south pacific. the parties to those agreements will have the legally-binding assurance that the united states is not going to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against them, and we will respect the weapons-free status and we are prepared to consult with the parties to the nuclear-weapon- free zone, in south asia, to reach an agreement that would reach those protocols as well. we're wanting to find a weapons of mass destruction free zone in the middle east. the middle east may present the greatest threat of nuclear proliferation in the world today. adherence is not universal. and a few countries that are parties to this have violated their treaty obligations. in spite of these difficulties,

we are wanting to affirm our commitment to be objective of the middle -- of the history of these weapons of mass destruction and we are prepared to support practical measures that will move us to this objective. the united states will maintain a nuclear deterrent as long as nuclear weapons exist. . further reductions and we will pursue concrete steps to improve the transparency of our nuclear arsenal. beginning today, the united states will make public the number of nuclear weapons in our stockpile and the number of weapons we have dismantled since 1991. so for those who doubt that the united states will do its part on disarmament, this is our record, these are our commitments, and they send a clear, unmistakable signal.

we are also committed to bolstering another pillar: access to civilian nuclear energy. energy. we unequivocally support the rights of states that are in compliance with the treaty to access nuclear technology and energy for peaceful purposes. the iaea's high-end projection for new nuclear capacity has nearly doubled since the last review conference five years ago. and the united states wants to help expand the ability of all states to utilize peaceful nuclear energy. over the past decade, we've provided nearly $200 million to support the iaea's technical cooperation fund. we are the largest contributor to that effort. and it has helped more than 100 countries develop or expand the peaceful use of nuclear energy. today, the president has asked me to announce that the united states will make an additional commitment of $50 million over the next five years for a new

iaea peaceful uses initiative. we hope other partners will match this contribution with an additional $50 million. we will use these resources to improve health care and nutrition, manage water resources, increase food security, and help countries develop the infrastructure for the safe and secure use of nuclear power. we are pleased that the iaea's director general has made expanding use of civil nuclear energy for humanitarian purposes one of his signature initiatives. the united states is also strengthening bilateral technical cooperation arrangements with more than 40 states, particularly in the middle east, north africa, and southeast asia. but this treaty is weakened when a state flouts the rules and develops illicit nuclear weapons capabilities. so as we pursue progress on these pillars, we must recommit our nations to bolster the

nonproliferation regime. when leaders of the iaea ask for more resources and authority to carry out their mission of verifying compliance with nonproliferation obligations, we must respond. when the iaea calls on states to sign and ratify an additional protocol to ensure that parties to the npt are meeting their treaty obligations, we must act. but improving the iaea's ability to detect safeguard violations is not enough. potential violators must know that they will pay a high price if they break the rules, and that is certainly not the case today. the international community's record of enforcing compliance in recent years is unacceptable. so we need to consider automatic penalties for the violation of safeguards agreements such as suspending all international nuclear cooperation or iaea technical cooperation projects until

compliance has been restored. and we must use all of the possible financial and legal tools to disrupt illicit proliferation networks. that means tightening controls on transshipment and enhancing restrictions on transfers of sensitive technology. we should also find ways to dissuade states from utilizing the treaty's withdrawal provision to avoid accountability. now, i am not proposing to amend the treaty to limit the rights of states to withdraw. but we cannot stand by when a state committing treaty violations says it will pull out of the npt in an attempt to escape penalties and even pursue nuclear weapons. parties to the npt have invested decades in building a global nonproliferation regime, and that work will be rendered meaningless if the international community continues allowing nations to break the rules of the npt with impunity.

our work at this conference must provide a foundation for future actions, including strengthening iaea safeguards, negotiating a fissile material cutoff treaty at the conference on disarmament and toughening enforcement against proliferation violations at the un security council. the last 40 years have proved that nuclear proliferation is not inevitable. we believe it can be stopped, but it will take all of us here recognizing common dangers and finding common ground, rolling up our sleeves and getting creative, taking practical steps together in the next month. a lot of skeptics out there say that when countries gather at the united nations, nothing happens but a lot of words are used up. well, it is up to us at this conference to prove those doubters wrong. forty years from now, our

successors will mark the 80th anniversary of the nonproliferation treaty. and the men and women, who gather on that occasion in the new building, once it is finally completed, will not remember the words we speak today unless those words are matched by actions. but our children and our grandchildren will live with the consequences of what we decide this month. whether the world is more or less secure depends on the path we take, and there is no greater reason than that to find a way to act together and to act decisively. thank you very much. [applause] >> education secretary and a dunk and talked about improving schools.

he spoke that day mom conference in washington. this is just under one hour. llite corp. 2010] >> thank you for joining us. i would like to recognize our special guests who are here with us today. secretary of education, arne duncan, our keynote speaker. the editor in chief of "parenting magazine." the group publisher of the parenting group. the dean of our school of continuing studies. and the members of the mom congress. this is a collaboration between "parenting magazine," in the georgetown university school for continuing studies. the mom converse celebrates,

connects and supports a mother's interested in education advocacy and reform. parents play a primary role in their children's educational success. it is heartening to see so many of you who are interested in providing stronger and better education for all of our children. of course, not just parents and educators, but all community members have a responsibility to ensure that every student has the opportunities and resources necessary to achieve his or her fullest potential. this is an enormous responsibility. but one that has transformed a potential. through quality education, we enable students to achieve better lives, overcome hurdles, and to be thoughtful, compassionate, creative and confident leaders of tomorrow. education positively affect not just the life of an individual, but the life of a society.

we at georgetown are committed to ensure that every shrove receives a quality education, -- every child receives a quality education. with our partnership with a network of schools, which brings with them a number of high- school students from all around our country, including from the secretary arne duncan's hometown of chicago, where participation in the washington, d.c. reitz program, and through the tutoring and mentoring of our 0- -- d.c. reads program and through the tutoring and mentoring of our students, and it through the choice that many of our students have three made through teach for america.

we remain to -- committed to confronting the pressing issues. the united states secretary of education comes from a family of educators. his late father was a professor at the university of chicago. his mother has run a south side triggering program for inner- city children since 1961 -- tutoring program for inner-city students since 1961. he helped fund a college education for a class of inner- city children under the i have a dream program. he was part of the team that started a new public elementary school built around the financial literacy curriculum. it ranks among the top elementary schools in chicago today. for a 2001 to 2008 -- from 2001- 2008, he was the head of the

chicago public schools. during his tenuere, the students' meeting or exceeding state reading and math standards increased. throughout his career, secretary arne duncan has focused on innovative approaches to education and education reform. we are honored to have him here with us today. secretary arne duncan, we are grateful for all you have done and for joining us here at georgetown university this morning. it is my privilege to introduce the united states secretary of education, the hon. arne duncan. -- the honorable arne duncan. [applause] >> good morning. thank you so much for that kind introduction.

i am a huge fan of his and this university. i feel smarter every time i come and a place like this. this university's commitment to academic excellence, leadership skills -- he was so much for what you are doing. i also want to thank "parenti magazine," for sponsoring this conference. my wife and i are huge fans. thank you so much for what you are doing. last fall, the president was in south korea where he had lunch with the president. president obama was aware that south korea pose the economy had expanded rapidly in recent decades. so he asked the president, what is the biggest educational challenge you face? the president said without hesitation, the biggest challenge i have is that my parents are too demanding.

when president obama tells that story, he often gets a few chuckles. i think the south korean president's comments were interesting. south korea has to import thousands of children. all parents insist that their children must learn english in elementary school if it will be successful. we cannot say that our biggest educational challenge is the consistent demand from all parents for excellence in our nation's schools. the south korean challenge is one that i would love to have here in our country by think everyone would also agree that america strongly believes in good parenting and family involvement is essential if children will flourish and fulfil their dreams. the extraordinary accomplishment of the mothers in this

conference are a testament to that belief. there is a paradox when we talk about family engagement in schools. it is this -- americans celebrate good parenting and family involvement, yet they feel that too often, the parents do not know their responsibilities. parents and educators have been looking out the window instead of in the mirror. inadequate parental involvement is seen as a problem for other people's children and not for our own. it reminds me of a story that warren buffett like to tell about a man who was new in town. the stranger walks into the town square. he sees a man sitting and reading the newspaper, next to a chairman shepherd. he asked the man, does your job dog bite? he reaches down to pet the dog, only to have of the dog terror a

shred on his coat. the man looks up and said, this is not my dog. i am here to say that we need to stop treating the issue of family engagement as though it is not our dog. parents think well of the school their child or children attend. but they believe at the same time that public schools in general across this country are not as strong as they need to be. the same split vision of education is evident when americans asked about parenting and family engagement at school. overwhelming majorities say that their parenting skills are solid, but they are actively involved -- they are actively involved in their child's school. they are convinced that other parents are falling down on the job. other parents how about too little with homework, failed to discipline their children, or leave their children alone too much after school.

this cognitive dissidence -- dissonance his troubled both political parties for years. it leaves paralysis in civic life. most parents think their own schools and family engagement is fine, fostering complacency about challenges close to home. but the challenges that other schools seem to distant or overwhelming to tackle. lamar alexander, a good friend of mine, and a secretary of education, once said that this i am o.k. but you are not syndrome is the overwhelming obstacle to everything we are trying to do. to many people say that schools are bad, but my school is good. sour to your a bubble low math scores, but my johnny is doing -- sorry to hear about below math scores, but my johnny is doing just fine. when parents look in the mirror, they are forced to develop a

can-do list of actions on how they can improve schools in support children. when they look out the window towards others, they produce and if only approach to reform. one word children can be helped if only others would take action -- one which children can be held only if others take action. every parent, regardless of race, class, socio-economic status, they want what is right for their children. but how do parents figure out that their school does a good job of educating their children? i'm the big believer in looking at data, but the acid test for this is personal. good schools engaged parents and the surrounding community. when i was ceo of the shuttle public schools, i could walk into a school and five minutes and figure out what was going on. i have an 8-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old son. if i walk into a school, and it feels good enough for my

children, i think it is a good school. if it is not good enough for them, that is a school that needs work. for far too long, we have created schools that are good enough for somebody else's children but not for our own. so this has to be personal. if not, we will perpetuate status quo. as president obama points out, all the innovative education programs that the administration is providing will not in and of themselves make a difference if each of us as parents and community leaders failed to do our part by increasing excellence in our children. i learned about family engagements schools firsthand at my parents' feet. in 1961, several years before i was born, a neighborhood pastor asked my mother to help teach the summer bible study to a group of 9-year-old girl. my mother figured everyone could read a few sentences and pass the bible to the next grow.

she was horrified when she discovered that not one of the 9-year-old could read. she decided to do something about that. she opened a free -- opened a free, after-school tutoring program. they were not the norm in chicago. my mother could not get any school to let her set up shop, because chicago schools generally shut down at 2:30 in the afternoon. so she opened the after-school program in a church basement in a poor neighborhood on the south side of chicago. we stayed at one church basement or another for the next four years. from the time were born, my brother, my sister, and i worked at that after-school program every day. the older students tutored along turkthe younger kids. her philosophy was that everyone should be teaching and being taught at the same time. [applause] after we were done with their studies, we got to play

basketball together. everyone knew our program was a safe haven where kids were nurtured, respected, taught right from wrong. from the corner of 46th in greenwood avenue, some remarkable success stories emerged. the teenager who had the tough job of to bring my group of students, today is an ibm engineer who i. another student became a brain surgeon. michael clark duncan pursued his dreams in hollywood. another helped me manage the chicago public schools. i learned of the high-quality tutoring program can be a good thing. but a high quality tutoring program run by caring adults is a great thing. it can literally help transform lives. parents will always be a child first and most important teacher. parenting is the most important job that every parent takes on.

no other activity in our lives carries the same degree of responsibility or influence. it also takes caring and talented principals, teachers, and guidance counselors. it takes nonprofits that provide opportunities for recreation. it takes to government agencies that provide health care. it takes mentors from the community and churches to teach children the virtues of community service, leadership, and self discipline. it takes a high quality after school and urban childhood education programs. with the exception of my brother, sister, and die, all the students in my mother's program were african american. despite these challenges, my fellow students just wanted a chance to succeed. to see the extraordinary potential that every child has, no matter where they come from, that is what i learned from my mother's work. that is what drives me today. we cannot let a child falls

through the cracks, regardless of what is happening in their homes, regardless of obstacles they face to becoming successful. poverty is a never destiny. my vision for family engagement is ambitious. as i said, i actually want president lee's problem. i want to have too many parents demanded excellence in their schools. i want all parents to be real partners in education with their teachers, from cradle all the way to a career. students and parents should feel connected and teachers should feel supported. parents can serve in one of three rolls -- partners and learning, advocates and advisers to push for better schools, and decisionmakers to choose the best educational options for their children. when parents demanded change and better situations for their children, they become the accountability backstop for our educational system. parents have more choices today than ever before, from virtual

schools, to charter schools. in our schools, we need to empower parents. we need parents to speak out and drive change in underperforming schools where children receive an inferior education. with parental support, struggling schools need to be turned around now, not some hour, because children get only one chance at an education. sometimes it can be pretty hard for parents to envision a brighter future, but not always. in fact, we have extraordinary parent leaders across the country. i met one this friday in texas. she refused to accept any excuses for her children or her school. she demanded that her high school be turned around and do whatever it takes to give her kids the education they need and deserve. just two years ago, after some tough conversations, pain and hardship, that school did turn around.

today, that school as a model of reform that everyone can all learn from. she is a hero who shows us what the power of parents really means. that is the power we need to harness if we are going to transform public education in our country. now, parent engagement is a two- way street. parents, in part, disengaged because schools sometimes fail to welcome their input, making parents feel intimidated about speaking up. parents come to school only when there is a problem, rather than touching base regularly to see other children are progressing. a good parent and family engagement program removes obstacles that parents face and encourages them to be good role models for their children. in communities where adults need better literacy, more schools should be running family literacy programs were adult education classes take place after hours, with transportation and child care provided so students can study after school

as well. for families where no one has attended college, i want middle school and high-school teachers and principals providing guidance about courses children need to be college-ready. families should be encouraged to visit college campuses, starting not in high school, but in middle school. the nature of parental involvement has changed since i was a child. more parents are single parents. if your families have stay at home moms. parents are sometimes -- fewer families have stayed home moms. some are looking for new jobs to support their families after being laid off. it is tough out there today. i was lucky to grow up in a family with two well-educated parents, who read to me every night. not all parents -- children grew up in middle-class families or their supporters along the way. schools should be places of honor -- that honor and respect

families. that may mean teachers giving up their cell phones to field questions at night. or calling that that single mom who missed a parent-teacher conference because she had to work. that neutral support is still missing from far too many of our nation's schools -- that mutual support is still missing from far too many of our nation's schools. as first lady michelle obama has set about childhood obesity, our kids did not do this to themselves. she points out that our kids do not decide what is served in a school cafeteria or whether it is time for gin class or recess. our kids do not choose -- for gym class or recess. our kids did not choose this sugar or sodium or super sized portions. we have a long way to go before all schools support student learning and healthy growth. but parents are not off the hook,, in this partnership. president obama urges parents to

turn off the television and shut off the x-box. many parents think those warnings are not really for them, but for other parents. i could not disagree with that more. earlier this year, the kaiser family foundation released a study that shows the problem of heavy media use and lax supervision is far more pervasive than many people imagine. in fact, the study's findings almost defy belief. the average teenager today spends nearly 12 hours per day using media. that is higher for black and hispanic students, and includes almost six hours of television every day. by contrast, teenagers spend about 25 minutes per day reading the book. one of my predecessors, richard riley said that the eight magic words from children that can solve all our problems are -- please shut off the television. i am trying to read.

we do not often hear those magic words. in the days when families share food and lessons learned at the dinner table -- they are fading fast as well. two out of three young people eat dinner with the television on. this oversaturation of electronic media has summit -- amassed by overly permissive parents do. only about 1/3 of the parents and the study report setting any rules on television, playing video games, and using a computer. parents rebelled against these limits, whether it is removing sweets from the dinner table or insisting children finish their school work before playing video games. the time-honored fact is that the job of parents is apparent, to login and give them direction and set reasonable limits. -- to lovingly give them direction and set reasonable

limits. the problems of new media -- is real, but it is transforming it education we. children can research online and watch educational tv programming. they can make connections on line. they can learn to socialize, communicate, and right through social networking sites. -- and write through social networking sites. the hopes of those new media proponents have only been at partly realized. heavy use too often in peace student learning. in the study, though some may have use of electronic media, spend less time reading books and do poorly in school. i will admit that i was not raised in the vanguard of the technological revolution. in fact, quite the opposite. i grew up without a television in our house. when other kids were turning on the chicago bulls, we read

books. my friends thought it was crazy we did not have a television. at the time, i thought the same thing. today, 3/4 of junior high and high school students not only have a television in their bedroom, but a profile on the social networking site. we will never put the electronic the genie back in the bottle, nor should we try. but parents can do a better job of setting limits on children's use of electronic media and work towards using it more creatively to support student learning. there are examples of using technology to better engage children in their own learning. but more and more parents are concluding that media oversaturation and addictions are real problems for their children. these are not just modern-day afflictions that affect other families. it is time for all of us to look in the mirror and not just out the window. and that absolutely includes us at the u.s. department of

education. [applause] for 45 years, ever since the passage of the elementary and secondary education act, the government has encouraged states, and districts and schools to promote parental involvement in children's education. parental involvement, for example, has been a cornerstone of headstart. yet the department has done a mediocre job of supporting parental engagement. we have been too concerned with monitoring for compliance and not concerned enough with improving student learning and boosting meaningful family engagement. part of the problem has been a parade of parental involvement policies in the last half century. at various times, congress and the department have promoted parent advisory council meetings, volunteering in school, school parent context, and helping children learn at home, yet these policies have

rarely been shown to move the needle on the student achievement. it is well documented and common sense that parental involvement in taught -- child education boost student learning and improves behavior in attendance. we know that children with parents or in case are less likely to drop out. there is surprisingly little research to show what works and does not in family engagement programs, to accelerate student learning, yet there are many promising programs all across the country. in arkansas, the national council for family literacy is running a family literacy program, primarily for latino and immigrant parents in their schools. parents spend two hours a week in class with their children learning literacy practices for use in their homes. the reading scores of both children and their parents have risen significantly as a result. in chicago, or one development program has boosted reading and

math scores using parental involvement. other cities like new york and boston, as well as one in florida, are empowering parents with information about their schools and education as never before. new york is holding monthly. academies on saturdays for parents. they provide child care, the subway access, and translation services in an array of languages. in florida, with did transparency, parents can determine not only if graduates of their local high school are going to college and jobs, but how their college and job market performance compares to that of other high schools in the state. our blueprint to reauthorize us d -- it supports -- it empowers

families with additional high quality school options. support programs that ask families how they feel about their child's school and educational experience, giving parents a real voice in -- and opportunity to engage. increases the number of schools that concern as community centers and provides more than $200 million for certain neighborhoods, which will have excellent schools and comprehensive community services. our proposal allows family engagement to be included as one measure of success in teacher and principal evaluations. and it would define professional development -- to include working with their students' families. we are putting more resources into the it -- the importance of activities because we need to do more and do more faster. we need to do a much better job in this area. so today, based on feedback, we propose to double funding for parent engagement from 1% to 2%

of type of title i dollars. [applause] to bring that total to $270 million. the same time, in order to drive innovation, we will allow states to use another 1% of title i dollars for grant programs that support and expand district- level, evidence based, parental involvement. we want is to think big about family engagement, to propose new strategies and hone in on the best practices there raise student activity. leslie, require our parents information resource centers -- lastly we require these parent information resource centers. we must justify every dollar we spend and in short that it benefits our students. we do not have all the answers.

but i am so struck by the extraordinary success stories of the delegates to the moms conference. it is not just that these mothers volunteer regulate and serve on -- volunteer on school boards. seated behind me, i am convinced is the future. on the stage are moms who crafted programs to train teachers to work with special needs students. we have mom secreted textbooks for kindergarteners and detailed curricula -- moms who created textbooks. we have nutrition educators who are helping get junk food out of school lunches and vending machines. we have mothers who run summer programs that provide arts education and academic enrichment. so, today i want to honor all these incredibly strong women

here, the woman in texas, and my own mother who, for years later, is still running her after-school program. -- 40 years later. all of you here have shown, through your commitment, your courage, and your insight, that we can multiplied your power many times over and over and build our capacity in knowledge to help parents unable every single child to learn and live to their full potential. thank you for your vision, thank you for your hard work, and thank you for the example you set for all of us. as a nation, we must educate our way to a better economy, and collectively, you are helping to lead the country where we need to go. he was so much for having me here this morning. [applause] -- thank you so much for having me here this morning.

>> we are going to make a quick status change, and then we will move into the town hall portion of the meeting. secretary duncan has agreed to take some questions from the audience and from our delegates on stage. it will take as a couple moments to get the podium out of the way. let me say that i will serve as moderator. it will be tricky because we have questions coming from the audience as well as the stage. there is a microphone in the middle of the stage, if you're interested in asking a question, move behind the microphone and we will get to as many questions as weekend. if you're going to ask a question, interest out -- introduce yourself and provide context. name, affiliation. now i will invite the secretary duncan and susan to join me in

the middle. i think we will start the conversation with a question from the editor in chief of "parenting magazine." . . >> i am pushing for mercy legislation that would push teacher jobs across the country. the president is committed and talked about this last week. for the recovery act, we serve -- we saved about 320 teacher jobs last year.

the economy is still very tough and we would like to see this emergency legislation passed. we're working hard to make sure that happens. the class size has skyrocketed, schools are going to four days a week instead of five, i worry about summer school and after- school being eliminated and we have to fight to that. we want to see an emergency jobs bill read education and we will push to see that happen as soon as possible the. >> let me see if there are any questions from the delegates around the stage. >> good afternoon. thank you very much to georgetown for having this

event. i have to give a shout out to benjamin franklin elementary school in connecticut. they took the time, especially when this was family-engagement, they took the time to write essays for you of what they need to succeed in schools. [applause] benjamin frankly at -- franklin elementary school fifth graders -- parents and utah are the only consumers who do not have decisionmaking power we need to be clear about that. we can give our input, our feedback, but the final decision for our children's future and us live in the hands of others. i am looking at thought law and it does not matter whether you give 2% or 10%, if you do not hold school officials and districts accountable to how they spend the money -- [applause]

we will and up in the same position having the same conversation. my question to you is -- when you give this money, it doesn't matter. the accountability, the checks and balances to ensure they are spending this money effectively to assure better outcomes is what i need to know as a parent. every parent in this organization and audience, i want you to smile because this is a clear path to power as parent leaders. smile and enjoy arne duncan. that is my question, accountability. >> these are phenomenal questions. we have to get out of the blame game. if it's parents versus educator's or parents versus teachers or principals, that does not get us where we need to go. we have to hold ourselves mutually accountable. we have to get much better. we have a dropout rate in this

country that is unacceptable to is almost 27%. that is 1.2 million students every year. that is economically unsustainable. students that to graduate from high school, far too many have to take remedial class in college. we are trying to address that. at the end of the day, we need to hold educator's accountable, you need to hold me accountable, but we need parents to step up and do more, too. the president has told a story about south korea and the parents who are too demanding. parents here should not be shocked. you should be speak up at your voices should be heard. we need to hold each other mutually accountable and work together in a respectable way but we have to do so with a sense of urgency. everyone thinks their school is

ok and they don't think other schools are. friday in houston, they had resistance to change. many folks set things were ok and they were not ok. two years later, dramatically better results, much safer, double the students in one year graduating and going to college. we can do these things but it takes college courage -- courage. as hard as i push everyone else, we are trying to change the business we are in garden we are na compliance-driven barack president barack obama and we will push teachers and parents and administrative school boards and we have to push ourselves harder than anyone else. we urge everyone to go home and re-commit. thank you. >> let's take a question from the audience. >> i am from baltimore,

maryland. i am a parent advocate and we go around and we help the parents of baltimore advocate -- we advocate for the parents of baltimore to navigate through the system. we try to help and work through the school systems and when we can't, we have to get assistance and help. some parents are grandparents and some are parents that are not educated and cannot help themselves. grandparents might not have graduated from high school or finished middle school. they do not understand the homer. some of them do not get a chance to understand the assignments that have been given to the students. you talk about encouraging people or parents to assessed or

work with the schools. what about funding to have the advocates work with the school system? we have prevented so much of due process. we have prevented a lot of lawsuits. the school system has saved a lot of funding for that. the grandparents have spent so much time raising the students and helping them go through the school due to lack of parents. there is nothing there and as blueprint because i have read this. there is nothing in here to help financially assist the education of any of these groups i have spoken of. we talk about college credit party account the college ready if we are lowering the bar. they cannot assist if we lower the bar and we are not building a good strong foundation for our children.

we take and riding out of the curriculum and lower the bar for everyone. >> quickly, we want to go -- we want to increase the funding. we think that is a significant commitment and we want to make sure we are funding the programs that work best. >> does that engagement main assistance with finances to educate or is that engagement to work with the schools? >> it can mean -- that is determined at the local level. we want to support the best practices that are making a difference. if your program is making a difference and you can demonstrate that, that is what we want tol(c support. best answers will always be a local level. >> i have a document that i would like to leave with you.

>> thank you. >> let me reiterate -- we only have 10 or 50 minutes so we can -- if we can move to -- we only have 10 or 15 minutes a week -- so if we can move along. >> i am from new york state. i am from but coalition of school food. the child nutrition re- authorization act which only happens every five years is coming up on the senate committee has only approved a 6/10 increase which will do almost nothing when advocates are asking for 70 cents or $1 more which is still not enough. what can we do when the food industry is still defining what is healthy and determined nutrition policy and pushing their packaged food products and clamming they are healthy -- and claiming they are helping with

their unscrupulous packaging practices? how come we get to the real metrician and real funding to provide health the class foods for kids so their bodies and brains can actually function and learn. if they don't have that, they cannot learn correctly in the first place and reach their potential. [applause] >> to get where we need to go, we need to have a partnership collaboration. the department of agriculture handles the school food. the secretary there is a phenomenal partner and he is committed on desperate she is pushing very hard. the first lady is behind this. i am very hopeful. we know the challenges. we know the difficulties. i got rid of the junkman food and vending machines in chicago and that was top. that was a brutal fight. i think we can get much better.

they want to add $1 billion per year for the next few years through re-authorization and the first lady will stay on this every day. it is getting better meals, getting rid of the junk foods in vending machines. i was one of the young boys that if i did not get a chance to run around, i would not have made it through school. if i could burn of energy, i could sit there and concentrate. we know the difficulties. i am convinced this is an historic opportunity. if we do it now, we will chase things for the next couple of decades in this country. we have a chance that we have not had in this country for a long, long time. >> good morning everyone. the morning to you, secretary

dunkin. thank you for allowing all the parents here to engage with you this morning. i am for the apparent leadership program in baltimore city. eif we don't have a lot of time but i want to ask you, as you spoke about parent engagement, you spoke about the money that was earmarked for it. my concern here is that the money when it is funneled down --=] there is no line. there is no budget line for parent engagement. there is no budget line for parent involvement furthermore, the statement you said about the other country and how parents ask too much, when parents pick up about the knowledge they have

large and ask -- knowledge they have learned, you are blackballed. you are excluded and pushed out of the neighborhood. these are parents that normally volunteer in their schools. they volunteer in baltimore city schools. they are parents, grandparents, care givers, etc. we taught them how to engage and build partnerships. we taught them to be knowledgeable about what law says about education. many of our parents have been blackballed from the schools because they were educating other parents how to get better education. when you roll that money down for the district's, many of the districts that get the money like to play with those who agree with them. you want to talk about what is real and keep it real. you come from a grass-roots

organization, you have a lot of parents out here and parents are crucial and they are raising the bar to work with school systems. we are not allowed. we are stepped on if you reach that level. what can be done on that budget line to indicate -- i have not seen a budget line yet -- it indicates the amount of money going to graduate organizations. [applause] çó>> that is something we can absolutely work on. the money is a piece of an answer. it will never solve the problem

itself. it is about training principles to think differently. we talked about this being the definition for meaningful professional development. we have been scared of each other, too often. we shut down and close our doors. this is trying to build a new culture. it is hard and difficult. you are living above we have to find a way to build a vision. when two parents fight to the, the students) they fall through the cracks. i don't have an easy answer. we want to put research out there. -- resources out there. we have to break down the fear it get folks working better together. i can use the bully pulpit to highlight those issues.

>> we have a time commitment here. we will not be able to get to all of the questions we have. the mom's congress has to get to work for the next couple of days and arne duncan as a busy schedule. let's thank secretary duncan for being with us today. before you leave, susan kane will have a few closing remarks. >> hi everybody, i am the chief of parenting. i want to say to secretary duncan on behalf of all of us, thank you so much for coming today. it means so much to all of us. parenting and they mom congress applaud your efforts to include

parents more in the education process and we look forward to working together with you for many years. we hope we can continue to make sure that the voices of parents are heard. i heard very passionate voices today and these are exactly the kinds of voices that need to be heard, as i am sure you agree. knowing that education is one of the most important issues to this administration gives me as a mom pride and hope. we have to give them that. i want to thank and georgetown again for hosting this event thank you so much, the folks from leapfrog. everyone in the audience, all

you passionate people, give yourselves a round of applause for coming out today. [applause] thanks for coming and if you want to pose questions to parenting.com, we will try to get answers to you. >> we fought to get here. that's all. [laughter] [applause] c-span3 c-span[captioning perfoy

national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> power public affairs content is available on television, radio, and online and you can also connect with us on twitter, facebook, and youtube then sign up for our scheduled the large e-mails at." c-span.org. >> this morning, eric kanter talks about the direction of u.s. foreign policy. live coverage from the heritage foundation begins at 10:00 eastern. the house is in at 12: 30 eastern. legislative work begins at 2:00. coming up this hour, we will get an update on the gulf of mexico oil spill. after that,