn't have that thing called highly qualified and someone thought that i should write you and tell you and let you no to a level that is absurd that we

want the teacher to write home prices so we're doing to get your scholar to the highest potential and never doing it for five years successfully and this is what you need to do we will make sure that they are motivated. that is what we would like to do. >> i wanted to respond to the question. i think that this is the essence of education choice. at the end of the day if you run elementary school and the like of learning is still in the eyes of those particularly black and brown boys 4th and 5th grade you're running a good school because unfortunately we have got, you know, nearly 2,000 dropout factories

schools where we know 9 percent of the kids are going to drop out. the light of learning is out of the eyes of those kids. and if parents want to go they're because they no that that nurturing and learning is taking place and you are demonstrating that you can teach these babies in a way that we will meet them where they are and accommodate needs and not force the circle in the square, then you're doing great work. go work. go back to the bureaucracy thing. several years ago and i used to talk a lot with eva. chair of the new chair of new york public school to fun-loving, new york city council education in dc, and we were both getting beat up we used to talk all the time. but you know, at the end of the day dc had a hundred and 46 schools, schools, dc public schools. nearly 2,000 people and center office. the archdiocese of dc had a

hundred and ten schools and about ten people in the central office. and their outputs were better. at the end of the day we no that you don't need a large central office to run good schools and i think that parents know that. so why not find ways to continue to give parents those opportunities as opposed to telling parents you have to do it this way because the system works this way. the the focus on the way the system is using to operate that is an anachronism. right now with this new way of living if you are a five -year-old today chances are

you were working a job that does not exist today. we have this whole approach to school and learning to try to develop kids for careers that are even going to exist. now we have systems in place to run school districts that are going to be outdated over the next ten to 15 years. and so i think part of what we need to do is step back. we have all of these different kids no one, you no response to the same learning modalities. why don't we figure out just like that menu in a restaurant or the buffet line if there's just chicken fried steak, i'm not eating. but you have all of these menu options for parents.

what the school district does is tell you no you can only have it this way and this is the only way you're going to get it. you're going to take algebra in 9th grade even if your not ready for. that is the way we do it. we don't change it. so i think the private schools can continue to do what they do and feature that because parents are demanding something other than what they have been getting in far too many schools. >> if you want to build on that, that's fine. but you have done a lot of this work on the ground level in louisiana. curious, given all of these challenges and questions how do you bring people together? build that coalition were folks have different concerns and can find enough common ground to go ahead and make this happen. >> you know, in the early years of louisiana