a reminder that this weekend's full schedule is available on our web site, booktv.org. >> here's a look at some of the books being published this week. princeton university's elaine pagel in "why religion." historian andrew roberts recalls the life of british prime minister winston churchill. in "a savage order," rachel klinefeld offers her thoughts on how violent countries can recover. and "usa today" editor eileen rivers profiles three women who fought in afghanistan in "beyond the call." our look at this week's new book releases continues with "the war before the war." columbia university american studies professor andrew delbanco's recount of the political and moral divisions of the united states in the antebellum area. and in civil war barons, jeffrey

work. look for these titles in bookstores this coming week and watch for many of the or 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 the than it was in 2016 when you wrote your book, in your view? >> guest: well, sadly, no. test scores haven't gone up. we have slipped in the international rankings a bit. common core has 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 parental choice programs which empower parents over their children's education and restore that critical local control are. so that's silver lining here.

>> host: have we seen any changes in the federal department of education? >> guest: well, actually, we have. and it's been -- some of the moves have been pretty controversial. for example, streamlining a lot of the employees. most recently president trump unveiled a plan to combine the department of education with the d. of labor -- 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 works. we'll see what comes of it. that's going to be a tough, 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, you know, 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. she's hired to be part of an administration with goals, and i

think she's doing it. i think some of the 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 her money. so i think, again, some of the criticism is want to see 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 department of justice. everything else give back to 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 school and instead focus on whether they're being educated. i think the argument that really gave rise to the system we have today is a legitimate concern for what happens to children from disadvantaged families who can't afford the education that's right for them. there's a 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 schools system, it's become really the playground for partisan political and special interests. and i think parents and the public have really had enough. so 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 headquartered in oakland, california, and we stand for peaceful, prosperous solutions and the protection of individual rights. >> host: is it a libertarian-based -- >> guest: well, 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. 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 made in other state the. 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 -- the don't come under the purview of government and various testing mandates. when you start having this government regularlation, basically -- regulation, basically, one provider starts looking a whole lot like the other providers. >> 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, teaching college courses. and as i was finishing up my dissertation, like i said, i'm from arizona, i was up at, you

know, in the wee hours, and i noticed that 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 different direction. 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 work day in, day out in the field. and so you can have some best practices perhaps, but we need a whole lot of providers so people can choose so we don't get a one size fits all. things become so politicized, as heaven knows hour classrooms --

our classrooms and certainly our college campuses have been, have a lot of options if for students and really, truly the best work, the best practices will rise to the top. >> host: is the u.s. spends more per 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 teacher 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 rest of the world, that's where we can really invest. the buildings and all the other bells and whistles, 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, go to our web site, booktv.org. >> a look now at some of the current best selling nonfiction books according to amazon. one of the top selling books is a new picture book on president trump and his response to the hurricane florence. it's by the staff of the late show with stephen colbert, "whose boat is this boat?" the late stephen hawking's brief answers to the big questions, and fox news host's tucker

carlson's thoughts on elitism in america. also on the list is tara westover's memoir of her child had knew the idaho mountain the and her introduction to formal education at age of 17. after that it's actor lin-manuel miranda's book of daily affirmations. some of these authors have or will be airing on booktv on c-span2 and will be available to watch online at booktv.org. .. and so i wanted to before i ask the first question and introduce everyone wanted to just give a