indianapolis, indiana would be a great example where private agencys are coming together to strength at any quality of summer programs there and we're working intensively in gilmore, fres know and oakland. and there are reasons that despite the economic downturn and the real crisis in terms of the fiscal environment in california right now, they are coming together as communities to be extend turns for learning and fun and outdoors and nutrition for kids, so we definitely have communities we can point so. we can point to. in fact in monica crowley county the superintendent there recently announced they are dedicating additional money they got from the recovery and reinvestment act to actually expand their summer learning programs, so we see some pockets of innovation, programs that are being offered to kids

that are really encouraging and rewarding, but there just aren't enough. we need more superintendents, school boards, districts, community-based organizations that are going to work together to make sure the kids that deb on our line for democrats. >> go ahead. >> mr. fairchild i had a couple questions, first of all, anybody who works knows you need a break. so i'm wondering when kids are in school, they are working and working hard so they still need some time off. how does your program deal with that, and also coming from a real estate, a lot of our kids out here. even fairly young kids help out at home. they are involved in other they are involved in other activities through -- 4-h, that's what they do, that's their summer activities. and i'm wondering how those things fit in your plan.

i'll take your answer off the air. guest: i'm certainly a proponent of kids needing a break and needing something different. certainly summers are a great opportunity for some time off and down time, but the programs typically that we work with in duration that still leaves time for family vagus and work. we work extensively in rural communities. thrice great model of a program in west virginia that's statewide called energy express that provides terrific opportunities for young people, and they manage to still strike that right balance between having a break, having a time for something different. but also having opportunities for enrichment. i think regardless of where kids are, they need to be engaged in learning. so i it may not be the case in every community or context where you need a structured program that looks and feels a particular way.

and clearly there will be bigger differences between rural and other communities. our community resources, parks are open for -- we make sure parents know there's chances for opportunity in their community and wherever kids are that they are learning. host: and if you want more information about the national center for summer learning, you can go to their website, summerlearning.org. you'll find thra there summer learning tips for parents which include take free or low-cost trips to museums and nature centers and practice math daily or yard daly temperatures. add and subtract at the grocery store and learn lessons while cooking. hello randy? caller: am i online? host: go ahead. caller: ok.

here's what i want to say, i could teach calculus with a piece of plywood on a piece of grass. so i don't care whether it's summer school or whether it's winter school, you can teach somebody anywhere. and then the other thing is, i mean, i learned at the library. i used to go to the library as a kid. you know? read national ji graphics? it's all there. i mean, -- host: thanks for your call, randy. guest: thanks, i learned at the library a lot as a kid, too. i well remember carrying out stacks of books. and i have two young boys who visit the library regularly. we need to have those kinds of opportunities available for kids. host: next up on our republican line, good morning. caller: i'm a republican. i'm conservative.

and the whole concept of central planning and everything coming out of washington or some central agency always, you know, they don't run anything well. and i believe until competition. we invest a whole lot of time investing in your kids until we get fathers back involved with their families, we've got 70% of inner city families with no dads. so you couldn't bull our pull our billions and trillions into it. i'm not saying we shouldn't spend some moneys, but we need find a way to bring in male role models. we have too much feminine exposure on our males. we need male leadership. so i would be for those types of programs. host: michael, as a home schooler, do you sort of define a school year or are you in some sort of an academic

program year round with your kids at home? >> well, we define a school year but scale down in the summer and skill get in math and reading. but with home schooling, when you go on vacation everything becomes a learning experience. when we go to a trip somewhere, we look up the historical it's a perfect. it's the way our country grew up. the kids would work with the dads and learn things as they went. host: thanks for your call, michael. guest: i would say parents obviously play a big role in all this. in the programs we work with across the oftentimes you heard parents and kids aren't going

turn out for programs like this. you make this opportunity available and many people will think parents and kids aren't going to choose to take advantage of this and what we've seen is consistently, high quality programs are overruled they want what's best for their kids and when they find out there's opportunities like this on where kids can have fun and where they can learn, read, have that positive interaction with adults in and additional mentors in their lives and families and children take advantage of this opportunity. host: the national center for summer learning is sponsoring an event the week of july 6. programs around the country are going to be holding events to raise awareness. tell us more about that. >> sure. happening on july 9, this thursday. and what the day is designed to

do is focus attention on this issue. make sure more people know kids are at-risk during the summer and more importantly, that there are positive examples of programs out there that are making a difference. so we have currently right now as of yesterday right -- we had 244 programs registered to host events in your communities in 44 states, so we're really excited about the attention and focus of this and going to be honoring some leaders and champions who are really supportive of this issue and have really >> and more information about that on the website? host: absolutely. back to the phones, patrick on our line for democrats as we look at the website for the national officer for summer learning. go ahead. caller: thank you, so much for c-span and mr. fairchild for your work. i was just thinking a little bit about thinking creatively about how young people have fun

as one of the callers mentioned earlier, and also that gentleman who seemed to get a little emotional about left brain and right brain. i do think outside of school young people need to be engaged because they also get board quickly and we're not talking too much about vol untierism, and that's also a very -- and the work development are all benefitting from this type of thing. i had an wonder if you maybe can mention, and i will mention one as i end youth conferences and gatherings where youth can network amongst themselves and talk about it, at the united nations this summer we're bringing in 800 youth leaders for something called the youth assembly august 5-7 and it

enables young people to discuss the success of the millennium development goals and gets them thinking about how to give to society as part of their own development, perhaps doing well by doing good in the future. and i wonder if you had any thoughts on that host: patrick, is it a free event? >> yes. caller: it's called faf.org and you'll be able to find it there and perhaps that and other kinds of youth gatherings might also be youthful ways for kids to get away and still be involved in their own development. guest: patrick, i think it's a fantastic opportunity that you just provided -- that you just described. we certainly need to do more than just more of the same during the summer. i think that's a point you hilt on pretty powerful when we start talking about resources outside of the school,

accountant get in the -- guest: again, the most successful models we've seen often involve partnerships between schools and non-profit organizations, other public agencies. and really make sure that kids get something different this summer. get something distinctive, and that in some ways can help fuel broader opportunities so summer can be that place for innovation. where teachers have an opportunity to teach something new and partners come into school buildings and work with teachers and students in a way they have not before and in a way that can help drive broader changes in how, when and where kids are going to -- we are funded primarily through private foundations so we have

significant public -- private foundation support. we also do professional development work with school districts around the country and make sure program providers have the resources and tools they need to be successful. host: next up is st. joseph's indiana. mike on for republicans. caller: i do appreciate it. a few suggestions maybe. let's go to an 11-month school year and have all children wear uniforms. let's remove all extracurricular. don't have them to play basketball and soccer and tennis and lacrosse and any sports, and if you do that and you get back to the abc's when i went to catholic school i remember coming home and telling my mother sister can a medicala punished me and smacked my hands and she did the same thing. money isn't the answer. where it comes from is your mom and your dad and single parents

trying to do the best they can, teachers are the most underappreciated, underpaid people, but let's go to a military system, everybody wear a uniform and go 10-11 months a year and raise our standards and just demand the best from our kids. i really don't think it's money. you don't lure kids in by saying if you do well you're going to get an ipod. you say if you don't you're going to get a butt whipping. the youth is the future but we should go back to old school and kick out all of the extra sports and get back to reading, writing and arith ma tick. guest: well, there are some elements of old school we don't need to go back to but we need to have certainly more rigorous and intensive focus on education and learning opportunities for the -- i think it's possible to have that rigor but also make it fun.

that's where we're going to attract young people and make sure kids take advantage of this. and their passion comes from inside because they really want to participate in programs like this. i think extracurricular activities are critical. they are important. we don't have enough of those things. we don't have enough of those things that hook and motivate interest in kids and if summer can provide those kinds of opportunities that get kids excited about learning. summer is to have been time of year when kids discover a passion, talent, potential career. i talked to many young adults who had those experiences and some participated in a science camp and got them but we need to do is stay on those types of opportunities for children who cannot have them. we will start seeing the kind of reform and changes that we need

if we do this. ultimately, it does go to a place where kids and families are making these choices. host: birmingham, alabama on our democrats line. caller: yes, back when i was going to school, we had a three month school vacation. you probably went to school nine months out of the year. look at how you came back. what would you want to punish children not to have any fun and get fat in front of a computer. you're not having any activities year round? that is no fun. everyone is going to say, it could have been worse.

i graduated from school in the 1967. we have ph.d.'s and others who have graduated from a small school. , alabama. host: what kind of things did you doer 0er -- do over the summer? caller: we went on vacation. i would visit my relatives in selma, alabama. we had activities, baseball, softball. you just cleared your mind of all your school activities so you would be fresh and don't mind going to school, you liked it, you enjoyed it. guest: the research shows, and this goes back to 1906. there are over 30 empirical studies that show young people are at risk of experiencing setbacks when they're not engaged in constructive activities and for many parents and many families they are able to turn on a faucet of opportunities for those trips, enrichment, reading, all of

those kinds of things, families are able to do that because they have the resources to do that because they have those opportunities available. many families don't. the question then becomes how do you make sure that all kids have some kind of opportunity for constructive opportunity so they don't experience the setbacks, so we don't have the significant growth in the achievement gap? a recent study shows that 2/3's of the achievement gap can be traced to differences in the summer learning opportunities, so we clearly need to work on reforming our schools and improving public schools during the regular school day and year, but then we also need to look at the summer months and think creatively about it. it is not just extending the school year. it is not just more of the same. that's certainly not what we're advocating. we're advocating for the kind of creative approach to learning during the summer months that brings a lot of these elements together, to c camps, the parks,

>> tomorrow, and look at the unrest of iran. it will begin with jack goldstone. they will talk about the economy and world financial markets after that. a director and producer will talk about her film later. it deals with free speech. that is live at 7:00 p.m. -- 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> conservation was dealing with a certain things. >> douglas brinkley were talking about the conservation movement in the early days. >> he believed in hunting.

he did not believe in hunting so you would make a species extinct. he cared about butterflies, wild flowers. he wanted to make sure we had a place for that in modern society. >> sunday "q&a" on the wilderness warrior, roosevelt. sunday at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. you can listen to it on radio or on the computer. our web site is c-span.org. >> how is c-span funded? >> publicly funded. >> donations. >> government? >> c-span gets funding through the taxes. >> federal funding. >> i do not know. >> how is c-span funded? 30 years ago america's cable companies created c-span as a

public service, a private business initiative, no government mandate or money. >> this weeks, and addresses also focused on the energy bill. president obama followed by john gainor. >> we have seen our reliance on fossil fuels jeopardize our national security. it pollutes the air we breathe and dangers our planet. we have seen countries realize the critical truth. the nation that leaves in the creation of a clean energy economy will be the nation's leader of the 21st century global economy. now america must realize this as

well. we must lead at this time. the energy bill passed at the house will spark a clean energy transformation in our economy. it will spur the development of wind, solar, geothermal power and cleaner coal. it will spur new energy savings like the efficient windows and other materials that produce heating costs in the winter and cooling costs in the summer. it will make possible the creation of millions of new jobs. make no mistake, we have are the scene of this is true in another recovery act. in california, three dozen people will be employed to build a new solar plant that will create a thousand permanent jobs. in michigan, investment in when technology is expected to create over 2600 jobs. in florida, green solar products will employ 1400 people.

the list goes on and on. this legislation will finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy. it will lead to the creation of new businesses and industries which will lead to american jobs that pay well and cannot be outsourced. i have often talked about the need to build a new foundation for economic growth so that we do not return to the endless cycle of boom and bust that led us to this crisis. clean energy and the jobs they create is critical to this foundation. this legislation has been carefully written to address the concerns that many have in the past. instead of increasing the deficit, it is paid for by the polluters of carbon emissions. businesses and families will make the gradual transition to clean energy technology. it helps farmers the opportunity to participate in kleiman -- climate solution and generate new income.

it will protect consumers and the cost of this transition so that in a decade, the price to the average american is about the price of a postage stamp. because it is so balanced, it has already sparked labor and business leaders, democrats and republicans, and other groups to come together. please put politics aside and support this bill. i am calling on every senator and american. we cannot be afraid of the future. we must not be prisoners of the past. do not believe the misinformation out there that suggests there is a contradiction between investing in clean energy and economic growth. it is not true. we have been talking about energy for decades. our dependence on foreign oil is jeopardize our security. carbon pollution is placing our

planet in jeopardy. there is no longer a question about whether the jobs and industries of the traversed century will be centered around clean renewable energy. the question is which country will create these jobs in these industries? i want that answer to be the united states of america. i believe the american people and the men and women in congress share that view. i want to congratulate the house for passing this bill. i want to urge the senate to take this opportunity to come together and meet our obligations to our constituents, children, to god's creation, and future generations. >> i am house republican leader. in ohio, i get an earful about what the democrats in washington are doing. they promise unemployment would not rise above 8%, but a trillion dollars stimulus was passed.

our nation has lost nearly 3 million jobs this year. unemployment is above 9%. now the president says unemployment will reach double digits. after all of this spending and borrowing from china and the middle east, our children and grandchildren, where are the jobs? democrats are pushing a government takeover of our health-care system that will cost at least $3 trillion. the claim americans will be able to keep their doctors under the democrats' plan. but the nonpartisan congressional budget shows the least 23 million americans would lose their current health care plan and doctors. another report projects that nearly 100 million americans may be forced under government rules. our nation could lose 4.7 million jobs under need the democrats' proposal based on analysis developed by chief

economic adviser christina romer. 1 million small business jobs will be lost due to the costly mandates of the democrats. spall businesses are the engine of our economy. we should help them weather the storm. washington has not tried this yet. republicans are offering a plan that will encourage investment and allow small businesses and families to keep more of what they earn, to help our economy gets moving a gun, it will stimulus plan. -- to help our economy gets moving again, a real stimulus plan. we have a plan without costly taxes and government mandates. this week, the president and democrats on capitol hill continued their push for speaker posies national energy tax. by imposing the tax on every

american who drives a car or flicks on a light switch, this plan will drive up the price for food, gasoline, and electricity. even president obama has said that energy prices will skyrocket and its consequences will be severe in rural communities across our country. the bill will shipped millions of jobs to competitors like china and india. a recent study says it will cost us about 2.7 million jobs every year. we should be creating american jobs not destroying them. that is why house republicans have proposed a better way. all the above strategies to clean up the environment, lower energy costs, and create more jobs. our plan will increase in by a safe medical -- environmental protection's that are safe. republicans are offering common-

sense solutions that will make a real difference in creating jobs, making health care more affordable, and creating a healthier and cleaner environment. we hope our were democrat partners will abandon their failed goal alone approach. and you for listening. -- failed goal-alone approach. -- go-alone approach. thank you for listening. >> we will now hear from students and teachers at the close of academy. this is one hour. >> each week we bring students face to face with issues of the government. we will be looking back at 30

years of television programming on c-span. our audience consists of students and teachers at the close of academy. we will meet some of them now. >> tell us what's your biggest highlight has been this week. >> we went to a museum. >> every time we get a school student here, we talk about the recession and how it is impacting your life in high school. the things you do on the weekend and in the evening. what are you finding back home? >>