co-authors fred burton and samuel katz recount the fatal kidnapping of cia station chief william buckley in lennon in 1984. -- lebanon in 1984. our list continues with a look at how andrew jackson was elected president in 1828. boston college law professor and former supreme court clerk kent greenfield weighs in on the supreme court's decision to grant corporations with personhood in "corporations are people too." and in "nine pints," rose george shares her research on the science and commodification of blood. look for these titles in bookstores this coming week, and watch for many of the authors in the near future on booktv on c-span2. >> host: and now joining us on booktv is vicki alger. her book, "failure: the federal miseducation of america's children," came out in 2016.

ms. alger, is it any better today than it was in 2016 when you wrote your book, in your view? >> guest: sadly, no. test scores haven't gone up. we have slipped in the international rankings a bit. common core's been fully entrenched, and we didn't see the improvements, and we saw some losses. so, no, things aren't getting better. but there is, on the positive side, what we are seeing is advances in the states in present bal choice programs -- parental choice programs which empower parents over their children's education and restore that critical local control. so that's silver lining here. >> host: have we seen any changes in the federal department of education? >> guest: actually, we have, and some of the moves have been pretty controversial. for example, streamlining a lot of employees. most recently president trump unveiled a plan to the combine the department of education with the d. of lay are boar -- department of labor so we'd have

a department of education and work force. so the thinking behind that is we're going to prepare the 21st century work force. so that's in the workings. we'll see what comes of it. that's going to be the a tough hill to climb, i suspect. >> host: what's your view on betsy devos? >> guest: i think betsy devos has been a fantastic advocate for parental rights in education. she's lived it herself, she's raised millions and millions of dollars for it. i think as her position as secretary of education she's gotten a lot of criticism. i think a good bit of it is not well-deserved. she's there to do a job, part of an administration with goals, and i think she's doing it. i think some of criticism stems from the fact that people really want the restoration of local and parental control in education, so we're hoping that the every student succeeds act, for example, would be rolled much farther back so states wouldn't have to come and, you know, beg for more flexibility and more money. so i think, again, some of the

criticism is one of, a lot more restoration of local control, a lot, you know, much more quickly. >> host: is there a need for a federal department of education, in your view? >> guest: no. bottom line for me is, no. there are three programs i would keep in d.c. the first is the d.c. opportunity scholarship program. it's a voucher program that's been in existence for over ten years, and it's having marvelous results for children who are trapped in schools that absolutely are not working for them. that's privately managed, and they report to congress; there's no need for a u.s. department of education. anything dealing with veterans should be handled by veterans affairs. and, basically, everything else -- oh, the civil rights, office of civil rights. i think we should move that to the department of justice. that has a constitutional basis. and so move that to the d. of justice. everything else give back to the the states and taxpayers. >> host: okay. so you've talked about local control and the states, and you

talk about that in "miseducation." is there a need for public education in general? taxpayer-supported public education? >> guest: i would say that the greatest need is for an educated public. and i think we have to stop fixating so much on where children are going to the school and instead focus on whether they're being educated. i think argument that really gave rise to the system we have today is a legitimate concern what happens to children there disadvantaged families who can't afford the education that's right for them. there's a way to meet that need without involving the government and getting all the politics and all the downside of government involvement. >> host: and how do you do that? >> guest: oh, the way we did at the beginning of the republic. americans are some of the most generous people on earth, and private philanthropy, civic communities, faith-based communities, there are any number of ways the private sector could handle this without

government involvement. if we recall, milton friedman gave rise to the notion of just because we fund schools through government doesn't mean that government knows best for other people's children. but i think what we've seen today with over a hundred years of our current schooling system, it's become really the playground for partisan political and special interests. and i think parents have, and the prick, have really had -- and the public, have really had enough. the more we can put parents in control, let private philanthropies and other organizations help where there is a true financial need, we're going to see that minimized. >> host: what is the independent institute? >> guest: the independent institute is a headquartered in oakland, california, and we stand for peaceful, prosperous solutions and the protection of individual rights. >> host: is it a libertarian-based -- >> guest: we're not, we're nonpartisan but limited government so, yes, we would

fall on the libertarian side of things. but we're nonpartisan. >> host: are vouchers, charter schools, are they working, in your view? >> guest: i think the more options we have the better. i think there's a range of options which, thank goodness there are a range of options. my preference personally and policy wise is expanding options that have the least involvement of government, less susceptible to politicization and government control. so i, my favorite would be education savings accounts. and, actually, my home state of arizona was the first state to enact those back in 2011. i think we're seeing improvements in that policy design from some of the proposals that have been are made in other states. specifically, i like the idea of a tax credit or privately-financed education savings account. because that way parents have more options, education providers -- not just private schools, but tutors and so

forth, online providers -- don't come under the purview of government and various testing mandates. that when you start having this government regulation, basically one provider starts looking a whole lot like the other providers. so we want to have a real choice not just an -- >> host: vicki alger, how did you get into the study of education? >> guest: well, actually, i went to school, and i got my advanced degrees to be a college professor. that's what i started off doing, is teaching college courses. and as i was finishing up my dissertation, like i said, i'm from arizona. i was up, you know, in the wee hours, and i noticed my state-based think tank at home is the goldwater institute. and they had an opening for a policy director. and i looked at the requirements and i said, i think i could do that. so i applied, and two weeks later i was hired, and my career path took a very, very different direction, but i'm really glad it did.

>> host: should there be national education standards of any kind, and why or why not? >> guest: i think -- i don't think they should be government standards. i like the idea, for example, i started out teaching in english departments. why do we have politicians deciding what, you know, children or undergraduates should be reading? that should be decided by people who wake day in, day out in the field. -- who work day in, day out in the field. so you could have some best practices, perhaps, but we need a whole lot of providers so people can choose. we don't get a one size fits all. our classrooms and certainly our college campuses have been. have a lot of options for students and really, truly the best work, the best practices will rise to the top. >> host: the u.s. spends more per cap that per student than any -- capita per student than any other country? >> guest: we're in the top five. i think liechtenstein and -- some countries spend a few hundred dollars more, but it's

not a whole heck of a lot -- >> host: in your view, where is that money well spent, and where should it fall off? >> guest: i think, first and foremost, it should go to great teachers, really great teachers who not only know their subject well, but can teach it well. just because you know a subject doesn't mean you can teach a subject well. so i think real investments in not just teachers' salaries, but in hard core professional development that young, you know, beginning teachers need. so i think that's where the money is well spent. let the teachers be the true professionals they really want to be. the downside of that is we have to fire teachers who just aren't up to snuff. so i think investing in great teacher education, make it very competitive the way the top performing countries do in the world, rest of the world. that's where we can really invest. the buildings and all the other bells and whistles, those are add-ons. if you don't have great teachers, i think we have to question why we're doing what we're doing. >> host: vicki alger's book, "miseducation," came out in

2016. this is a quick update. if you'd like to see a fuller program with ms. alger, you can go to our web site, booktv.org. >> c-span launched booktv 20 the years ago on c-span2 the, and since then we've covered thousands of authors and book festivals spanning more than 54,000 hours. in 2008 we interviewed former professional tennis player and gender equality advocate billie jean king. >> for me, it changed my life. 35 years ago when i played against bobby riggs, i would think every single day of my life somebody brings it up where they were, what they remember, how it affected them. some people come up to me and they'll be crying and tell me their story. particularly fathers will come up to me and daughters, and they'll say -- they'll come up with tears in their eyes, and they'll say i just have to tell you something.

i was 10 years old, for instance, when i watched your match, and now i have a daughter. and i raised her differently because i watched that match that night. >> you can watch this and all other booktv programs from the past 20 years at booktv.org. type the author's name and the word "book" in the search bar at the top of the page. >> you're watching booktv on c-span2, television for serious readers. here's tonight's prime time lineup. at 7:30 p.m. eastern, lisa mccoven recounts the life of former first lady betty ford. at 8:30, juan williams. on booktv's "after words" program at ten, journalist macy reports on the opioid -- macy reports on the opioid crisis. and we wrap up our prime time programming at 11 eastern with former law enforcement officer

matthew horace and ron harris' discussion on police practices and policies. that all happens tonight on c-span2's booktv. 48 hours of nonfiction authors and books every weekend. television for serious readers. a reminder that this weekend's full schedule is available on our web site, booktv.org. >> good evening, everybody, i'm president of the l.a. press club, and welcome to the press club tonight -- [applause] thank you, thank you very much. and i will note that this is being recorded for c-span, which is very exciting for us. and so a quick introduction. i'm going to talk --