we are optimistic. we have to give some time and space for the new prime minister to put the government and the new cabinet together and bring this country back together. what is critical and most important is the steps that prime minister maliki took are not repeated. a is important that you form government that is inclusive of sunnis,kurds, shiites,

and other minority groups. host: we are asking if you have questions about what is happening in iraq right now, specifically the efforts of the kurdish people, we are joined for the 35 minutes or so by the head of the regional government for the kurds in d.c. u.s.,'re outside the the curtis tend government held --kurdistans dan regional government, what are they asking right now? guest: we are confronted with a

lot of challenges right now. verse, you mentioned the military and crisis. we have a population of about 5.3 million. about 1.5 million. they're coming in the tens of thousands, if not the hundreds of thousands. this has been a huge burden under the leadership in providing for and assisting these refugees. on top of this, we have not received a single penny that we are entitled to from baghdad as a result of the oil revenues. us $9 billion. there has not been a single penny that has come since the beginning of this year. without revenue coming in, we try to upset and making up for the balance in this budget by exporting oil to the international markets. baghdad once again under the leadership of prime minister maliki threatened any international buyer. the most urgent challenge that

is facing us and where we need the international community to step in and help out. the other challenge is the security situation. isis has been able to capture a lot of the u.s. military weapons that were given to the iraqi isisity forces and when ul,anced toward modal -- mos to police divisions melted away and abandon the weapons. isis takao -- isis took over a lot of this heavy equipment. now they are bringing the heavy equipment and fighting depeche peshmurgafighting the forces. they have been running out of bullets, and that is the second most challenging. the simple most challenging is to make sure that the new government is formed in time,

and inclusive in baghdad. that is critical. host: on the military front, when the u.s. is trying to fight isis in iraq, would you say they would try to -- they should try to bypass the central government in baghdad? guest: when these arms are given ,o the iraqi military forces they abandon these weapons. and we know how fierce and loyal murga forces are. we know that not a single bullet or weapon has fallen into enemy hands under their charge. host: can you expand how they both operate in the country? urga forces,eshm these are the forces that we fought against under the saddam

hussein regime. we had put together our own special forces, our own security forces. this is sort of independent from the iraqi military, but obviously under the emperor love the iraqi military. but they are not necessarily controlled by that dad. -- by baghdad. operating within the kurdistan region of iraq. the demonstration that took lays over the weekend, that is what it was. it was causing -- calling for more intense airstrikes and the u.s. administration to beef up their capabilities by providing heavy equipment so we are balance along with isis. again, isis has very effective equipment, highly technical, from the u.s. military that was given to the iraqi security forces. is waitingne call

for las vegas, nevada, on the line from -- for independents. good morning. i will ask the gentleman if he is afraid to mentionis male of -- israel as being a main supporter for all three years. they supported curtis dan region tanaking away -- kurdis breaking away from the iraqi government. your mongolians and white. you portray ourselves as kurds, and you're not. you are not arabs. host: do you want to talk about some of the history area echo guest: -- the history there? guest: your absolute right. the kurds come from a different area than the turks and the arabs, and obviously the jews, and the persians.

as being from israel, absolutely not. but kurdistan region of iraq is a distinct society. we do have good relations with israel, but just like egypt does and jordan does, and other countries have. see the israeli government as a friend and not necessarily as a foe. is a the israeli agents misstatement and inaccurate. host: let's go to virginia on the republican line. go ahead. caller: i just wanted you to put up a map and show me exactly where kurdistan region is. can you hear me? yes, we have that. we will show you the curtis dan regional government in iraq. do you have a question -- the al government in

iraq. you have a question? caller: no, i don't. it's very interesting, hearing him. host: wally pull up that map, we will go to steve in the chicago area. the kurdistan region is the red and white striped area in the northeastern part of iraq. that region is made up of a couple of different provinces of iraq. what are the components? divided into four countries, the region. iraq, iran, syria, and turkey. iraq,rdistan region of the region that i represent, is -- consisting of three major provinces. when isis mcginn, the pesce when forces were able --

isis moved in, the pesce mirta forces were able to keep them away. and the size of iraqi kurdistan is about 31,000 square miles. it's about the size of south carolina. a population of about 3.8 million people. it has its own parliamentary democracy there. call frome steve's chicago, illinois. good morning. to make a would like guest. to the great we all know that the kurds are america.nds in we know this. they have fought for us in all the wars.

that we've had over there. and what i want to say is one simple thing. from chicago, illinois. -- and iace the kurds just wish -- i have one question. are the kurds getting the armament, the serious, i mean, the real military armament that they need? thank you. i appreciate the compliments. you're absolutely right, the kurds have always viewed the them -- the united states, the americans as a friend and ally in the region will stop at this point, despite all the violence that's been happening in iraq, not a single u.s. military personnel or contractor has ever been killed, kidnapped, or wounded in the kurdistan region,

the region that is controlled by murga forces and the security forces. and we're grateful for the american liberation of iraq, absolutely. in terms of us fighting for and side-by-side the american forces, that is true we have peshmergasidered forces on the ground. we do not need american boots on the ground. however, we do need the right equipment. you cannot fight and armor like withumvee or the light armament. getting the heavy equipment that we have been asking for two offset the

balance with isis, some of the munition and light arms have come in, but it's not effective. what we have asked for is for more heavier equipment. there is also a joint operations center operating in the capital city of the kurdistan region. it is an american operations under. and they are assessing what our needs are. to this point, the equipment has not made it to the front lines where we can go on a major offensive. again, it's important that your audience know that we used to border1050 kilometer that we shared with the iraqi security forces, peshmerga forces on one side and iraqi security forces on the other. today come out of the 1000 kilometers, it is shared with isis. the peshmerga forces are should

-- are stretched very thin across that large border. that is why isis has been somewhat effective. knowing that the peshmerga forces are stretched, they would find a weak point and attack it, and then mobilize them or else an attack. we need to beef up the border and then go on the offensive and pushback on the advances that isis has been making. the attack overnight on the dam is andam -- mosul example of that. it is not 100% under peshmerga control, however there is little control their at this point. you explain the united states designating peshmerga

forces as terrorists? in 2001, you had the u.s. congress after september 11 drafted and voted on the patriot act, which was part of what established the department of homeland security. in aroup of people political organization fighting against a whole government, regardless of how corrupt or bad it may be, will be listed as not necessarily tier one, tier through, it -- tier two, but tier three. it is part of a wider organization. katie p and p u.k. just by definition moved into this category. again, it is not tier one. and the others would be tier two and tier three. what we have been able to do with the u.s. government to amend this patriot act and we

have been successful. we are just waiting for the senate to return from its dealon -- it's recess and with this before the end of the year. this holding up arms transfers or anything you need right now? guest: this decision does not necessarily directly affect the arms transfer for the kurds. but what is happening is the kurd region of iraq is not considered a sovereign country. what was passed by, -- by congress was that you cannot provide weapons to a non-sovereign country. in this case, what has to happen and these arms have to go .hrough baghdad that has not happened.

prime minister maliki has cut off the budget, what -- let alone the weapons transfer to the kurdistan region. going to france, italy, canada, other countries to see if we can get this transfer. it is unfortunate that you have to go through this when you have a friend and ally in the region. patrick is next on the line for democrats. caller: your guest is conveniently holding key information back from the american people. it is astonishing how the media and their day of in the united states is being massively manipulated, particularly when it comes to the fact that the turkish government is directly .ehind isis saudi arabia is directly behind isis. you don't have a five mile-long

convoy coming in from syria completely in a blitzkrieg military construct taking over the territory on this scale. mr. zebari, if there was any doubt that the kurdistan regional government is part of a , all ofical power grab this narrative, particularly when you use the narratives of children being beheaded, and the lies and deceit and the manipulation of the american public, who are turning around with our tax dollars and underwriting a system of lies. host: mr. zebari, do you want to under -- do you want to respond? guest: absolutely. thank you for the call. i would encourage the color not necessarily to watch the mega

meaty -- mega media or the kurdish media. i would encourage you to watch those being broadcast live from the scenes. there are children being killed, those that are being beheaded, and women being sold to other parts of the country and two other militants within the ice is frank. as far as holding back any information -- within the isis ranks. as far as holding back any information, let's just look at the name of uisil. le monde covers jordan, turkey, iraq, syria, all the way to tel aviv. if these guys get their way, they will not stop anywhere. as far as holding back key information, i'm not sure what information more you would like to have. it is unfortunate that some of the support has been coming from outside iraq and syria. thist is important that support stops, because isis is nobody's friend. host: here's a question on

twitter. guest: i think the goal is one in the same. the more territory they capture, the more emboldened they will come -- become. isis, again, it right now is regional. focused primarily on syria and iraq. that is not their aim. more aim is to gain a lot than troll over the region. more controlgain over the region. isis is like a cancerous virus. it has to be stopped sooner rather than later. john is on the line for republicans. good morning. caller: i want to ask you about what you are doing for the people in kurdistan now. host: what was the question?

caller: what is kurdistan doing for the syrian people there now? it is the christian region that has been living there for hundreds, thousands of years. capturing they are christians that were living in mosul, they gave them an ultimatum, you either convert, pay hefty tax, or face the sword. they have captured other minorities, such as the cds, the zidis,s -- such as theye and the chaldean. we have been asking those communities to reach out to their members of congress, to .sk for support

we need more support from the u.s. government. creditneed to make sure is given to where it is due. unrest, a lot of these minority groups have been asking the western countries to grant them visas and asylum. it is important that they also stay. this is their line, their heritage, their history. they add a flavor to the rest of society. we do encourage seeking opportunities in the west and other countries. again, we are determined to protect them, the chaldean, the syrians, and other minority groups. >> we have talked about the immediate threat facing the kurdistan regional government. is the end goal for the kurdistan regional government to have its own country? should a rack -- should iraq the split into separate country? guest: i'm like you asked that question.

what we have tried to do in baghdad is to become partners in this government and in this country and society. the more we try to work within the framework of the iraqi constitution, the more alienated we became. and the more we disliked we became in baghdad under the leadership of prime minister maliki. become -- has has come under intense pressure from the public on the ground asking the following questions. why are we part of a country still that does not pay our share of the revenue or give us what we are entitled to by the constitution? why are we not being protected? where we marginalize? ay can't we be part of society or government? we voted for a a democratic free-market society. all of these things that people voted for did not necessarily

come to fruition. pressure --ot of why are we still part of this country? again, it is in the hearts of every kurd to have its own independent state one day. host: j on the line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. i was wondering if the guests would say the u.s. has provided enough aid now. it found like there's a start on a representative government for the different regions, and religious sects, the subgroups of islam. we need to just be out of that country and, i think i have no americans there. we are giving advice by way of phone line so that we do not have to feel compelled to go in .f there is something

let the folks there sort out their own issues. iest: in terms of enough aid, assume you are referring to both humanitarian and military aid. unitarian aid, -- humanitarian and what isand received on the ground is probably a ratio of one to 10. the u.s. is the main body operating on the ground. they are still assessing because of the influx of idp's and refugees coming in is so huge. so placing them and figuring out what to do. the regional government has been doing the grunt work of feeding people three meals a day until more help arrives. equipment, military

we need it to go on the front lines so that the peshmerga can protect us. on thee peshmerga forces ground, we do not need other boots on the ground. to see them on the front lines. we will take care of the fighting. this is our land to take back. this is our people to take back. mobile, alabama, on the line for independent. first of all, i don't buy into any of the propaganda that people are putting out there. this is coming from that where they do not understand what is happening. kirkuk and some of

the other areas, this is where all of the gas and pipelines are full so that's the only reason for us to get involved. they have already set up a government up there. the kurds never wanted to be part of a rack. -- of a rock. q. ira if you remember, there was a few weeks ago a shipment that the kurd area. words, [indiscernible] i'm going to give mr. zebari a chance to jump in. guest: i will come back directly to answer the question. let's look at what isis wants.

why is it that they are now fighting the kurds? afternoon, everybody. earlier today, i received an update from my team on two separate issues that i've been following closely. ongoing operations in iraq, and the situation in ferguson, missouri. iraq, weect to continue to see important progress across different parts of our strategy to support iraqi fromnment condemn a threat isil. first, our military operations are effectively protecting our personnel in iraq. they have successfully pushed eerbil. terrorists meanwhile, we have provided assistance to iraqi forces coming including the kurdish fighters on the front lines.

today, with our support to my iraqi and kurdish forces took a major step forward by recapturing the largest dam in iraq near the city of mosul. it fell under terrorist controller this month and is vital to our objective of protecting americans in iraq. if that dam was breached to make could have proven catastrophic with floods that would've threaten the lives of thousands of civilians, and endanger our embassy compound in baghdad. iraqi and kurdish leaders were on the ground and performed with courage and determination. this demonstrates that iraqi and kurdish forces are capable of working together in taking the isil. to uisi if they can need to do so, they will have a strong support of the united states of america. second, we are working to build a coalition in the northern of -- northern iraq. even as we help thousands of

review jesus gave mount sinjar, many more are still at risk. we will work with the iraqi government, as well as partners like the united kingdom, canada, italy, and australia, to get food and water to people in need and to bring long-term relief to people who have been driven from their homes. third, we will continue to pursue a long-term strategy to againstsil bye working with the iraqi government and with key partners in the region and beyond. we have a new prime minister designate there, haider al-abadi , and the outgoing prime minister maliki agreed to step down. this peaceful transition is a politicalin iraq's development. but the work is not yet done. for the next few weeks, dr. abad

i needs to complete a broad-based plan for the iraqi government, one that addresses the interest of all he rockets -- of all iraqis. that, outsiders will continue to trade upon iraqi -- prey upon iraqis through division. we look forward to increase support not just from the united states, but other countries in the region and around the world. poses amember, isil threat to all iraqis and the entire region. they say -- they claim to represent sunni grievances, but they slaughter sunni men, women, and children. they claim to oppose armed forces, but they after -- they claim to oppose foreign forces, but they actively recruit foreign fighters to promote their ideology. the iraqi people need to reject them and push them out of the lands they have occupied, as we

ul dam.ing at mos this will take sometime and there will be challenges ahead, but have no doubt that the united nations will continue to carry out the limited missions that have been authorized. l,th those in iraq and erbi and baghdad, and those on mound sinjar. when it comes to the security of our people and our efforts, we need to be united in our result. i also want to address the situation in ferguson, missouri. earlier this afternoon to my spoke with governor nixon as well as senators blunt and claire mccaskill. i also met with attorney general holder. the justice department has ,pened an independent, federal investigation into the death of

michael brown. they're on the ground and along with the fbi, they are devoting to schedule resources to that investigation. the attorney general himself will be traveling to ferguson on wednesday to meet with the fbi agents and doj personnel conducting the criminal investigation. and he will receive an update from them on their progress. he will also be meeting with other leaders in the community, -- whose support is so critical in bringing about peace and calm in ferguson. drg -- a dojof the services called cops is working with those on the ground. have been working in ferguson since the day after the shooting to reduce tensions and increase communication. let me close in saying a few words about the tensions there. we have all seen images of law

enforcement in the street. it is clear that the vast majority of people are peacefully protesting. what is also clear is a small minority of individuals are not. i understand the passions and the anger that arise over the death of michael ground -- michael brown. giving into that anger by looting, carrying guns, or even attacking the police, only serves to raise tensions and stir up chaos. it undermines rather than advancing justice. let me also be clear that our constitutional rights to speak freely, assemble, and to her wart in the press must be toilantly safeguarded -- and report in the press must be vigilantly safeguarded. ours is a nation of laws. the citizens who live under them and for them -- for the citizens

who live under them and for those who enforce them. ferguson is a community that is rightly hurting and looking for answers. let me call once again for us to seek some understanding, rather than simply holler at each other. rather thano heal to wound each other. as americans, we've got to use this moment to seek out our fair share of humanity that has been laid out by this moment. the potential of a young man, and the sorrows of parents, the , theration of a community ideals that we hold as one united american family. manysaid this before into communities around the country, a gulf of mistrust exists between local residents and law enforcement. too many young men of color are left behind to be seen as only objects of fear.

tom personally committed changing both perception and reality. and already, we are making significant progress as people of goodwill will of all races are ready to chip in. but that requires that we build and not tear down. it requires we listen and not just shout. that is how we are going to move forward together. by trying to unite each other andunderstand each other not simply divide ourselves from one another. will have to hold tight to those values in the days ahead. that is how we bring about justice. that is how we bring about peace. with that, i've got a few questions i'm going to take. i will start with jim. but the incident in ferguson has led to a discussion about whether it is proper to militarize the nations police

forces. i'm wondering if you see that as a factor regarding the police response in ferguson. and also, do you agree with the decision by the governor to send in the national guard? well, i think one of the great things about the united states has been our ability to maintain a distinction between our military and domestic law enforcement. that helps preserve our civil liberties. that helps ensure that the military is accountable to civilian direction. and that has to be preserved. after 9/11, i think understandably, a lot of folks saw local communities that were ill-equipped for potential catastrophic terrorist attack. congressnk people in decided that we got to make sure that we get proper equipment to deal with the threats that

arise inlly would not local communities. and some of that has been useful. some law enforcement did not have radios that they could operate effectively in the midst of a disaster. some communities needed to be prepared if, in fact, there was a chemical that -- chemical it was useful to have those suits. having said that, think it is probably useful for us to review how the funding has gone, how local law enforcement has used grant dollars to make sure that what they are purchasing is stuff that they actually need. a bige there is difference between our military and local law enforcement, and we don't want the lines blurred. that would be contrary to our traditions.

i think there will be some bipartisan interest in reading it -- reading some of those programs. with report -- with regard to the national guard, this is under the charge of the governor. this is not something we initiated at the federal level. i spoke to jay nixon about this. i expressed an interest in that if, in fact, a national guard is used to made is used in a limited and appropriate way. described this up for role ,hat they will be dividing to they will be a scrubbing too, and i will be watching over the next several days. >> how long do you think it will take to contain isil? >> i have been firm from the we are not

reintroducing thousands of u.s. troops back on the ground to engage in combat. we are not the iraqi military. we are not even the iraqi air force. ofm the commander-in-chief the united states armed forces. and iraq is going to have to ultimately provide for its own security. on the other hand, we've got a .ational security interest i'm discouraged that a savage group seems willing to slaughter people for no rhyme or reason other than the fact that they have not kowtowed to them. needs to be that contained, because ultimately, they pose a threat to us. my goal is to make sure, number one, we've got a viable partner. that is why we have so consistently emphasized the need for a government formation

process that is inclusive, , and thatlegitimate can appeal to sunnis as well as shiites and kurds. we have made significant progress on that front, but we are not there yet. i told my national security team today and i will say publicly that we want to continue to communicate to politicians of -- don'tes in iraq think that because we have engaged in airstrikes to protect our people that now is the time to let the foot off the gas and return to the same kind of dysfunction that has so weakened the country generally. i has said-- abad the right things. i was impressed with his -- with the conversation i had with him about an inclusive government. do this.ve got to

in order to be credible with the iraqi people, they will have to put behind some old practices and create a credible united government. a credible iraqi government, we have been in the position to engage in planning not just with the iraqi government, but also the regional actors, the folks be on the middle east, so we can draft a kind of joint strategy, a --nt catechism counterterrorism strategy that i discussed at west point some years ago at the national defense college. our goal is to have partners on the ground. if we have effective partners on the ground, mission creep is much us likely. -- less likely. mission creep happens typically when we start deciding that we are the ones that have to do it all ourselves. because of the excellence of

our military, that can work for a time. we learned that in iraq. but it is not sustainable. it's not lasting. i've been very firm about this big -- precisely because our goal here has to be to be able to build up our structure not regionally,, but that can be maintained. and that does not involve us effectively trying to govern or impose our military will in a country that is hostile to us. >> [indiscernible] steve, at thisk, point i'm prepared to provide a blanket answer to that. a lot of it depends on how effectively the iraqi government comes together. i think you will see, if, in fact, that government process moves rapidly and credibly, that there will be a lot of actors in

the region and around the world that are prepared to help and whomup assistance, many of may have been reticent in the last several years because the perception was, at least, that baghdad was not being inclusive and was going to be self-defeating to put more resources into it. i think you will see a lot of folks step up. suddenly now, iraq will have have ad of partners -- variety of partners. and with more folks unified around the effort, it is something they can become bush. and it also means there is a prospect of sunni tribes who are the primary method -- primary residence in the area that i still --isil now controls. we would rather work with a central government that appears to understand our grievances and is prepared to meet them, rather than to deal with individuals who do not seem to have any

value is beyond death and destruction. i'm going to take the last question from somebody who after 41 years, i understand has decided to retire. anne compton, everybody here knows, is not only the consummate professional, but is also a pleasure to get to know. i was proud to be able to hug her grandbaby recently. and i suspect that may have something to do with her decision. anne, to say publicly, we're going to miss you and we are very proud of the extort i work that you have done, and we hope you are not a stranger around here. [applause] and compton. --anne compton. [applause]

i suspect you may get some cake at some point. >> [laughs] this is an interesting time in your presidency. one of the things you have emphasized in the past few months, the last year or so, is this region out to my brothers keeper, and to a generation does not feel like it has much. has anyone asked you to have you considered going your self? is there more you can do not just for ferguson, but for communities that might also feel itt kind of tension and see a wrapped in the way it has in ferguson? erupt in the way itt in has in ferguson? >> we have seen this around the country. this is not something new. it is always tragic when it involves the death of someone so young.

i have to be very careful about not prejudging these events before investigations are completed. although these are issues of local jurisdiction, the doj works for me. and when they are conducting an investigation, i've got to make sure that i don't look like i'm putting my thumb on the scales one way or the other. address afor me to beyond making sure that isducted in a way transparent, where there is accountability, where people can trust the process, hoping that as a consequence of a fair and just process, you end up with a fair and just outcome. as i think i think i've said ofsome past occasions, part

the ongoing challenge of hasecting our union involved dealing with committees that feel left behind. of tragicconsequence histories, often find themselves isolated, often find themselves without hope, without economic .rospects you have young men of color in many communities who are more likely to end up in jail or in the criminal justice system than they are in a good job during college. -- or in college. think imy job that i can do without any potential conflicts is to get at those root causes. now, that's a big project.

we have been trying to carry out now for a couple of centuries. and we've made extraordinary progress, but not enough progress. the idea behind something like "my brother's keeper" is, can we work with cities and communities, and clergy, and parents, and young people themselves all across the , and school superintendents, businesses, corporations, and can we find models that work that movies john madden on to a better track -- move these young men onto a better track? part of that process is also looking at the criminal justice system to make sure that it is upholding the basic principle of everybody is equal before the law. we havehe things that looked at during the course of

investigating where we can make a difference is there are patterns that start early. young african-american and hispanic toys tend to get suspended from school. at much higher rates than other kids. even when they are in elementary school. tend to have much more frequent interactions with the criminal justice system at an earlier age. sentencing may be different. how trials are conducted may be different. one of the things that we have done is to include the department of justice in this conversation under the banner of to seether's keeper" where we can start working with local communities to inculcate

more trust, more confidence in the criminal justice system. and i want to be clear about this, because sometimes i think there is confusion around these issues. and this dates back for decades. men that young black commit crimes. and we can argue about why that -- because of the poverty they were born into and lack of opportunity, or school systems that fail them and what have you, but if they commit a prosecutedneed to be . because every community has an interest in public safety. if you go into the latino community or the african-american community, some of the folks that are most intent on making sure that criminals are dealt with are the upone who have been preyed

by them. this is not an argument that there is a real crime out there and that -- that there is no real crime out there and that law enforcement does not have a difficult job. they have to be honored and respected for the danger and difficulty of law enforcement. true is thatlso given the history of this country, where we can make --rats -- progress in making in building up more confidence that our justice system is acutely aware of the possibility of disparities and treatment, and that there are safeguards in place to avoid those disparities . where training and assistance is provided to local law enforcement, who may just need more information in order to avoid a potential disparity.

all of those things can make a difference. one of the things that i was most proud of in the state legislature way back when i had no gray hair and none of you , was ironounce my name had passed legislation requiring videotaping of interrogations and confessions. and i passed legislation dealing with racial profiling in illinois. in both cases, we work with local law enforcement and the argument was, you can do a better job as a law enforcement official if you have built up credibility and trust. and there are some basic things that can be done to promote that kind of trust. in some cases, it's just a lack of information. sure we get that information to law enforcement. there are things that can be done to improve the situation. but short-term, obviously, right

now, what we have to do is make sure that the cause of justice and fair administration of the law is being brought to bear in ferguson. have gotto do that, we to make sure we are able to distinguish between peaceful protesters, who may have some legitimate grievances, and they may be long-standing grievances, and those who are using this tragic death as an excuse to engage in criminal behavior and tossing molotov cocktails, or looting stores. a small minority of folks, and they may not even be residents of ferguson. but they are damaging the cause, not advancing it. thank you very much, everybody. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

>> just a reminder, we welcome your comments on the president's press conference today. the president's former senate jim jeffords died today in washington. the boston herald reports on his death today. he died at the age of 80. he had been ill for some time, according to an aide. in 2001, he took control of the senate when he left the republican party to become an independent. of 80. today at the age president obama released a statement about him saying this -- that is from president obama. earlier this year, the vail symposium heard -- held a discussion on the safety of

genetically modified foods, gml's. gmo's.d from -- a here is a preview. >> we will talk about some the net is in our food, and you may or may not know about it, genetically modified food. it is in nine food crops, soy, cotton, canola, sugar beet, alfalfa, zucchini, squash, and papaya. you can ask me to say that slower later in q&a. the reason they are on our plates is because of a sentence in the fda policy from 1992. that sentence says that the agency is not aware of any 'sformation showing that gmo are significantly different, therefore no safety testing is necessary. no labeling is this area. so companies like monsanto, the producer, who had previously told us that pcb,

ddr, and ddts were safe to my can can -- were safe, they tell us that genetically modified crops are safe. it turns out that basic sentence, which is in fact, the basis for the u.s. policy overseas, the state department, etc., it was alive. it was complete fiction. we did not know about it -- it was a lie. it was complete fiction. we did not know about it in years past, but we do now because of secret memos forced into the public domain because of a lawsuit. not only were they aware that genetically modified foods were significantly different, but there was an overwhelming consensus among their own scientist that they were different and high risk. s, the world health organization, the national science -- academy of sciences,

european food safety authority, all of -- are all of these part of the conspiracy? that is not enough for you, here are a bunch of other organizations. these are not organizations with some scientific sounding name. these are real medical and protective organizations. in europe, which is very o, australia, all over the world -- and here at epa, which we pay attention to when it is global warming or something like that. they say it would not pose an unreasonable risks to the environment. group has said, we have identified no safety concerns for the foods we have assessed. is this reasonable, that poison here,t is

this is just fear mongering and all of these other organizations are just ignoring it? >> see more on the debate about genetically modified foods tonight at 8:00 here on c-span. while congress is in recess, we are showing you book tv in prime time on c-span2 at 8:00 p.m. eastern. at 8:30 p.m., books on fracking and energy in america. first, a panel discussion was famous for brian tom wilburn, who have both written books on fracking. a story about wildcatter's and then russell gold. that is book tv in prime time starting at 8:30 p.m. eastern tonight on c-span2. and on c-span3, american history tv, the overland campaign during the civil war, which was a serious -- series of major battles that took lace in 1864 under ulysses s. grant and robert e lee.

those programs getting underway at 8:00 p.m. tonight. >> high, i'm sarah. >> and i'm shelley. we are on the c-span bus. it is an interactive multimedia education center. and your local television provider brings c-span coverage to you and your community. >> it covers a political and historical events throughout the country. >> to see the schedule, go to www.c-span.org/about/community. you can send us an e-mail or a tweet. >> all this week on "washington journal," we are looking at president johnson's vision for a great society. today, we focus on the president's goal of improving education across the country. this is close to an hour.

week, wey this will take some time to focus on a different component of the great society that president lyndon johnson laid out his vision for 50 years ago. we focus on education and specifically the elementary and secondary education act of 1965. here is president johnson talking about the need to nowove education in his famous great society speech from 1964 at the university of michigan. >> the great society is a place where every child can find knowledge to enrich his mind. if we cannot educate today's youth, what we will do in 1970, when elementary school enrollment will be 5 million greater than 1960. an high school enrollment will rise by 5 million and college

enrollment will increase by more than 3 million. in many places, classrooms are overcrowded and curricular are outdated. most of our qualified teachers many of ourd and paid teachers are unqualified. [applause] quick so we must give every child a place to sit and our teachers to learn from. poverty does not be a bar to learning and learning must offer an escape from poverty. [applause] but more classrooms and more teachers are not enough. we must seek an educational system which grows and

excellence as it grows in size. >> thank you for joining us in this segment today. before the elementary and secondary education act we were talking about today, can you describe what education was like in america? much different. it was much more localized. it revolutionize education as we know it and dramatically changed the nation's education system. time, the federal ivernment began funding poverty schools to try to equalize the gap. what we see more broadly is this is part of the goal of a war on poverty. >> what were the major

components of the act that we are talking about today? craig certainly aid to children in poverty. targeted child benefits in the way the funding was given to localities. children in poverty receive more money as a way to close the achievement gap. >> one of the other goals of the elementary and secondary education act was to lessen the achievement gap and permit the establishment of a national curriculum. can you explain what was meant by that? >> the time there was some , that the to the act federal government would take which had been under local control. act, itof passing the

was specifically stated that the federal government wouldn't control curriculum, that would remain in local hands. >> while there is no establishment of a national -- weulum that for bid did do was establish standards of achievement for schools. about the standards for achievement? >> the law has changed a lot over the years but the original law was in some ways very simple. it set up a formula to get that gave additional funds to local school systems and was really targeted to low income students. this was important to johnson himself when he signed the law, he went to his hometown in texas and talked about how he grew up, that his family, his father was a tenant farmer, he attended a one-room schoolhouse. he wanted to underscore the message that the funds should go to low income students to help them succeed and get out of poverty.

what he said when he signed the law, that the law should be a bridge to close the gap between helplessness and hope. the law has changed a lot over the years, additional standards have been added onto it. it has been rewritten, has involved more of the standards and assessments. by and large, when people view the original law, they see it as a success. just look at the test scores of hispanic middle schoolers. those have risen by 25 points, which is equal to two years worth of learning since 1995. johnson's original vision for the law really paid off. host: some stats that we showed for our viewers, and for the radio listeners, the government spent less than $50 per elementary and high school student in 1960's. in 2011, $1600 per elementary and high school student.

as we talk about the elementary and secondary education act, we are splitting our lines of differently. parents can call (202) 585-3880. teachers, (202) 585-3881. all others, (202) 585-3882. darleen opfer, would you agree with the success of this act? guest: i would be a little more measured in my assessment of it. on the one hand, it certainly brought federal attention to education in a way that never was before. but the act has not always gone smoothly over time. there is a period of time in the 1980's where funding was significantly cut. some of the impact it could have had may have been more, had we sustain the financing to it, and also paid more attention to

implementation on the ground. generally it has been successful, just not as it could've been. host: in what way do you mean paying better attention to the limitation? guest: when the art -- act for started out, it was primarily about financing and we were not paying attention to what schools were doing with the money. the money needed to go to children in poverty but we assumed schools understood what they needed to do to educate children in poverty. now, with many years in hindsight, we probably know that they did not always understand what needed to be done. so we did not pay as much attention to the process of education. it was mostly about increasing input. i think we need to pay attention to the processes as well as the input. host: ulrich boser, would you agree? guest: i think darleen is right. in 1965, this law was about

financing. we know back then, and today, that many high poverty school system get less than their fair share of dollars. you look in chicago, where, in the wealthier suburbs, school districts get twice as much money as those systems in the inner-city. we need to make sure that money is at the core of this education debate, but we need to understand money alone is not enough. we need to make sure there are programs and policies in place. that conversation has evolved over time. we have seen educational reform such as race to the top or common core, which have all played a clear role in national education today. host: talk about the transition of esea to no child left behind?

guest: the shift from being input focus to output focused happened under george w. bush when he brought the governors together in charlottesville, virginia. they talked about the importance of education and the need for standards, to raise standards, the quality of education. that really started a conversation leading to the goals under clinton, and then picked up again under george h.w. bush, with no child left behind. we saw a transition from focusing on input to thinking about what we expect from education, what are the outcomes we want, and how do we get them? so the law changed as a way to focus more on holding localities accountable for the outcomes, rather than just looking at how they spend the inputs. host: one of the viewers on twitter watch that johnson speech and said, our classrooms are still overcrowded, teachers

are underpaid and underqualified. what exactly changed? what is your response? guest: we have a focus on serving all children that we did not have prior to the act. there were a lot of children not being served well. it certainly focuses on the issues of civil rights. i think there are some that would argue that were not for esea we would not have the segregationist schools. having federal dollars allowed the government to put pressure on states and localities to do that. while the act may not have changed the way that people perceive education, the way they think it's going in terms of quality today, it had a lot of influence on the way we think about how we should serve all children. host: mr. boser would you agree? guest: we have seen clear result. it is difficult to say the law

caused these results, but over the last 30 years, graduation rates have been ticking upwards, the achievement gap has narrowed. when you look at the achievement of fourth grade african-american students, they have been ticking upwards in math. i think there are some promising things, some clear results that we can say came out of esea. at the same time, we have to say what would've happened had this not been in place. in new york city today, on average, each student gets about $3000 in additional federal funds. that goes to pay for some important things related to instruction, reducing class size, buying textbooks, extending the school day. without those funds, where would the students be today? it's important to recognize the federal role here. d.c. needs to recognize that these funds are additional to what states and district are doing. ultimately, it is states and districts that are responsible. no doubt, the words of john pistole echo today, whether it

is around teachers or schools, or classrooms being too crowded. the fact is, we have simply not done enough. host: as part of our series focusing on the great society, we are taking your calls and comments on the elementary secondary education act of 1965 and how it has impacted classrooms today. we has put up the lines between parents, teachers, and others. carol is calling in from boca raton, florida. caller: good morning. i tweet normally, but i had to call in this morning. i taught for 13 years in an urban, almost all-black school in nearby broward county. i left last year. this will be my second year that i can just watch c-span every morning.

the state of education in our schools is abysmal. and if you have a higher graduation rate, that is because we are compelled to pass kids. i was teaching kids, my last year, i was teaching seniors who could not read and write on a sixth-grade level, yet the pressure is upon you. it is all just a game. the kids are totally undisciplined. there is no discipline in most of the schools. you cannot get them to put away their cell phones. it is not the money. our school had plenty of money. it is how you spend the money. that is what is important. you cannot teach kids who do not want to learn. you still have a 12th grade curriculum you are supposed to teach. they do not care about english literature, they do not care about grammar. they could not read. they were taking reading in the 12th grade. when i went to school, my school

did not even have reading when you got to high school. it was assumed you knew grammar and english. so you cannot teach kids who do not want to learn and will tell you, girl, you ain't my mom, you ain't going to be telling me what to do. then the boys said, just give me the gd answers. host: we will let our guest jump in. you say you tweet a lot to the show, what is your handle? caller: i write to you and c-span. it is @carolold. host: you can follow in on the conversation happening on twitter every day. lots of folks like carol join in on the conversation every day. @cspanwj. darleen opfer, i will let you address the question.

guest: she raises points that are part of the conversation now, which is how to raise the quality of education. that is why we have been talking about standards, repairing students for college and career readiness, what that means. part of it -- and this is referring back to the esea -- how do we help teachers and principals teach the kids they have and at the highest levels we need them to? part of the esea act had a second title of teacher learning and preparation. part of the act that probably has not been made much of. focusing more on how we help teachers may address some of the problems we have talked about. host: john is calling in from

rio rancho, new mexico. on the line for parents. caller: thank you for the show. my son is a senior at rio rancho high school, in the ap calculus, ap english. never had a job. there is just no employment for kids around here. grandfather worked for the government labs forever. i will tell you what is wrong with kids these days. there is no opportunity for them. when you show kids that their friends are getting out of high school, college, and cannot find work, that is what brought us to new mexico. i have family here. but there are no jobs unless you are in the government. you wonder why kids are not motivated. it is because the real world does not have shit -- host: apologize for the language. ulrich boser, i will let you respond. guest: this debate has been going on a long time, the education between jobs and the economy.

that is why the common core standards are so important. they are much more relevant to what students need to know and be able to do to succeed in the world today. they also raise expectations. also what is deeply important about the standards is they do more than just teach students fax. it teaches students how to think. we need educational reforms that help students get these jobs and importantly, help the students be competitive in the global economy. host: for those new to the common core debate, can you explain what it is and the timing of it? guest: it is a set of standards developed by the state. they are in reading and math. they have been rolled out for a while and now we are seeing some assessments of those test being attached to do though standards. they have been in the headlines recently. some states have thought about leaving the standards. generally, this has been a reform that many in the educational reform community see

as an important way to improve the achievement of students. host: darleen opfer of rand education, your thoughts on common core? guest: this is a promising move, the idea that we have a set of standards that we can agree on, that were well researched, that were developed by educators, that really raise the bar on what we expect for students. i think standards alone hold promise, but in order for them to achieve the promise, we need to pay attention to how they are rolled out in schools, how they are implemented, the kind of support given to teachers to teach what is actually quite a high level, a level that they were probably not teaching before. host: what would you say to those folks who are concerned that common core does what was forbidden in the elementary and secondary education act of 1965, preventing the establishment of a natural -- national curriculum? guest: it is unfortunate it has been politicized that way.

it was an initiative put together by the states, governors got together to create a standard. as the department of ed started using it as part of the race to the top and the incentives, saying it states about the standard they get additional federal funds, it started to turn into something that was federalized, but that was never the intent to begin with. guest: i want to jump in and draw a distinction between standards and curriculum. standards are simply expecting what students should know and be able to do. when should they learn certain topics in math? when should they be learning algebra, addition? curriculum is something that needs to be developed i teachers. that is textbooks, quizzes. common core sets out what students should be able to do at

a certain code to of time, but it really leaves it up to local system to develop that curriculum. i want to be clear, i do not see any evidence to suggest that common core is at all in conflict with esea, which was correct in setting up in 1965, that there should not be a national curriculum. we need to leave it up to teachers themselves to have the flexibility and autonomy to reach out to students in the way that they know best. host: let's go to one of those teachers in miller place, new york. steve is calling in. caller: good morning. i teach english as a second language in a middle school, public middle school. i am wondering what your people think, your guests think? lbj would probably be rolling over in his grave if he saw the way that common core was implemented. it did start out as a state project, but it was kind of overtaken by certain moneyed interests.

the governors approved it, the governor's association approved it, but who actually wrote it was a group of 27 people, including only two teachers. those teachers voted against the common core, yet it was implemented. guest: i think there is a lot of discussion about how this happened. some of it is accurate and some of it isn't. if we ask educators -- and there have been a number of surveys about the common core -- the majority of educators are in favor of them. they believe we need to have higher standards. the mathematics association of teachers, it english language association of teachers, those educators have endorsed them. generally, these standards have been accepted by teachers. host: a half-hour left with our panelists, discussing the

elementary and secondary education act of 1965 and what it is meant for the education system today. we have lines for parents, teachers, and others. in south bend, indiana is donald. caller: good morning. this is very important to me. i have nieces and nephews in school. this is an all hands on deck situation. i just want to ask a couple of quick questions. common core, i do not know much about it, but i think it's a good idea. critical thinking is very important. teaching kids how to think for themselves. also, i want to go quickly, the high school situation needs to be revised. is there any talk about having students stop at grade 10 and then from 11 to 12, maybe they are out in the world trying to get job skills, etc.?

is there more focus on things like that? guest: on the common core, the thing we have to keep in mind is that it is getting increasingly politicized. just take a look at bobby jindal, governor of louisiana. when the common core -- when he first looked at the common core, when he saw it on paper, he thought it was a good idea. he thought it was what was good for kids, good for kids in louisiana. then the political winds shifted and now bobby jindal has been trying to pull out of the common core. he has done so because he is no longer looking at the best interest of students in the louisiana but himself. we need to keep in mind, there is good policy and i believe the common core is great policy, what is best for kids, but there are also shifting political winds, and there are politicians out there that are looking out for themselves.

as to the second point, it is a great one. there have been developments and just to reiterate, the caller was asking are their movements for apprenticeship programs or helping students get real-world experience while in high school? we have scenes and very innovative practices. this has been pushed by this administration, vice president joe biden has been very smart in talking about apprenticeship programs. also, dual enrollment programs that allow students to enroll in college while in high school. it raises expectations for students and it keeps students motivated. it allows them to see real-world application of their studies. host: if you want to see ulrich boser's work on some of these education issues, go to the center for american progress' website, americanprogress.org. and darleen opfer is with rand

education, rand.org. in nebraska on our line for parents. jeff, good morning. caller: bobby jindal do not back out because of politics. he backed out because once he seen what common core was all about, nothing more than trying -- why don't you ask these people on your panel to give you a document -- the document that they ask all the questions of their students. just ask them for that document and i guarantee you that she will be able to get it. they are not allowed to. one other thing. if they come out with a new law that says that money follows the student, i will guarantee you

that our education system would get better in a heartbeat because then the best education, the best teachers would come out. and the ones that could not teach would be fired. host: darleen opfer, can you take the second part of that -- money following the student. guest: money does follow the student. going back to esea, when i said at the beginning that it is a child's benefit. the money that is getting to school districts for children in poverty. the money follows the child in that sense in many states and districts, their funding formulas are the same way. you get funding depending on the characteristics of the children. as far as letting them go to open choice, we have some systems like that. some work well and some do not. the idea that money follows the children is generally the way we finance education to begin with. host: from twitter, "are you saying there is a direct

correlation between money spent and outcome, no other factors? guest: there are other factors, but money matters. it has been study after study to show that when we spend money and targeted appropriately, it does have excellent outcomes. not just short-term but long-term outcomes. outcomes on employment, on health, on incarceration rates, money matters. host: go ahead. guest: money matters when it is being spent in an effective way. there are some practices where money matters less. in many school systems, dollars are being given to teachers to get masters degrees. the research there is week. when you look at class-size reduction in early grades or investing in pre-k, it is clear that money can make a big difference for student outcomes. host: morgantown, pennsylvania on our line for teachers. good morning, matthew.

caller: good morning. i was a military veteran, i did troops to teachers and i taught at groves high school in savannah, which is about 90% minority and economically disadvantaged. and i walked away after three years because i was very discouraged. i came to the conclusion that the problems in many of our schools is a cultural problem more than a problem with policy. it is not a money problem, either. when you compare one county in georgia with another county in georgia, the first county receives about $5,000 less per pupil annually but outperforms the other county. from a policy standpoint, if we

can improve the culture of learning in the home and encourage learning from the home in disadvantaged communities, i think we are going about it all wrong with common core. the highest performing western country in the world is finland. finland has a decentralized, consumer driven model. where they use vouchers and local autonomy to drive education. i will leave that out there for you guys. host: darleen opfer, do you want to pick that up? guest: he raised a number of important issues and questions. one, the way we prepare teachers. he went through a troops to teachers program, a quick training program. we need to be paying attention on the one hand, has gotten this great teachers is in the classroom. but then, how we support them over time and make sure they are prepared to teach in the places that they go into.

paying attention to training is important. he also raised the question about the role of parents. one of the things that has happened is we tend to address problems, particularly problems of poverty, and very siloed ways. we've been talking about esea and education, we do not often talk about it in relation to things like neighborhood issues, health issues. if we really want to talk about problem of children in poverty, we cannot treat it in this siloed way without looking at other conditions. host: would you agree? guest: i would. when we look at school models, schools that also offer health services or dental services, they have been shown to be very effective. they can cost a little bit more.

we have to be prepared to spend more on these types of schools that can be very successful in these disadvantaged communities. host: about 25 minutes left or so. our phone lines are split differently full stop parents, teachers, and all others. those are open if you want to call in. on our line for parents in arizona, smitty. caller: good morning. one of the problems we have got, you have got to people on the panel that are both like-minded, both come from the same background, probably -- both believe the same things. i will use the word here, i get in trouble, they are basically socialists. the common core program was written by socialists. it is to take the curriculum away from states. you can say the states can do whatever they want. but if you do not do what the common core people want, they will lose their federal funding. host: smitty from arizona. another question on common core. if you want to talk about policy

differences with the center for american progress? guest: generally, people think that rand is more conservative in our thinking. part of it is because over time we have done things like research on the vouchers and charter schools. when evidence shows those things work, regardless of our own political beliefs, we put out the evidence and say this looks like a promising practice. it may seem like we are aligned right now, but part of the alignment between us is based on the evidence and where the evidence is going in terms of how we need to improve schools. host: mr. boser? guest: i would add to that and try to look at what we know about effective schools. what we know about successful schools, whether they are in

right to work states or non-right to work states, charter school states, which is another divisive issue, successful schools are focused on bringing people together. they do a great job of having teachers focused on a common vision. we see this in the research, school systems where there is more trust among the teachers are much more likely to achieve in the long term. and we see this in terms of practice. you look at toledo, ohio. they have done a smart job of bringing teachers together in a bottom-up, teacher evaluation system where teachers are giving each other feedback. that has shown effects. in terms of student achievement and motivation. the bottom line i am trying to stress is that when it comes to education, we really do need to do more to bring people together and to bring schools together and to bring teachers, parents, and students together to focus on a common vision. i think that will be key for success. host: illinois on our line for parents.

good morning. caller: i would like to comment, there is no amount of money you can put into schools that is going to teach kids to open up a book. you either have to have the teacher teach or the child learn. you can throw money here and there, we have seen that too many times. the public school system here is so messed up it is unbelievable. in chicago, they closed because the schools were in bad shape. host: what would be your suggestion? caller: before they start throwing money at the public school system, you have got to have a choice to parents. you got to be able to let the parents make the choice where the kids want to go the shoe. the lady said the money follows -- no, if your kid wants to go to any school, you have to give them a voucher. even though it might be a

charter school or something. sticking money in the public schools, you are losing. host: ms. opfer? guest: well, the evidence on vouchers is not very clear. we have better evidence on school choice, some charter schools are doing much better than their public schools. again, it goes back to what they are doing in the schools. it is not a public versus charter issue or private versus public issue, it is the processes that are going on, the kind of supports teachers are providing for students. and as ulrich said, that they have a common vision they are working to. it is not about which kind of school, but what the schools are doing themselves. host: a couple teachers calling in, gwen from cleveland, ohio. caller: i am retired. i'm a retired principal. i have -- sometimes in

education, we give scholarships -- we have given out 32 scholarships. i have another program, we put 15 kids between the ages of 12 and 17, they learn work ethic and how to market skills. they learn how to write a resume and go for a job interview. it is for the success of students, it is very successful and i have been doing it for the past nine years. once they complete the program, they will receive a scholarship to college. it is very important that they learn to work ethic as early as possible, even at 12 years old. the students do well. they work in area businesses in ward one in cleveland, ohio. the businesses do not get paid at all. the kids learn work ethic and prepare themselves to become -- host: talking about some of the effects in cleveland. will on our line for teachers in columbia, tennessee. caller: good morning, c-span.

happy to see that there is something about education here. it is very important to this great nation of ours. i was fortunate enough to be in a school as a young boy, it was tennessee preparatory school. the school provided for homeless children, it is more like an orphanage. it provided a great background in education. it is so important. the best thing they provided at a secondary level was vocational training. they do not put nothing like that in the common core, but it is so important for young people who have jobs. they have to have some kind of experience or variety to pick up some skills before they get out into the real world. tps had vocational training in every area.

whether it is shorthand, automobiles, woodworking -- all of this was so important. host: talking about some vocational training. mr. boser? guest: vocational training can be very important. one of the key things we have to understand about education is that we want students to be motivated. we want students to be engaged and develop really rich, deeper learning skills. the one thing the caller mentioned, i want to push back. we have to separate what schools are doing and what the common core does, which is policy we have been talking about that has been held by the states that raises expectations. there is nothing in the common core that prevents teachers from taking a more vocational approach to education. to offering students those types of programs, whether vocational or sports or arts, all the other things that we know are part of a rich, deep curriculum. the common core is focused on language arts and mathematics.

trying to push up expectations and standards, allowing us to do more and to offer a richer curriculum for students. the other thing that is important that has not been brought up and i think is worthwhile to talk about this testing. a lot of parents today are complaining that there are too many tests in schools and they are not fair. that is an issue. we know that many school administrations have too many tests and students feel overwhelmed. the common core offers potential to create better, fairer exams that are more relevant to students and give a better sense of what they know and are able to do. host: our line for all others -- unless you wanted to jump in? guest: i wanted to jump in on the vocational issue and talk about the role of businesses. one of the problems with public schools offering vocational training is being able to keep up with how employment changes. every day, we have new jobs

being added as technology changes. if we are going to train students for the workforce now and for the future, we need a much bigger and closer collaboration between businesses on the one hand and schools on the other a meeting that need. host: calvert on our line for all others. calling in from newark, delaware. good morning. caller: good morning. my name is calvin davis, jr. i have a question and i comment. darleen opfer for rand education, that is rand corporation, the think tank policy organization that works for the government and also -- for the center for american progress.

with the extent of research your organization has been afforded, we still see that the policies that have been implemented by the government is failing people like me -- black men and women. the reason why the teacher who said she taught black kids and why she doesn't understand why we do not pick up a book sometimes -- we are under stress from psychological warfare. from seeing the military police shoot us -- shoot us in broad daylight with no repercussions. we are dealing with an extreme psychological environment and we are constantly being told that our lives are worthless and that we mean nothing, we contribute absolutely nothing to society. true history will show that -- host: calvin in delaware. mr. boser, do you want to take

some of the racial achievement gap that the caller brings up. guest: there's the issue of achievement gap, where we look at achievement between white students and students of color. we have seen, as we talked about at the beginning of the show, that cap has been narrowing slightly over time. some of that could be partly attributable to the vision of johnson. we have to also acknowledge that we have a long way to go before we narrow that gap and we need to be focused on those policies that we know work. focusing on building instructional capacity. that teachers have the tools that they need. and focusing on high standards. something else the caller brought up that i would like to address. we've done some research on the issue of teacher diversity. making sure we have a diverse teacher workforce. what we see is really the tremendous cap in some states, like california and arizona, you

have largely a white teaching workforce. and then the students, largely students of color. you have to make sure that we get teachers in the classroom who are prepared to teach and who are highly effective. we also know that teachers of color can relate better to students of color. they understand their background. making sure we have a diverse and effective teaching workforce will be key to the future. host: ms. opfer, on teacher diversity? guest: it is definitely an issue. we have seen that teach for america has made a push to increase their diversity in response to some criticism that there were too white. the question is how do we incentivize and attract really high-performing minority teachers into classrooms and into environments that probably are not the best conditions to

teach in. we need to think about how we do that. host: st. louis, illinois, on our line for parents. good morning, carol. caller: i grew up in the 1950's and 1960's. i did not learn until i was an adult that you are not supposed to stare at the sun. that you are not supposed to swallow toothpaste after you brush your teeth. you need to teach children thing that they are going to need in life, like filling out a checkbook or writing a check. teaching people about nursing. in these communities where the hospitals are all closed down, they will have someone they can go to for medical aid or to find out what they need to do about their health and about nutrition. there were many days i sat in school and i did not have anything to eat. i could not concentrate on what they were talking about on the black work. i am sitting there with my gut

growling. if you can find money for wars, you can find money for all this, why can't you take care of the people in this country? host: mr. boser? guest: the caller addresses important points. we need to think about ways we are going to improve education from young people. people talking about the role of money in education. i really want to stress that we need to talk about productivity in schools, how are we going to get the most bang for our buck. we did a study that came out a few months ago that evaluated productivity of over 7000 school districts. what surprised me, we only see across the u.s., only two states -- texas and florida -- evaluate the productivity of schools. we need to put more money in our schools and make sure the dollars are wills then. that will take looking closely

at what programs are effective. the research is clear on things like pre-k and supporting teachers so that they can have the rich skills to attract students. ultimately, education reform is common sense. we know it works but the question is do we have the political will to do it and to focus on those programs, those policies that are going to be best for kids? host: pennsylvania, on our last couple minutes on this segment. carol on our line for all others. caller: good morning. in order to bring a more broad-based teaching staff into the profession, i lived in philadelphia when i was growing up. up until the middle 1960's, nursing students would come from all parts of the state because that was the only thing they could afford and the only place they could get it because they were all women.

they did not lower the quality or the expectations of the scholarship, but it was practically free. i don't understand why the government can't subsidize something like that. we need more teachers anyway but particularly for low income areas, you could draw people from the community, men and women, that could come in at a low cost and teach. the other thing is teacher quality. i think teachers get a bad rap. they are very good teachers out there. i live in a different area, where there is great support for the school system. i think you can begin to change the curriculum. one of the ways you can do that is through accreditation for colleges. each area has its own accreditation throughout the u.s. they could begin to look at what is needed for better teaching

and more preparedness and more student teaching or mentoring. host: thank you for the call. darleen opfer on teacher quality and attracting teachers financially to the profession. guest: there have been a number of efforts to attract teachers, tuition has been waived or forgiven, and subjects like science or math. they have been successful but they are hard to scale. if we want to solve this long-term we need to think about the profession. she talked about how in nursing, they have high standards. when we look at other countries that have very high quality teaching, going into teaching is

a very difficult profession to get into. we need to think about that and what it means in terms of professionalizing teaching, raising the standards. making it an attractive profession to go into. if you are a minority student with excellent grades and qualifications, there's a world of opportunity available to you. host: up next on our line for parents from alexandria, minnesota, good morning. caller: i want to make a comment here. the contracts. the focus is on three things -- wages, benefits, and retirement plans. four months later, the point is that the class sizes are too big. host: are you talking about teachers unions? caller: i am. until the focus changes from tenure and retirement plans, i do not think education is going to get better. thank you. host: ulrich boser?

host: the debate over teacher tenure and the role of teachers unions has been in the headlines recently. i think teachers unions play an incredibly important role in making sure the nation has a strong middle class. as i spoke about earlier, when we look at successful schools, they are schools that have brought people together. i mention the toledo example because i think it is powerful. that is a school system where management and labor came together. teachers and administrators came together to really focus on improving teacher practice. and thinking about what is going to be best for students. that is ultimately the way of the future and what is going to work in schools. host: let's give our last call to one of those teachers. karen in texas. good morning. caller: i was calling with a comment regarding what your guest speaker from rand said regarding money following the

students. what actually happens is the money is earmarked two states and in the states and mark the money to the district. i taught for nine years in title i schools. what actually happens, the principals get to decide how the money is spent. a couple of the last two districts i worked in, schools received over $2 million. unfortunately, none of that money went into the classrooms. the principal decided she would take all of that money and redecorate her offices and the secretary's offices and she would buy bicycles to give away to the students if they managed to show up on time. another district received 2 million dollars to buy computers and technology for the classrooms, which were all put into computer labs that each student got to use for 15 minutes out of the week, the entire week. and then low and behold, all of the computers were stolen by the computer teacher and sold on the black market.

host: i want to give darleen opfer a chance to respond here. guest: this raises a question and circles back to where we started. esea was about input, then we switched under no to output. we need to focus on process. what are we doing with the input that we have? how are they being used? are they being used in evidence-based ways to improve student achievement. if we want to get the outcomes we hope to have, focusing more on the processes in schools and in the way schools are using money and making sure they are using money for effective processes is the way that we need to focus now. host: ulrich boser, if you want to chime in? guest: the use of technology in schools. we see it certainly technology going to a lot of schools. but we know that students are not using it and very effective ways. we did a study that found that

one third of students are using computers in the classroom for drill and practice. i also want to reiterate a theme we start out with, money matters when it is used in effective ways. we need to focus on raising expectations for students. common core is a great way to start out. we need to empower teachers and make sure we prepare them for college and career. host: ulrich boser with center for american progress, americanprogress.org. darleen opfer with rand, rand.org. thank you so much for joining us today. tomorrow, dan berman talks about the obama administration's stance on foreign-policy issues, ferguson,g unrest in missouri. then our look at president johnson's great society patricia didh

stacy harrison. she will discuss the public broadcasting act which provides financial assistance for noncommercial tv and radio broadcasting. after that, tom scully on the creation of medicare under president johnson. as always, your phone calls, facebook comments and tweets. here is a look at our prime time schedule on the c-span networks, starting at 8 p.m. eastern tonight on c-span. a discussion on the safety of genetically modified foods. at 8:30 its book tv with a look at books on fracking and energy. and on c-span3, american history tv with programs on the overland campaign during the civil war, a series of major battles taking place in virginia in 1864. all of that tonight on the c-span networks. securityoday the human council got an update on the israeli-palestinian conflict and ongoing negotiations from the special coordinator for middle

east peace process. this is 15 minutes. >> the 7243 meeting of the security council is called to order. provisional agenda is the situation in the middle east including the palestinian question. the agenda is adopted. in accordance with the provisional rules and procedure, invite a personal representative of the secretary-general to participate in this meeting. the security council will now begin its consideration. item two of the agenda. >> thank you mr. president. we meet today against the withrop of unrest heightened political tensions in a severe security threat the islamic state in iraq as well as

the recent attacks by violent extremist groups syria against lebanese armed forces and in anal security forces lebanese town. given that the security council sensitivey seen those operations with the resolution in august on countering the threats and with the express statement on lebanon, i want to focus my demo today on the situation in israel and palestine within inferences on gaza. we meet, the temporary cease-fire is holding. now on the fifth and last day of the current extension, meeting separately with egyptian authorities in a crucial effort to break the deadlock of violence and retaliation. i recently traveled to cairo in

support of these important talks . a in the violence and reach cease-fire. the hopes of the people in gaza for a better future in the hopes of the people in israel for sustainable security rest on those talks. up tol on them to live this responsibility. by the deadline later today, midnight, cairo time or 5 p.m. in new york, we urge the parties to reach an understanding on a durable cease-fire which also dresses the underlying issues afflicting gaza or makes progress towards it. at the very least we hope the cease-fire will be extended and the situation remains quiet. we all share the relief that no blood is being shed at the moment. but we also all regret it has taken too much time and too many lives to achieve this.

appalling, a total of almost 2000 palestinians have been killed of whom 459 her children and 239 are women. includes more than two thirds civilians, some 10,000 palestinians, roughly a third of them children, have been injured. 64 soldiers, two israeli civilians have reportedly been killed. a few dozen israelis have been directly injured by rockets or shrapnel. in the face of this devastation and loss of life, the united nations has mobilized every effort including the personal engagement of the secretary general and working closely with international stakeholders to end the violence. we did not relent, despite setbacks, because the loss of civilian life was so unbearable. on two occasions we were successful.

the temporary cease-fire that currently prevails has provided reprieve for the past eight days and will like to commend the government of egypt for brokering it. it is essential to allow the recess cities -- necessities of daily lives and allow for recovery efforts, addressing the many needs of the people in gaza such as urgent water and electricity networks and find a more viable shelter for those displaced were not able to return to historic homes. mr. president, it remains my conviction that we must not leave gaza in the condition before the latest escalation. otherwise the restrictions will continue to fuel instability under development and conflict. i am afraid the next escalation will be just a measure of time. as i talk to general assembly recently from cairo, the basic equation must consist of ending

the blockade on gaza and the latest gitimate concert -g escalation and the corresponding level of needs. the assessment of gaza's reconstruction needs have not yet been completed but there are indications that a volume of reconstruction will be three times that needed in 2009. approximately 16,800 housing units have been destroyed or severely damaged affecting 100,000 palestinians. reconstruction is the main priority while exports and transports are crucial to help gaza's economy to get back on its feet. construction materials will not be allowed into gaza to this effect. it must be facilitated in a way that fulfills israel's security concerns. united nations is ready to lend its support in this regard. for years the u.n.