how they are uncertain. host: two final points. you ask about her political future? what are you hearing? guest: i think there is a future there. i have not heard a matter of when that might be coming in terms of her rising to the ranks. i think the fact she has held on to or house seat while running a dnc is a sign that there may be a shot at something and the democratic leadership in the future. as far as when that happens, it is always a question of the last time around, what if there was a time when the democratic leadership should of had a change in the guard it would have been in 2010 and that did not have been carried off the other question is what is next in 2012? it's a mystery. host: thesiis memorial day weekend. where is the obama and run the campaign? guest: it is a head-to-head race. it is exciting to watch, here we

are with this amount of time to november and two candidates are going at each other in an intense rays f. pickce. the stakes are very high. the economy is uncertain. there are external questions marks, what could happen in europe, with oil prices, with iran. considering the race is this close at this stage and president obama has incumbent power and a little edge and familiarity among american people is scrambling to eek out a victory. host: final thoughts? guest: it is going to depend, while we're of is the focus on the unemployment rate. when you look at these states, that rate is lower than the national average. but does that, is that the one measure of judging how people are feeling? i think it is not. when you look at ohio, yes, the unemployment rate is down but

people still feel by 3/4 in a poll said they thought the economy is in recession. those intangible things of how people feel the direction of the country is going are going to be important. host: alexis simendinger, felicia sonmez, thanks for your perspective. enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend. >> join us tonight for david cameron and fielding questions on the help of the purchase economy and unemployment last week in the british house of commons. prime minister's questions, tonight at 9:00 eastern on c- span. rolling thunder held its annual memorial day rally on the national mall. the group has a mission to bring awareness to pow and mia issues and to advocate government policy for service members of all wars. this year, the group celebrates

his 25th anniversary. if here is a look of some of its members as it rode across the arlington memorial bridge connecting downtown washington d.c. and moral avenue and arlington, with virginia, which leads to arlington national cemetery. [horns honking] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> what i want people to get from the book is a better understanding of who she was. there have been a lot of books written, most of it has been written by people who have

talked to friends of friends of friends. they really do not have the information themselves. i happened to be there, i knew her. >> from late 1960-1964, former secret service agent clint hill served on the protective detail of first lady jacqueline kennedy. >> there is no siliceous information. it is what happened, things seem to like to do. house humors she was at times. how athletic shoe was. and how intelligent she was -- and how schumer is she was. how rambunctious she was. she tried to put me to the test many times. i did my best to meet that test. >> more tonight at 8:00 on c- span's "q&a." >> today on "washington journal", "the washington post" columnist colbert king discussed d.c. politics and the mechanics of writing and reporting the news. he won the pulitzer prize for distinguished commentary in

2003. this is about half an hour. host: your piece yesterday, a district elections said of tires, dealing with the election that you moderated with the t mayor. and from today's "the washington post", there is this headline -- gray's troubles. chris selusa giving mayor gray a difficult time pare. guiltytow aidewo aides pled

to felonies. they are likely to spend some time in jail. the big question is because they engaged in fraud. they paid a minor candidate, substantialey, sums of money to stay in the race and continue to have -- to harange adrian fenty. it was a debate where brown lambasting fenty with some very scurrilous comments. he would not respond. we did not know at the time that was being paid by the gray campaign. host: you sked candidate gray.

guest: what is this all about? and he said, i wish i knew. maybe he did not know it, -- we know that there was something going on now that we did not know then, and that was a conspiracy to undermine the campaign of the mayor. host: your paper looking at 2014 and indicating there is a possibility that washington, mayor,uld have a whitre jack evans. there is another piece this morning in "the washington post" explaining or resign. will mayor gray survive the next two years? guest: that is a good question. i do not know whether he will not. there is a question about his own involvement. at this point, we know there was a person, aide, who according to the charging document in federal court, a personal aide who

instructed aides to make the payments to brown. the prosecution has not identify who the person is. the speculation is that the person could be another t grayide aide of vincen gray or gray himiself. self. he once talked extensively about this effort and denied any involvement at all, any knowledge at all. now he is not talking since the two aides were arrested he has gone to ground and says he cannot discuss an active investigation. his lawyer, bob bennett, has told him to clam up and that is what he is doing. i'm not sure he can get by this clamming up. his hand will be forced in the next few days.

host: we are focusing on columnist. one of the questions we are trying to get is where do come up with your ideas, how you write, and what's the best way for you to put your ideas on paper? guest: as a columnist you are always trawling for subjects. you never stop thinking about what it is you want to read about -- to write about. i'm forced by the deadline to come up with something because my riding date is thursday. -- my writing day is thur sday. use friday to deal with my editors and most of my columns get run by lawyers. so it takes another day to get that done. then it is published on saturday. in this town, it is not hard to find a subject. i tend to write on local matters but i will read on national matters as well. this is just a rich storehouse,

a place for good, good copy. host: let me ask you about your column about mitt romney. he spoke at liberty university. he said mitt romney fails to see america. why and how? guest: the romney campaign is -- emboldened up until the trip to a whisper. it was primarily before a largely white audience -- until the trip to lynchberg. you did not see any color and his audience. my concern is that he had a narrow focus of america, that america is more than that. he is speaking to the group in the republican primaries. it happens that the weekend he was speaking in lynchburg, the post published an article shows that by 2040 this country

is going to be a majority minority country. the country is changing. you need to have speak to those changes and talk about the america that is going to be those graduates during those lifetimes. he did not do that. this past week, he made a foray into the african-american community in west philadelphia. didn't go well. he wasn't well-received. he went there with the 1950's expression, saying i am here to listen and learn. listen and learn? at this day and age. this individual was to be present of the united states has to go into the african-american community and listen and learn as if this is alien territory to he's going to take me your leader. at this point, he should be an

informed individual above all segments of american society. this is no time for a president to start discovering a large percentage of the population and try to understand what they are about. he should know. host: this morning tom friedman of "the new york times", says obama is not running on the success he had in key areas including the auto bailout. this comment came on our twitter page. he cannot blame president bush this time. all he can do is blame himself and say he will try harder. what is the president's message and how would you size up his campaign? guest: i think his message will develop during the campaign. he has spent some time recently on bain capital. the objective is to show that mitt romney is not the successful businessman he claims to be. but he will have to talk about his own record, what has

happened in the last three years. it seems to me he has some things to say. he can talk about the auto industry and the financial sector is performing much better. he can talk about the number of people who have access to health care who would not have had it with out the act -- the act in the past. he has things to talk about on foreign policy and where we stand vis-à-vis the biggest threat we have faced since 9/11 -- al qaeda. and where al qaeda is no, a much torn up enemy. he has got things to talk about. right now the campaign is not the well-run machine that you saw four years ago. host: we hope people only listen to c-span radio, but you are on wtop. what is more difficult, writing an essay for 30 seconds or

minutes or writing an editorial for "the washington post"? guest: 01 minute essay is much better. have to get it said fast. you do not waste a lot of time. you're not trying to do 750 words. it's a quick hit on something that you care about, you know about. he said in a few words and it is over. host: a bachelor of the howard university you have along resume -- you have a long resume. guest: i have 19 years of public service, including the state department, vista. i private-sector experience in banking and started out as a vice president of a local bank and ended up as executive vice president and member of the board of directors. worked at the world bank is a u.s. representative there. you can't hit a moving target. [laughter] host: let's go to jerry from

greenbelt, maryland. our conversation with colbert king. jerry, good morning. caller: i cannot believe i am on c-span. i am honored to talk to you. i read in the post all the time. my question, sir, do you think mayor gray should reside in all look light of these last revelations? there is a larger question. host: we will get that question answered and come back to you. guest: this is not the time for him to resign. this is the time for him to explain himself, explain what happened. how he feels about the two campaign aides. he has got to step up and talk about this. caller: thank you. and there had been so many issues with mr. gray being in office. on and on and on.

maybe this is to hard, being in the office of mayor of d.c. guest: the problem this year is more serious than the one we faced when marion barry was arrested at the vista hotel using crack cocaine. it's more difficult because when barry went to trial he was of office. the city had a functioning mayor. in this case, he is confronted with something else. a politically damaged mayor. we do not know whether it will get worse. and we have a chairman of the city council, kwame brown, under investigation for several activities including campaign finance, but also some other things in his personal life. so we face the prospect of

having our top two elected officials, executive and legislative branch, in serious trouble. i do not know where we will end up by the end of the summer. host: this from our viewers. there were fake candidates running for governor and wisconsin during the recall election. guest: i don't know the law there. i do not know enough about that situation to comment. host: ava -- will be featured on his new book on barack obama. you had a column in early may. the book -- in the book, he reconfirms but barack obama wrote about his frequency in using marijuana. when he was in high school in hawaii. guest: at least he was candid about it. i do not know what that would

mean as far as is current residency. it's done. it's over. what does he say now about the use of marijuana and the use of any kind of illegal drugs? his view on that today would be more relevant than what he did in high school. host: stamford, connecticut is next. republican line with colbert king of wash. caller: good morning. questions.o what is your perspective on how your business has changed, the advent of cable news and the internet? my observation is that reporters largely hat tend to have a democratic bias. i'm wondering if you see this. host: thanks for the call. cable news, first and foremost. thanks for being on cable. guest: i like cable news.

revolutionized journalism. it revolutionized the way journalists communicate with the public. it has revolutionized the way in which the public now sees public affairs. cable news has just been tremendous. you add to that the internet, and you have this explosion in news available to the consumer. the question is whether some of that news is really well- developed, whether it is properly researched, whether it can be nicely written and but is ittg to read, based on solid reporting? some of the things you see up on the blogs are impressionistic. they are quick hits. they may not be well researched. one has has to, as a consumer, be very careful about not only what you consume but how we

regard it when you take it in. i find as a journalist that i have to do far more research, former checking because the information come so fast and you make a serious mistake by running with what you see coming across the internet. you had better check it out . host: the trayvon martin case. thehis a cable-dirveriven story are legitimate national debate? guest: it is a little bit of both. it is driven by cable and internet, but it's a legitimate question and a sense of how young black males are regarded in society, particularly those who have -- twho seem to be ar t variance with the majority, wearing hoods.

we have a proxy for everything. it is not a proxy for race relations. it is not a proxy for relations between blacks and police. we allowed it to get out of hand. it is a florida issue. it's peculiar to that neighborhood in which he was living and working and walking. and that's where we tend to make a mistake and some of our coverage. we allow individual incidents to take on more significance than they warrant. not that his deahth was insignificant. i do think we have allowed that issue to get almost outsized proportion. the issue is important. but not to the extent that we made him a national figure.

host: you point what would a discussion be without a contribution from patrick buchanan. explain what this is all about. guest: well, patrick buchanan has a penchant for jumping in to situations like this and making broadsides as far as race is concerned, broad observations that apply and are very generalized. and i had written about pat the can and over the years because he does have an ability -- pat buchanan over the years because he has an ability to take an issue and inflame it with his raiderettes. host: our next call is from michigan. todd is on the phone. with colbert king of . caller: there was a previous

caller saying that the media is biased to the liberal side, the left side. he could not be farther from the truth. you turn on cnn and they are talking about lady gaga's latest cancellation. we're begin fed garbage. i grew up in the city of detroit. detroit used to be the economic hub for the world heard you go down grand river and all you see, people hanging out, buildings destroyed, they get buildings. you have three gigantic casinos downtown -- vacant buildings. i do not know if you ever been to detroit. it is not about black or white. it's about green. the people are pulling the strings and have all the money and they have all the money to pump into these campaigns and all the deception, this

information put out there. people do not want to hear what in egypt. people want to know how they are going to put food on their table. host: thank you. we'll get a response. guest: the bias in the media. i think the media today is more diversified. go to c-span, you go to straight news, straight commentary. you go to fox, in my view, you did a particular ideological slant. you get a slightly different slant from another perspective, a political perspective from msnbc, which tends to be more on the left. fox more on the right. cnn is in the mushy middle. a's c-span where you get-- little bit of pandering.

c-span gives it to you straight. you can pick your poison in journalism. as far as what is going on in detroit and how capital gets deployed, that's going to vary from city to city. i don't think it's quite true that people, even in dire circumstances at home, don't give some thought to what is going on outside of their own communities. they do care about afghanistan and our involvement in afghanistan. as was true of iraq. people are concerned about issues that affect their lives, like the debt issues. no one is going to ignore s the t-- the ignore the story about syria.

people are now inured to that kind of activity. whether your climbing the social ladder, you are concerned about things. people are not narrowly focused. host: how often are you asked to appear on cable programs? guest: i was a guest for a few times with chris matthews, msnbc. but i do not think he cared for my role which was to speak for myself and not to represent african-americans 100%. so chris has not had me back on for a while. i do a regular show with abc, "inside washington." it runs on public broadcasting. host: our next call is dorothy joining us from maryland,

outside of baltimore. caller: i'm glad i got on the show because i am talking to a journalist. of like to ask you this. mitt romney is running on cut taxes and cut regulation. as a journalist, what is the regulation he is going to do and what is the taxes he is going to cut? you are supposed to know. you never answer the question, what is he going to cut, the regulations he will get rid of, and how the taxes that he cut will help the deficit? give us a chart. host: we will get a response. do you want to stay on the line? caller: one more. question host: we will follow up with you. position onromney's taxes. he supports the continuation of the bush tax cuts that favored individuals with large incomes,

millionaires and above. he thinks that is the way to stimulate the economy in that taxes, raising taxes will slow down the kind of investments they would want to make. is the notion of the trickle- down approach to economic. what you would do is suggest that by reducing taxes you free up capital for investment and investment will stimulate growth, stimulate job creation, and more income for people across the board. that is what he would propose to do, and that is what the republicans in congress propose to do. and they are opposed to most spending programs, except in the defense area. that's eventually has been. fission host: you still there? caller: one quick follow-up.

let's talk about mitt romney's foreign policy. he said of his mouth that dick cheney could be president of the united states. i know how foolish this is when we know -- we do not have to guess what he did when he was and. guest: i don't recall when mitt romney said that. i do not think he said it this year. because he was to be present of the united states and i cannot imagine him suggesting dick cheney becomes president because he wants the job himself. but on the strength of what i know about his campaigning, i think dick cheney is non-issue. romney's foreign policy will be much more vigorous. will be the kind of foreign policy that george w. bush

pursued. bring it on and we'll take care of it. that kind of foreign policy is not what we have seen for the last three years from this administration. but you can expect with a run the administration going to be a much more aggressive foreign policy with postures of john wayne. host: you have created a lot of debate, discussion on our twitter page. cnn, fox and msnbc are infotainment. journalists have traded their craft for entertainment television. citizens are the losers. guest: i don't think so at all. depending on the shows you are talking about, if you're talking cop shows.ut

>> a panel is to is a known conservative, but we have a divorce group of people. we tend to like each other and we enjoy the shell. but we are not there to entertain, but we are there to exchange views. i think it is true of most of the networks that i have been watching. although, sometimes it is more like a sitcom sometimes. that probably depends on the subject when it comes to foreign policy, can you see a difference? i think we would.

mitt romney has indicated that he would assert u.s. interests first, not so much relying on diplomacy. but really on the demonstration of american power host: debra is on the line. caller: how are you all doing? i have a quick question. i want to know, what are the limitations? that you all have? as far as journalists. i also wanted to know the qualification a person needs to have who is being a journalist. i also want to know how much of the writer posses opinion is

allowed, versus the truth. host: stay on if you did not get your question answered. guest: whether you are an opinion writer or a straight up reporter, you have to be accurate. you cannot libel or strap -- or slander. as a columnist, i express opinions. that is what i am there to do. give you my point of view. as a reporter, though, that is part of a budget that is not part of the game. the reporter posses job is to report the observations, but not to put himself or herself into the story to the point where they are trying to tell you what to think. that is not what journalism is all about as far as a reporter

is concerned. caller: but they do that, though. host: who does it? caller: it is a lot of opinion i see, and they do not slander. guest: let me put on the table something she might be referring to. an analysis piece, which is different from your commentary. guest: an analysis looks behind the story and gives an explanation. this is not cut and dried. gives an explanation of what you have read in the story, as opposed to an opinion, which says this is what i think and this is how i see it. the analysis is supposed to be a rather objective approach. it goes beyond reporting who,

what, when, and how, but reporting the why. but the why in the analysis is not supposed to reflect necessarily be biased opinion of .he writer that individual has prevented -- presented the facts in front of the. it is enough of an -- a line to draw a distinction. host: the internet is a quick fact schechter -- checker. guest: could have been the president of the united states. the caller before said he should be. that is why i said i do not think that is what he said. he did not say that. he said he could have been. i do not argue with that. that point of view. that is not what the caller asked before, as i remember. the host: to have been and

continue to appear at fund- raisers -- fund-raisers during this campaign. caller: we have clayton on the line. good morning. i was surprised to hear mr. king indicate one of the things that president obama chevron for his reelection campaign should be the turnaround for the oil and gas area. do you think that, within areas of coal, oil, and gas, that president obama has a strong industry report for his role in the administration? also, what you think he will do in terms of running with the alternative energy? what is the plan for the next four years? we have talked a lot about things like that. what is the plan for the next four years? it is the conversation about oil and gas prices a conversation he wants to have in this election?

guest: i remember him saying he would turn around the auto industry, the odd note -- automobile industry. i mention his energy policies. as i follow what he is saying, to check all of the different categories and options, he checks all of the above. he wants to do cold, look at new killer, but that conservation, look at drilling, but they are not declared of statements. he talks about getting fuel economy into the cars, but if your suggestion islam, clayton, that it is hard to get a good

fix on obama posse industry policy, you are probably right. at the end of the day, the obama administration checks all of the above. it is hard to pin him down on which ones would get priority over the others. that is hard to discern, at least where i said. host: the washington post, the bourbon democrats rise again. who are they? guest: i was referring to the bourbons of the post-civil war era. they were the ones who led the effort to undo reconstruction. they were successful in doing so. i cited them because i see in some of the actions taken by

some of the republican party -- to what extent are they going to strike to undo some of the games that were made in the last few years of the country. host: our last caller is from dallas, texas. good morning. we have about one minute left. caller: your remark regarding, in your opinion, the response to the situation. could you explain how his remarks were different from al sharpton posses remarks. host: fenty. guest: which remarks are you referring to? host: he is not on the phone anymore.

he has his own show on msn bc. i am sure he is referring to some of the remarks he has made on this program. guest: i am not familiar with those. host: let me conclude where we began. explain or resign, mayor gray. what will happen this week with the d.c. mayor? guest: i think we will see something happen this week that will not involve the d.c. mayor. it could very well involve the chairman of the d.c. council. he is under investigation, as well. it is my understanding that that investigation will come to him at a crucial point, perhaps this coming week, and then -- that will be the news. host: state-owned. they call that 80's. colbert king.

thank you very much for being with us. come back again. join us tomorrow on washington journal. eric eegland talks about his organization. our spotless on -- spotlight on columnists and 10 years. on to it -- on tuesday, -- on wednesday, e.e. cupp. "washington journal." >> welcome to old countdown museum, wichita, kansas. yeehaw! >> waking up the city for 22

years. we think we have a heck of a start. today, he will talk a little bit about the problem we have in the city with taxicabs. hang on for that if you will. >> action second and third, facebook tv and american history tv explore the heritage of the literary culture of wichita, kansas. >> paper wrap binding. but it contains, and talk that -- an alphabetical list from 1831. i believe this was issued only, as it says here, for members for a mediacy it -- immediate use only. they were not supposed to loan this out. because, it it would tell you exactly where everybody lives. you could go and punched them if you did not like them. >> watch for book tv on which it -- in which into law, a kansas project wichita, kansas.

>> presidential candidate bit romney was in philadelphia earlier this week, is touring a charter school. in his remarks, he focus on classroom size, his views on the strength of the two-parent family. this is about 45 minutes. >> nice to see you, thank you. we can sit down here, do not you think -- do you think? we are in a very quiet place, no one can even see s. >> we have a lot going on here. >> i know. >> want to get started? >> a good morning, governor. >> good morning. >> let me shake your hand. on behalf of all of the

wonderful students that we have in philadelphia, i would like to take this opportunity to welcome governor romney to the great city of philadelphia. today is a special day because of your presence. we pray that your stay here in philadelphia is a class and one. -- a pleasant -- a pleasant one. we believe in education. experience of african-americans in this country, when it was a time when it was against the law of the country for people of african descent to read or write, it is even more important

today to discuss education for the african american community because of the conditions that are in the african-american community as they relate to presence and crime. so i am glad you're here we can discuss and find out what your thoughts are. as it relates to the destiny and the future of america because america is for everyone and the african-american community is a major portion of this country and that is our number one concern. how can we develop the educational system that connects african-american people with the history and their past. >> kenny, i appreciate the chance to be with you and i come to mind. having these experienced that

are unique and instructed carry i have my own experiences related to education and the experiences of people in massachusetts. i realize right now the rivalry between boston and philadelphia. [laughter] instead, i want to talk about our young people. when i came in as a new governor, there were a number of features that concerned me about our education system. one, there was a very substantial gap in the achievement scores of minority students, relative to convocation students. i wondered why that doubt was as large as it was and if there was a way to improve it. at some schools, they were

succeeding, and some schools were not succeeding. it was not entirely based on urban schools enroll, but there was some correlation of that nature. there were reports that some charter schools being entirely -- entirely successful, and others less so. i came in with an open mind as to what we could do to improve our education system and give our kids a better chance. i will brief you -- briefly tell you my limited experience. i would like to get your experience from the front lines. and first, salute you for the investment you have made, financial and personal, in establishing a path like for hundreds, thousands, of young people who have changed lives. >> thank you. >> i cannot imagine anything more rewarding and important to do. i came in my office and talked

to people and ask what we can do to improve our schools. and number of folks said we need smaller classroom sizes. that would make the biggest difference. i gather information. we have 351 cities and towns. let's compare the average classroom size from each goal -- each school difference with the performance of our students carried we test our kids and we will see if there is a relationship. there is not. the schools with the smallest that students performing poorly. republicans and democrats came together in a fashion -- a program where we would measure the progress of our students, and to graduate from high school, you had to pass the graduation exam. i added something to that with my friends in the legislature.

the speaker in the house and the senate president. we put in place the scholarship program which said, when he took at graduation exam, if you scored in the top quarter of those in your high school, then you are entitled to the scholarship, which is four years' tuition free at massachusetts public institution of higher learning. that pay for tuition, not for fees. fees in massachusetts are much higher than tuition, but it was a help. it showed that we were interested in performance and excellence. massachusetts is number one for fourth graders and eighth graders in both english and math. i contributed which i attributed that to a number of things. we have a lot of good catholic schools in boston and massachusetts. there has been a good deal of school choice. that has not only helped kids to

have gold -- go to the schools, but the public schools around him. it made them more competitive and made them do a better job. the boston school district has focused on hiring an excellent teachers, trying to find the best and brightest of kids coming out of school and helping them get into teaching. i believe that makes a difference. i was happy to see the achievement gap between minority and non-minority. was caught about halfway up from one we began testing. i do not take credit for that, but i think the focus on school choice -- we have more and more charter schools, we are testing our kids, and trying harder for table teachers. when i step back and study the topic from the standpoint of researchers, there were some

things that had the biggest impact on the quality of education for our kids. one was great teachers, hiring among the very best and brightest of teachers and having them have a career path that was not just associated becoming an administrator, but being a great teacher was a great career in and of itself. number if he dubs was having a tea dance-parent family -- a tea two-parent family . number 3 was sound leadership. people were able to guide the school and focus on the primary mission to make sure students were on track. those three things were highly correlated with success in schools. interestingly, and number of charter schools, private

schools, and a number of public schools were able to get that thing right. great teachers. a great career path for teachers. there were single parents still finding ways to involve them in the education of a child. superb leaders. those were just, that -- i am told about the success of these institutions that you have helped found. this institution in particular. a lot to get your perspective on what makes it worked. what things we can do better. the reason i say that is that i propose that the federal level we do some things to help do what i think makes a difference. i propose we do best, that the federal money follows the students. if the student wants to go to a

charter school or parochial schools or private school, depending on state law, the student can dial and the money, the federal money, goes with the student, so we allow more choice for parents. i like every parent to have a choice and every child to have a chance. that is the phrase i am describing. number 2, the amount of federal funds that go to a state will be depended in part upon whether they have ample school choice, whether they are trading their schools to see what one -- which one is succeeding or failing, whether they prevent digital learning, cyber learning, technologies are improving every day. my guess is 10 years from now, we will find it is a learning has a bigger and bigger role in helping the child learn. those are my things to help improve this opportunities, school choice, and the quality

of teaching. we have, i do not recall the number, but it is dozens of teacher-quality programs at the federal level. thoseld like to take o monies and have the state guide programs to includes -- improve the quality care at >> that sounds good. >> good. [laughter] i am known to do that sometimes. >> i appreciate it. thank you. would you like to make a comment? >> its tremendous amount of experts in education. more than mine. for all of the poor-performing schools, my fundamental belief is that we have to wrestle control in order for us to correct that situation. add, ily thing i would hav

would definitely add those people who are in the field doing the work. we constantly see it people talk about performing -- poorly- performing schools and what we can do about it. we should give them never ending support. there's always a penalty, we will do this and that. the bottom line is that there are thousands of children trapped in these poor-performing schools. >> yes. >> whenever paulist bridget whatever policy one punishes the schools, that punishment should at least eight couple with support. yout to add to what d basically said. we will identify the bad schools and forced him at, but at the end of the day, the transition of that school from the identity of being a poor-performing

schools to and actually -- to and actually good school, it could be seven to eight years. at the end of the day, when the african american committee is talk about, we have lost too many children. those children are now runs and they're having children. in the real estate development, we have a concept called structural development. we have to rebuild the system because it is structurally messed up. the situation but the two- parent school critic family. it might take good leadership and teachers, but we cannot get parent and community support because it is upside down. we have to work at it both ways.

i do not bridge data not want to say to much. [laughter] >> i did not mention this, but the wisdom of people who preceded me was when a school is perceived to be failing, they had a provision where the state would then potentially take over the school and bring in place a core of highly experienced, effective school leaders to come in and help turn the school around. i believe that is one of the features. it is not just sang at the schools are a disaster, too bad. what will we do about it? that is your point. that is an important and critical point. thank you. >> you have to go back and remember how the whole concept of education has failed. you go back a few years, even in boston, when they were trying to integrate schools and they had young, black children going into

white neighborhoods and they were throwing eggs at them, spitting on him, calling them all kinds of names. the bottom line is that that will never work. that concept never worked. that mind-set -- mindset will never work. it is a structural component within the thinking of america, and basically, my position where my job is to look after the african-american community in philadelphia and to look after, what can i contribute during my lifetime. what i see is trying to correct all of the miss a thinking -- misthinking of the people that has contributed so much to his country and does so little back from the country. i do not want us to think that

the concepts, and i would like for you to know basically that this whole government concept of education and african-american people needs a new mind. it needs a new mind. you have to be able to take america, you have to look at america, where is america going. 10-20, 3040 years. where is it going? people will remember you buy what you do. nothing else. when you go on vacation, you go to different cities, philadelphia, here and they tried to go and see the liberty bell -- these are things that were built by the founding fathers. you go to greece or up to rolm, all those places that were

built, we have to build now. the foundation that we are building on has a lot of the faults in it. when i speak, i want you to know that my major concern is the future of african-american people in this country. once that problem is solved, i think all of america will i just want to keep that on the burner. it is not ok. it is the worst it has ever been. i am almost 70 years old. >> we are not far apart. i am 65. >> when you are 70 years old, you stars living your life a

little different. something has got to happen. those persons who can make a change, they must step up to the plate. a lot of it has to do with people you have around you and how they think and people you associate yourself with. how do you get this thing done? it is not going to get done in four years. it is not going to get done in 8 years. you will need people power more so than money power. you can never get enough money. you have to get the community and get people behind you because that is the most important resource that we have, these sorts of people. -- the resource people. >> i want to talk about the cyber education.

the premise we have always tried for is to start with the students. who cares most about the student? it is always the parents. you care most about your kids. that is the premise most people have not understood. you get more charter schools and they are driven by local politics. we spend so much time as adults by to each other. who gets to serve that particular kid -- we spend so much time as adults by a team with each other. who gets to serve that particular ken? if you have 10,000 students applying -- who gets to serve that particular kid? there are a lot of debates on cyber on what did they work or not. technology is moving quickly and

brick and mortar schools need to move to cyber. it allows parents to give them another option for their kid. we are playing with the concept of blended learning models. we are taking the cyber stuff, which allows you to borrow the politics and do what kids want. you are >> combining its -- >> you are combining it. there is >> a special needs population -- >> there is a special needs population. most parents feel like it is not what i want. what are my options? $40,000 a shot. most parents cannot afford that.

it is another way to think about it. you look at local politics, state politics, and federal politics. will it support schools entirely? not necessarily. pennsylvania has 3000 districts. getting funds is always a challenge. >> how is cyber learning being received at the local and state level? >> there are 30,000 students in there. it is not the cyber education they necessarily want. they do the blended learning model. you do not just do it online. you need to do the face to face.

that will give them the best of technology and still the face to face. if you do that model, the parents are receptive to it. it is just the online model, some parents are receptive to it. >> it is the blended model whether a charter school or a commit to a school where digital learning is part of the curriculum -- or a conventional school where digital learning is part of the curriculum. david, you look like you have something you wanted to add. >> i sent a lot of guys up to massachusetts. i have a guy who has gone to u- mass, wheaton, tufts university.

we have guys going up there this year. we are sending our best point guard to boston university. he broke wilt chamberlain's record. look out for him. he is going to boston university and he will be playing. our school is an all beloit's high school. high school. whenever they talk about providing education for lower income kids, they always talk about sending them to school somewhere else. why can we keep them in our area? you see a good education accessible by people who live in this community. everybody in this school wants

to be here. why is it such a good school? because everybody here wants to be here. the teachers like working here and the administrators love it. the power of choice brings great things, break -- great opportunities and great achievements. the thing you can do as president to help the children all over is to create as many options as possible. give them as much opportunity to access good education in their communities and we will see those communities change and we will certainly see those lives change. we are sending a boy is from west philly to grade school in massachusetts and maryland and all over the country because they got a good education in their community where they were comfortable and that allowed them to have the ability to step

out of their communities and go forward and feel confident and capable to achieve. that is quite >> a story. -- >> that is quite a story. i am glad you sent that point guard to boston. [laughter] >> i would like to bring up two concerns in terms of the way you opened your introduction. one is class size and the other is testing. when i was driving to school and i heard your platform on class size and testing -- i cannot think of any teacher in the whole time i had been teaching who would say more students

would benefit them. i cannot think of a parent who would say, i would like my child to be in a room with a lot of students and only one teacher. i am wondering where this research comes from. you are looking at the test scores. you are saying big class sizes do not affect the test scores. i think kids are being over tested. i was listening to the seven habits of highly successful individuals. the author is older and more mature and he was saying, the really good teacher, the really good leader, is not getting their people to answer questions. they are getting them to ask questions. our educational system is about

kids answering questions and not answering them. you would be surprised at how many thinkers i look at and there are no questions. where are the hands going up? don't you want to know about this stuff? they feel like they are going to be tested on it death. it is -- going to be tested on it. lifelong leadership has to do with asking the questions, wanting to learn. i am a music teacher. iss my kids a lot and i put the bar -- i am -- i ac my kidsce

allowss. -- i access my kids a lot. how do we even want to be educated? this is what i am seen. eing.am seen -- se the testing and declassifies concerns me. -- the testing and class size,t

sternhe me. would you want more kids in your class -- yhr y -- the testing and the class size concerns me. >> what is your view on class size? >> the kinsey institute went around the world and look at -- looked at schools and said, in the schools better be highest performing in the world, their classroom sizes are about the

same as in the united states. it is not the classroom size that is driving the success of those school systems. it is parents very involved and the idea of choice. excellent teachers drawling teachers from the best and brightest -- drawing teachers from the best and brightest. >> there is a study that was done by the university of tennessee that is a definitive study about class size. what they said that is -- sa in gradesid in they said--- in the

first grade through the third -- if you have small class sizes in the primary years, that is what makes the difference. from the third grade on, you read to learn. if you do not get the meeting -- reading piece, you never catch up. >> everybody was there for the same reason. that is when toys comes in. -- that is when a choice comes in.

they have the foundation to move forward. >> we could spend all day talking about class sizes. that is one aspect that makes schools work for young people. you talk about your background in business. in business, there are two sites to education. there is the delivery of s toation -- two side i education. you need to build the infrastructure all the way down to a teacher leadership. we are competing against a system that is 100 years old.

you have to provide that additional support. i wanted to get the conversation on to this side of the table. i wanted to get them into the conversation because they represent a tremendous amount of experience and contributions to the city of philadelphia in education. >> tell me your background. >> it is a great conversation. i am the president and ceo of the hr -- the urban league here in philadelphia. we are based in new york. one of the things we do every year is spent a lot of time on

the policy side looking at the state of black america. i was listening to the talk about the history and thinking through where we are as a nation. and then you say, where are african americans as a people within this nation? the report we released in 2012 says african-americans are only 71% as well off as whites in america. we do a statistical analysis of five areas. the two that stand out the most for us happen to be economics and education. those two things are linked. it is hard to talk about one without talking about the other. jobs become the basis of so

much. when i hear you talking about your points of class size, parents, and leadership, the thought that comes to my mind is, for those children where the parents are struggling to just keep food on the table or a place to live or they are shuffling from a shelter to a relative or back to a shelter and back to a relative and the child is being upset each time that happens, how do you view that whole perspective. our poverty rate is close to 28% in philadelphia. there are a lot of children in that position where they may not have the support of a parent or a guardian to help them make good choices or decisions. as you think through this, what

do you see as some elements you would like to propose that would help move the needle on that the quality gap? in the last couple of years, we have started to measure the latino gap and it is still around that same 70%. something is happening. maybe it is the structural peace we are talking about. - -- piece we are talking about. we are losing so many people. >> the educational achievements

of african-american people in this country is the civil rights issue of our time. we have an american education crisis. we keep doing the same things expecting things to get better. we have to be bold. you go back to the foundation elements. for a single mother living in a shelter with a couple of kids, those kids are at an enormous disadvantage. there is no question about that. when you have a mom and dad that is able to be home for dinner -- i remember the study about what a great advantage it was to have dinner together. if one is tired, the other can spend some time helping the child with homework.

if the child is not reading at the level they should be, they can talk to the school and say, my child is not reading well. what can i do? having two perrins makes a tremendous difference. -- having two parents makes a tremendous difference. for those who are already in a setting where they do not have two parents -- right now with so many people out of work, particularly in the minority communities, this is devastating for the people who are out of work and for their kids. the cost of three and a half more years of recession-like economics and employment opportunities is not just borne by adults. it is borne by the next generation.

it is an urgent priority to get jobs back and get this economy going so they are not in a shelter. they are in an apartment or a home. it is not just the 8% or the 10% or the 15%. and then the educational experience. what was encouraging to me is seen the so-called achievement gap between minority and non- minority gap and that gap was cut in half because of the things that were done by folks who preceded me as well as in my term. with this adams scholarship, we said, if you do well, you get

college tuition. it is not just a stick. it is a carrot. if schools were failing, having the states take over and get them back on track. this was in 1993. we had a provision that said if a school is consistently failing and the state takes it over, they can remove any provision in the union contract that they think is interfering with the education of the children. they had great freedom and flexibility to focus on the needs of the child. i guess what frustrates me is, i think most folks know what the answers are. we just do not seem to be doing what it takes to implement those answers. there are these forces that do not want to see that kind of change.

let communities have a choice with in those communities. there needs to be better choices. this is a priority. >> we are ready to wrap up. >> i don't think there has never been a president or a presidential candidate who was not pro-education. but you get into that job and the education department is a small part of the federal budget. education is linked to every issue we have in this country. on behalf of every student in this building, we need a president who wakes up every morning determined to make a difference. in every city in america, we have schools that are getting the job done for kids in the

most challenging situations. and we have schools that are not getting it done. you talked about great teaching been the most important. what separates those schools is that there is a focus in those buildings on making sure that great teaching happens in every classroom every day, day in and day out. in the schools that are not getting it done, it is not because people do not care. many people did not get into it to help the kids. adult in tests had intervened or other things have intervened. -- a dell entrusts -- adult interests have intervened. tartar versus public, private versus public. -- public and privatechart

publicer . versus -- public and private versus public. we have got to stay focused on the main job. >> thank you. in closing, i would like to thank you for listening and giving your comments. i would like to make one request of you. that is that you come back to us later when and if you are in the position. it is one thing to come now. it's the spirit guides you -- if

the spirit guide you to that point where you become the president of the united states, i want to see you come back. you need us and this country needs us. they need this type of unit that can deal with the reality of america, not to this fictitious thing they are dealing with. in education, there are the fundamentals and then there is the business of america. this education business has been a cash cow for many people for many years. it has turned out the worst product that you can ever imagine. it is speeding the prison business right now. we see what is happening.

-- it is feeding the prison system right now. we see what is happening. america is too great a country and to great a concept to let it happen. thank you. >> thank you. i would love to see you help us understand. you might write a note on this. how do you keep a school focused? why does it happened on one side of the street and not the other? you are right. you are doing it here. that is happening among the people in this room. that is why we are here, because

this is a successful enterprise. how do we make that happen school by school? we will make it happen. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> tomorrow on the communicators, a look at issues the cable industry faces. the cable industry faces. you