gwen: i hope you are well caffeinated because we are. we are going to jump into

talk aboutd and change, survival, and knowledge. what it takes to know new orleans. we will start our entire conversation for the rest of the day, and i want you to know that we are going to -- i am going to come out and hang out with you. i want you to think about smart questions with this incredibly intimidating panel. lis eric with lois an elie. he is one of the founders of the southern food waste alliance. , you saw the amazing maddie le cesne. besides being an amazing poet, she is a rising princeton freshman, heading there next month. she just told me, the best part about the princeton schedule is that there is a break right around mardi gras time. [applause]

she was nine years old in 2005, writing poetry on the headboard of the bed in her bedroom, which was eventually ruin, and washed away. ben is the founding member of association in new orleans. buildingerested in capacities of you, not just vietnamese youth. chris rhodes is an author, pulitzer prize-winning journalist, and currently a radio show host. and, tracy washington, who is sitting right here is president and ceo of the louisiana justice

center. she is a civil rights lawyer. she and that he waited during the storm and returned that december. she remains focused on social justice. oliver thomas, the last person i have here, is probably familiar to most of you. he is a former city council member. his focus is on community engagement and city government. we have asked each of our panels to give some thought of what it means to know new orleans. of us who are not from here, who watched everything that entailed in the survival, it is interesting to us to find out what we think we know, and what people who have actually been fighting the fight do know. i want to start with you, lolis. crossed manyy --

paths of what people think about new orleans and louisiana which is culture, resilience, bouncing back, survival. what do you know that we should know? ago, someone said that culture comes down from on high. i think that is the most telling explanation of the city. if you think about it, specifically in terms of the sidewalk. the street culture is so much about what makes the city important. it is the people who make the city more interesting than other places. to talk about our food, the is that itnations comes from france, whereas our food was very much preserved from the food of west africa, at

least as much as it was from france. similar with our music. lewis armstrong's music came from the trumpet method books that he study, but in addition, things thataled less trained musicians were dealing with. similarly, michael white talks about trying to emulate the .ound of opera my point is that to understand the city, it helps to walk down .t. charles avenue around the corner, in the smaller houses where the rest of us lived, you get a great sense of this place. finally, if you are inclined to blame all of our differences on

france, baron mind that the haitians were the last great x of francophone people in 1810, after being kicked out of cuba. the haitians continue to pay and repay for the revolution that made the city possible. our population doubled after the haitian revolution. so much of our culture, our way of being in the world, so much of our food comes from these people. gwen: oliver thomas, i want you to answer next. i thought i would switch it up. oliver: i'm glad i did because lolis do with cultural -- to think that everyone knows about new orleans and all those cultural things -- we also have the greatest collection of survivors in survival world.

when people talk about the good old days and the food systems we when people talk about the good old days, we were incarcerating more people per capital. i love these people who say they know new orleans. if you really know new orleans, you know the first and last three in the lower nine. if you really know new orleans, you know the special sauce, bun.ce, cheese on a sesame mcdonald's doesn't use it anymore. it has been a narrative created in this town that it may not be the truth about how people live, but that is what you are selling. you know that we have more honor than angola and more in the gel system than anywhere else in america.

there is the struggle about the reality of this very special place that people know culturally, but the existence not whatt of folks -- they were after katrina, but before katrina. we had 95,000 people living in public housing in a city with less than 500,000 people. we average between 300-400 murders per year. you know that, no matter how good you do at school, you will probably work at the hotel. gwen: tracy washington, pick up on that. i'm sending you all out one by one. tracy: good morning. what does it mean to know new orleans struck away means is that -- what does it mean to know new orleans? what it means is that i probably have a connection with everybody at this table. my boss is sitting over there.

yes, i will make my 11:00 class. it means that, for me, i don't go any place in the city and feel lonely or alone. it means that i don't care how many murders you have a year. 200, 300, 400. can walk at belfast, just like i can walk in the lower ninth ward. i never feel unsafe. i know that somebody is going to look at my face and say, you are daughter,washington's aren't you? or, in the past 20 years, you b's mom.bs we have ties in the city. ties the go generations deep. they cross color lines. i have a dark skinned black

woman, but there are some folks in my family that have red hair and a probably related to some of the redheads out here. that is what is important about the city. there is this live, and it sustains us. a lot of people can move from city to city. i have moved to new york, i lay, .hicago -- they do just fine but, i am sustained here. when we had katrina, and that disruption, when we lost 100,000 i'm goings -- yeah, to be that person on the table to talk about racism, so be ready. we lost a significant part of what is to be new orleans. can't replace 100,000 black avatars.h like people who come up here with that berger, that cap,

whatever, and say it is new orleans. i miss that. chris, let's talk about sustenance. chris: what's wrong with that.? -- that dog? [laughter] what was the question? gwen: she was talking about how new orleans sustains us. start with what ms. washington said. i know somebody at every table here, and we all intersect here. it is a hard and broad question to answer. i will bring it back to two simple tropes, by think they are accurate. ondi gras and the superdome

sundays in the fall. amazingrdome is an cosmic, social experiment that no one could replicate if they tried to. it is where all races, genders, culturalial, economic, barriers seem to be stripped away and everyone is therefore one purpose. it is crazy to watch. it is a beautiful thing. i have been reliving the last going throughs -- thing.day night football what happens in that stadium every sunday afternoon, which unfortunately i really get to go to, i don't roll like that. i used to go to games when i got for work. to be in that building on sunday afternoons, and watch the way everything is stripped away

in this country -- the barriers, the prejudices -- everything is gone. i always think, when i'm walking outside a building, if we could just keep this going outside this building -- if we could carry this outside, and live like this every day. it is all the same people. it is all of us, right? it is all the same people. i don't know, we treat the lives.s and i in our i have lived in other cities, and we don't have everything fixed. i think we try harder than most places. i really do. i don't want to take up too much but mardi gras, the same thing. you go down to your same street corner, year after year, and it is the same people.

usually they are not from the neighborhood. not that we can all live on st. charles avenue. we just go and set up. you're after year, there is the same people there. this is one of the things that i did notice in the phenomenon after katrina that was sort of painful was where people showed , and was over, and realize, , you didn't even know their names, but you watch their children grow up. you knew what they ate. all the things that they did, the way they screamed. i just thought, maybe these are , like i said, tropes,

sayemes, like the kids today. sorry. that.let me pick up on you made the case that we are different.than others on the panel have made the case that there are a lot of differences, and especially what we view overcoming recovery is. vinh becauseto he represents a swath of new orleans that many people did not realize existed and was impacted differently. years since, does it change the way you see the city? yeah, it does change. katrina, no one knew that

vietnamese folks lived in new orleans. some people knew about the restaurant, the bakery, but other than that, katrina lifted our community when the city was basically trying to make our community green space to build an airport. refugeesunity of leaving vietnam, and actually being refugees twice -- from north vietnam to south vietnam, and south vietnam to united states. and, being displaced again? for us, for our community, we had to resist. we had to tell them, no, we again.ove we can't be displaced again. i think that galvanized not only the vietnamese folks, but the black folks, the latino folks, and we saide folks,

we had to unite and fight. awen: displays and became a unifying theme. .in: for us, we must fight we must fight the institutional an rated in environmental racism -- and environmental racism that we were facing. togetherble to come and rebuild the city together. for us, we continue to face a lot of challenges and barriers. 7-8 years tohat -- get a hospital? a lot of schools were being closed down, and we had to fight to reopen a lot of them. i think, from there, we also have a lot of diversity. a lot of latino folks have used

into the community as well. yes, new orleans is a very diverse city, but in a way, we are not as racially acceptance. i just got married. i went somewhere, and they really embraced towards him. been used a differently which is. had menus in different languages. why can't we do that? i think we need to embrace culture and differences that we have here. for us, our community, we are one of them. we need to be recognized and make folks know that we exist. what that is interesting you said about embracing culture. when people think about culture and new orleans, they think

about black and white. there was something in maddie's column that struck me. she said, "they told me i was black," and therefore? maddie: i became black. i realized, and evacuated new orleans and going to a small .chool in texas the team was called the hurricanes. i am a child of new orleans. i'm still in that stage of my life because i haven't lived anywhere else. i think that knowing new orleans, when you're born into it, it is kind of like loving a dog. u love it see asik a unique individual, there is part of you that deep down, no matter what, as much as you fight it, you know you would be

happy with any other animal, if that makes sense. then, you take your first or away from new orleans, and i will never forget the first time i was in nashville, tennessee. i was walking down the street with my mom. it is the first trip i could really remember. it was the first time i could walk up on the sidewalk. i didn't have to look for cr .cks or potholes we always walk in the middle of the street. if anything is going to happen to you, you want to walk in the middle of the street. i was walking on the sidewalk for one of the first times. then, you come back, and that love changes. you start to love it like a grandparent where you can't cityy comprehend why the is so messed up.

sold, so damaged, and you kind of don't really imagine losing it. even as a child, you don't see iting a grandparent, but is still there. then, something like katrina happens, and you start to love the city like a parent. you start to worry. as much as you love it, and is much as you always expected to be around, there is that fear and anxiety that is going to be gone. you know, when your parents don't come home, and they stay out a little later than they said they would, and that bell hits you, and you get a little anxious. that.like

you can't get past it. gwen: i have to say, it has been a while since i've worried about my parents, i like the idea that you think we still do. i would love to get questions now from the audience. are people with microphones, and i obviously have one. you are right here. i will start with him. .ait a second we need you to have a microphone. i will come to you. >> i am inspired by all of you. i wanted to share the most of my lifeal moment with katrina. that is when i went down to bring back new orleans meeting. hundredse hundreds and of people from new orleans east. to father went to city hall get permits for people who wanted to rebuild. they said, how many permits do you want? he said 600. within a day or two, he had the

permits sold out and back at city hall. i think all of you have been participating in katrina since then, and before, but i just wanted to share that moment of inspiration. thank you all. gwen: stand up and tell me who you are. >> good morning. my name is stephen kennedy. more so eight question. -- a question. .ou mentioned culture inclusion my question is how do you talk about the socioeconomic disparities here in the city of .ew orleans i see people jumping around the conversation. idealould be you all's new orleans if the socioeconomic disparities can be closed? gwen: oliver thomas, i want you to take that, and then tracy. oliver: ideal new orleans is billione close to $70

of investments in the gulf coast would be that the disparity gap worse in be 10 percent the last five to 10 years. it would be that people with success in charter schools would be better off socially and economically instead of 37% economicent and 36% level. good schools means not just passing tests. 52% of african-american men who are unemployed -- you add up statistics because they went to get jobs, and then within that person, 14% passed the drug test feared it would say that -- the great playwright august wilson when he talks about two trains

running, he talks about duality of life. when will become to grip that there is one train on one track going one direction, and there is another train on another track with the community going another direction. i said yesterday, when i thatalking with a group, we do not spend a week touting the regrowth, the redevelopment, how beautiful it is that new orleans has become. people will go dancing charge -- , doown st. charles avenue that, and then take the route three blocks into the community. when you go three blocks and, you will see that -- hopefully, if you get a chance to talk with folks -- you will see economic disparities.

our black children are still living in poverty. we still have that in new orleans. it is bigger than pre-katrina. pretty good tread he was ugly. it is still ugly. we have a gel that is il thatulated -- a ja is overpopulated and the shares that wants to build more jail space. we have special education and children -- people saying that education is doing fine. people know that i'm always going to answer that phone and i'm always going to fight. god help me. week, i get parents calling me because their special needs child has been ignored at somebody's school. every week. uts. is n you have rights to have

education. what does that mean? it means, in new orleans, when we were talking about disparity -- i used to tell people, eighed 260a, i wai pounds. actually, a little bit more. people said, tracy, you were big . i said, i was fat. i had to look myself in the mirror and say, we have to do something. if we say the real facts about the city, and take it step by .tep we are not going to eat french fries. we are not going to have the soda. tackle one problem and resolve it at a time. .e are not going to lie if we would just stop lying

about the fact that all these black men, who are hanging out on street corners, don't want to work. do you know who i get to do this? the guys on the corners. gwen: tracy, we have a lot of things we want to cover. i set you off, i understand. if we can keep the questions short and the answers short, we can get more and. -- in. >> i am with the katrina foundation. the katrina foundation was started by after hurricane katrina. this is one of the seven of many books we have inside the katrina museum of 10,000 families that were trapped in the convention center. , where were the people after katrina?

they will say the superdome. we have a museum that is in the tremaine gwen: area. gwen:ok. you got your plug-in. who movedg as someone ago, andears immediately fell in love with the city, i moved here to run the food bank. i would like to ask about the paradox is that you have been describing. how is it that we can have this incredible economic resurgence. he's hopeful signs in our community, and yet, have poverty rates just as high as we did, even having lost population. i think our measures of progress are based on how quickly rich people are getting richer. [laughter] [applause] new statistics.

gwen: nice. brief answer. .nother question .> hi i just want to give a shout out to the artists of the city that quebec very early, along with the restaurants, and help us all believe that we would all come back. the first said you went to a restaurant, there was a jazz band. it war jihad to say we are coming back. the first time you went to a parade. the visual, performing, media, film, all of them. can speak tolis this. actually, everyone out there. at the same time, we don't have the resources we need. it is partially because of our economic base. i just want someone to address

how we may get more sustained funding for the artists who are really struggling. oliver: i think you are correct. were intentional after katrina. held plays, even though the city wasn't populated. i went on vacation, so i got a chance to study and learn a bit more. i tweeted that katrina, in many cases, was more humane than the length of this, builders, and fema.

a lot of the traditional cultural organizations are actually being excluded for what is new and trending right now. a lot of nonprofits fought in neighborhoods for years are being left out for what is trendy and popular right now. new orleans, this is the place i want to be. we have been on a roller coaster for a long time. promote whatd to is sensible, but not deal with the people who cannot afford to go to the festival. in many cases, that's the artisans. entertainers, musicians, and french who work in the quarter, and can't afford to get parking tickets, and all the ig, theyom their gai lose because they can't afford to park. tracy is right. when are we going to be intentional? look, in the greatest city in

the world with the greatest culture and greatest people. we have the most wonderful people in the world, but when are we going to stop saying the second line, even though i am smiling, behind the smile, there is a whole lot of pain. gwen: we have time for another question. i would like to hear from the entire panel. gety question is how do we tock native new orleans reengage in the political process when they are not being hired. we are touting new orleans as a success, and clearly we are left out of the economic boom. how do we get them to believe in the politicians again? gwen: this is the final question. if i could find a way to rephrase this -- being unseen and unheard is not unix

african-americans or people in new orleans. right now, that is the subject at hand. people feel like they survived the worst experience of their lives, the worst experience in this country in many ways. the idea that a major american city is drowning is something i have never gotten out of my head. side ofre on the other it, 10 years later, how do we still be seen or get seen -- whether for restoration of a culture or restoration of a broader notion of what new orleans is? lolis: thank you. wet is striking, when talk about the people who are come to katrina post-katrina has been tied to big companies who hired other big companies, and other big companies. there is a great story about how much money a company is being

.aid to put a roof on the house the story is the approach of american capitalism. that the big people should make all the decisions. we tout all these great things done in education. the first thing that happened post-katrina was the firing of all the teachers. there attempting to improve lives of these children by firing their mothers, their ts, they'reeir aun almost hear the concept that it is possible to have these pronouncements on high to help is part ofe download the problem. it is skewed. when maddie, you were nine katrina hit. looking at it now, what do you see?

that i willn say never own a house because i had to watch my parents move everything. i can say that i have been of voting age for more than one year, and i have not filled out my voter registration form because i don't trust politicians. voted, my parents they pay their taxes, and they still lost their home. i would say that a lot of people my age and older that went through the experience have the same feelings and beliefs. i can't tell you a way to fix it. i can say that the turnout at the bernie sanders event last month is a good indication that , inle are getting riled up terms of my generation in louisiana. at the same time, there is this

overwhelming anxiety of having been raised in that type of , of kind of just now processing it. the first days in new orleans after katrina, that was phenomenal, being a child. we cannot really process what was happening. the parents were picking up the aeces, leaving us with playground of abandoned houses and graveyards. now, looking at it from where we know what to do with this world and how to piece it together. i don't have an answer as to how we will do it now. gwen: that eventually kind of heartbreaking. let me break this down into three parts. i have done a lot of panels in

the last 10 years. the foremost expert and authority on new orleans despair , i want to say, this group i'm sitting up with, this is amazing , to sit with you guys. it is wonderful to be part of a -- whereh the the first time i wanted to listen more than i talk. you talk about the invisibility of it and how we get noticed. it comes down to this. to everyone who has katrina fatigue, and doesn't want to hear about it anymore, and dealing with these issues -- don't worry. after august 30, you won't hear .bout it again for 15 years

we are a country who fetishize s anniversaries. we are at 10 now. 15 doesn't mean anything. a gold watch. if you are tired of it, don't worry. i want to do one thing. not to counter what lolis said, but i want to speak from the bottom up. the only reason we are here on the stage, or any of us are here in this audience is due to people who are not in this room. it is not the corporations, and not government. ,t is the hundreds of thousands and maybe millions, i don't know -- but how many people we will theirknow, their names, church groups, their schools, their business groups -- whoever

were, who came down here, but slowed after buffalo, year after year to the state. rebuilte down here and houses. i don't know who the hell they are, by which we could buy them all up in the superdome someday and give them a freaking party. i is why we are here. we are not here because of the ,overnment dollars that help and the corporations helps, but this would not have happened .ithout our fellow citizens we will never know who came down here, not expecting anything. [applause] i would just argue that those people came when it was an anniversary, and they kept coming, and will keep coming

kind of makes the point that people do things for the right reasons and focus, even wendy spotlight goes away. tracy? how do we get noticed? we get loud. i evacuated as a single mom with jacked up car,a and american express, and a law degree. combination.wful that law degree meant i could court and fight anybody, and american express y when weould pa could pay it. you will will because you will get angry. you will buy a house, and you will say, i am tired of people resilient."m so

[applause] no. how do we do this? we can fight. i will be the one turning off the lights. anywhereis not going without me. i say to everyone else with the same spirit, wiki fighting -- we keep fighting. we demand our voice be heard we just demand it. i have a law degree. you can take it away from you. i will sue to be heard. i mean that. earlierhared the story -- i agree with you. you continue to fight. we fought so we could stay here in new orleans and not be displaced again.

we have a lot of immigrants who moved into our city. they also need to have a voice as well. we continue to fight to make sure there is language access for our people. the latinos who moved in and helped rebuild our city, they are not being heard right now. i is one of the things that we definitely want to address. the other thing, i'm so sick of people telling our narrative and our stories. even this entire week of katrina . i'm kind of sad that the people who have been affected and impact of the most are not at invited tos, or even be at these events. they are the ones who we are celebrating or commemorating -- there are so many people read made money off of them as well in the city. they are continuing to be

worthless. we have to continue to fight. we have to organize. we have to take over our own media. we have to change our narrative. that is the reason we are being pushed down. we haven't pushed away. right now, people are telling our stories. that is so sad. to deald that we have with that. for us, it is just, yes, we have to fight, we have to organize we have to work together to make sure our voices seeing her. -- oliver: we haves commun to be intentional about funding in targeting homeownership

communities that are of native people feared we have to create and engines.c hubs not just out of and beat french quarter. east hospital is a perfect example. we know we live in cancer alley. chronic illnesses. why not create a research facility that deals with chronic illnesses that are indigenous to this region. we should not just have one biomedical research center. a professor who i studied with his from new orleans. he talked about how to be create, not just resiliency, but take responsibility, and not just rely on politicians or so-called leaders. have a sense of ownership, even in terms of the problems you

have. in the book of isaiah, god says, i will do a new thing in you. we have to stop practicing insanity. maybe it is time to let the poor people, the children, the elderly, and the working class at the front of the line. gwen: well, we wanted to hear the voices of people who have lived here and done this. we also want to hear your voices. if you are not in the room, watching us by live stream or on c-span, feel free to tweet facebook, let us hear your voice. if you are in this room, you will find on your tables cards know new written, "to orleans is," and we can look at them as the day goes on.

thank you for this amazing panel. is marking the 10th anniversary of hurricane katrina all this week with special programming. tonight, we will show you scenes from new orleans one year after the storm. ured hurricane damage. here some of what you will see tonight. not really for us to say if it should be rebuilt or not rebuilt. i think it is reasonable to ask that we have a flood protection system that is going to work. when you see this, and just a few blocks of the road, that is holy cross with all that vacant housing. you would think, first thing's first. maybe get people to higher ground because that house cannot

be rebuilt. it's not possible. you can still smell the dec ath smell. you will notice it later. they can't go in there until they demolish it. when they tear down a house like that, they bring the dogs first. a typicalypical -- house with a would find a body still. , that is just a portion of what you will see tonight when we show you the entire tour of new orleans, when you're after the hurricane. houses followed by a hearing featuring testimony of new orleans residents to left the city or were trapped by the floodwaters. coming up tomorrow night, scenes from st. bernard parish, one .ear after the storm

that will be followed by a 2005 town hall meeting, moderated by then mayor. landrieuns mayor mitch city survived, and where it stands now. this was hosted by the atlantic in new orleans with cooperation from the urban institute. correspondentnal for the atlantic. to welcome-- i want you all. at the atlantic, i cover u.s. foreign policy and mitch landrieu is the other. at least, lately. i'm very glad that we have the man with us. with us.

he obviously needs no introduction. i want to jump into this conversation. since i have you on the couch, i thought i would ask you a shrink cluster. if you want to lie down, feel free to relax. i want to take you back 10 years , and talk about how you felt exactly 10 years ago. and tried to imagine this -- i am trying to imagine the spirit you allude to the governor, in helicopters, in both, you come to your city, 80% of it is underwater. people are dying at a tolerable levels predicted ever cross your mind that maybe no city too big, that could come back from this level of devastation? yor landrieu: no.

all of us, which is weird about this whole tragedy -- not only was it an institutional failure, we did not see ourselves being whatever we wear at the time. everybody in here got hurt. the first responders were hurt too. we all lost pretty much everything in some form or fashion. it literally never occurred to me that anything other than the city coming back would be eventually where we got. jeffrey: but you heard national politicians -- that is whatu: angered me the most. who in their mind thought that new orleans when it come back? , but my was worst

sense of what everyone else felt l no, we are coming back. the stupid comments that people made gave new orleans a better sense of purpose. we were like, hell no. jeffrey: thank you denny has to stert for motivating you. if, god for bid, the same exact type of storm hit the city next week, what would new orleans look like after that storm? first of all,: the country has a hard time understanding this, but we are .he veterans of lots of storms betsy was a big storm. camille was a big storm. the thing that the people new

orleans what the world to know is that this was not a natural disaster. this was a man-made disaster. [applause] what happened to new orleans happened because the levees broke. mississippi got the wind. they got what the kind of normal storm is. we got the water. it was an infrastructure failure . things that happen in your lives just like the discussion we had a minute ago about income inequality. there are things in this nation that have been going on for a long period of time. people new orleans wha want the country to know that now we are stronger. i love these are built to category three. levees are built to category three.

we think they should be billed to category five. nobody in their right mine would say that 100% guaranteed, no one would get hurt. that is what the resilience is -- rebuilding the coast, making sure the levees are strong, making sure the buildings we build our built the right way, and making sure our communities are resilient and strong so we can actually sustained bad things that we know will come our way. is anow, whether it terrorist attack, a hurricane, a heat wave that comes in, communities have to find a way to get stronger. katrina showed us that we were not as ready as we should be and we have a lot of work to do. a loty: you talk about gratitude. you want that it levees -- you levees.ter why has that not happen? money.andrieu:

that is the specific answer. and, the will of congress. the city, and the gold coast coastes -- gulf produces oil and gas. we are the tip of the spear of this country's national security. at energyh independence gives our country. katrina hit, and they said, man, something big is happening. that is to say, if you want this city to survive, you have to make sure to protect it. by protecting us, you are protecting america. that is why the investment is necessary. the levy system is better than it was before. it may, there is still a discussion going on that if you really want to get to a place where you can actually be a categoryld

five storm protection. that is a battle that is ongoing, and we have one, but you have to get to the other part. about theet's talk way the city has changed over the past 10 years. you heard this on the first panel. in many ways, it is a richer city. it is also a wider city -- white r city than it used to be. , whatre you going to do you want to do to bring back the population? mayor landrieu: first of all, i hope everyone comes home. i visited houston and atlanta because those are the two cities that are housing people from new orleans. this week is designed to do two

things. one is to remember our family members who we lost. terrible stories of personal we read in the paper. fathers letting the hands of their daughters go. .t will be hard to relive that ank everyone th and express attitude -- 32 cities received our people and made sure we got dry before we had a chance to come home, and in some instances have kept them. i think it is very important for us to spend a moment, instead of thinking about how far we have to go, just be think gopher being alive -- just being thankful for being alive. thing thatraculous the people new orleans have done. when you have had a near-death

experience, all you want to do is get back to the day before the bad thing happen. you wanted to go away. the people new orleans actually spent a minute i did something amazing by being honest. katrina and rita did not cause all of our problems. discussions we are having today are problems we had well before the storm, and issues that are thesening through presidential debate now. whether evidence by the tea party on the right, or the folds showing up. there is easiness around the country around income inequality. it is true that this city has changed, but it is still 60% african-american. it is a majority minority city. we have had an influx of hispanic brothers and sisters.

i'm single for them too. the caucasian population is about 32%. and then, other. vietnamese.ispanic, this has always been a diverse city. we have never seen ourselves in the terms of being white or black. people in new orleans are different because we always know and believe that diversity is a strength, and not a weakness. however, we still have the same sure the other cities have. we want to make sure everyone knows they are welcome and have a stake in this game, and make sure we don't sweep anything under the rug as far as the difficulties going forward. oliver thomas, who was up here, said that 52% of african-american men are not working. that is in an acceptable -- unacceptable number. if you ask the same question in

cities like oakland, baltimore, compton, the whole black lies ves matter movement is about what we can do in the city. what we're doing is helping rebuild institutions people cane opportunities to do better. that is why we are read in structuring the health care system in the education system, which is a source of some concern for some folks of people can have the opportunity to build foundations of wealth. let me say on this impress you a little bit. first, our mutual friend just sent one of the problems he diagnoses is we tend to judge the success of the city's comeback based on how rich the rich are getting. i want to ask if you agree with that. and to, let me stay on the issue on what you are doing to make

housing affordable so the african-american, mainly african-american populations have a way to get back here. >> one thing i noticed, and i watched the panel, and all of them have been passionate advocates for the city of new orleans and speak the truth. it was really interesting to listen to it. we have a sense. we are getting back to what was normal before. normal before was impatience for what is, hoping for what should be should get here bigger. it actually takes time to rebuild institutions that would human beings can take advantage of the institutions and then continue over generations to do better. these things are crisscrossing right now and creating dissension. argueot think anyone can the buildings are giving the children much better buildings

for the children to go into. there used to be stories about the bathrooms being not public school.e that whole thing is much better and much different. what has gone on his right now based on numbers producing high graduation rate. what was mentioned before, a very serious problems. there are all kinds of ramifications, and that is true. , if folks in the city can remember 1960 this city had 960,000 people in it. we were bigger than houston and atlanta. the population started going down. the storm down to 165,000 people. now we are the fastest growing city in america. cities have problems. some problems is shrinking. a shrinking tax base.

this is a problem to be worked through. growing.re now you are moving in. now some people are getting displaced. that is another kind of problem you have to work through. through rules and regulations whether we get tax incentives or not tax incentives, when we rebuild what used to be called housing projects, neighborhoods, thereia park, making sure are incentives in place for people to make the right decisions. inherent in that is some people moved in, some people move out. the city isdoing in trying to find a way to manage the conflict so everyone has an opportunity.

why is it the lower ninth. >> that is an excellent question. we have, the federal government and state government and local government have money coming in. we have 73 neighborhoods. you would not be surprised african-american who do not live in the ninth ward are wealthy people that live uptown or new orleans least -- he starts saying giving the ninth ward everything. everybody is saying give me my stuff now and make sure it is fair. really an equity argument. it is i want stuff in my neighborhood tomorrow. it is interesting from neighborhood from neighborhood universaliversal -- is get down flight fast.

blight fast. alle is to go neil, politics is local. does not matter if we take it down faster than anywhere, the one next to your house is not taken down, and you have not done anything. we have tried to manage the allocations by neighborhood and by need. , the poor getot hotter. when it gets poor, the poor get older. before the storm it was one of the poorest neighborhoods. we have spent $500 million in the lower ninth word when you add it all up. the lower ninth ward will say you do not give us as much as everybody else. they had much further to go. the damage is so significant it will take a lot more money to do it. i will remind you, because i feel like i am on the side of begging and demanding more. ofhave about $150 billion

damage in the city of new orleans. talking about us. we have about 71 billion in reimbursement. cap,you have that kind of not everybody gets everything all at the same time. i am committed to the ninth work but committed to every neighborhood in this city, too. there is middle nine, seventh ward. there is pension town. a lot of neighborhoods have to get up. when you don't have as much coming in as you need, is takes time to actually get it done. the ninth ward will eventually get back. >> he turned to a subject with and a lot of time talking about, which is violence. fromusly homicide is down the historic high level. but you are seeing in other cities you are seeing a spike in

homicides. cost themade this centerpiece of the administration. why is homicide going back up right now, given all the resources you seem to be throwing at the issue of violence in the neighborhood? this is an unacceptable state the victims are african-american men. this is true all across america. this is something we've been working on for a long time and said you could not police your way -- this is not a police officer so you can stop murder. it is a much bigger job. people into education, health care, jobs. it really is about whether or not to live of the young african-american men matter in the united states of america because this is a symptom of the

fact that we that really cared or focus and have lost our way in this country. so we have tried to develop a on way of approaching this the law enforcement side. the ride or die gang is named prosecuted in federal court responsible for killing a lot of folks on the streets of new orleans. we will see how that works out. we are going after gains because you have to stop them from hurting themselves and other people. there are people in this room who know a lot more than i do. arabian gales or losing young people who are victims that were not intended and young men themselves, this is something i do not feel the country can look away from. nobody knows. i think you saw, why is it happening all across the country at the same time?

if it was happening anywhere liens, our shootings are down this year. year when our murders were down, our shootings were up. last year we recorded the lowest number of murders since 1971 that the highest number of shootings. our murder is back up to where it was last year, not to wear was before. we are making headway, but nobody knows the answer body is the uptake happening in new orleans, baltimore, chicago, even in boston, which was leading the nation and effort. , someonehis country said it was not a federal response. security and securing our nation is a federal responsibility. i think we have less -- let this issue as a country many times needsd have not put the -- resources necessary to get the start, and i think if we focus on it we can make it happen.

you have to get on the front side of it. good parenting and parenting, enrichment programs in the afternoon. the light goes out with young about seven, 8:00 and nine years old. everybody that works in the community can see this. once the young kids get to this point, they see notes than self-help, future or anything and they start careening off to a place we do not want them to go. lex buried interesting answer. the one word i did not hear that .uch was the word gun your friend, the mayor of philadelphia says it is much easier to kill someone with a gun than without a gun. guns a largere piece of this? >> guns are a large piece of this. we were talking to guys serving life. you ask them, was it the gun?

three of the guys in the room said it was not the gun, it was me, it was my responsibility, and they said, but these kids today are much tougher. these young men can now rent a gun. you can get a gun anytime at any time, so it is a massive problem. the next question is a political problem, what can you do about it? the state legislature has said you cannot do anything about it. one of the challenges we have is how do you under someone's constitutional -- honor someone's constitutional right and at the same time protect folks that go i think they're a couple of things we can do. when sandy hook happened there was this big deal about ak-47s. most of the stuff happens with handguns. the horrific, mass killing

capping with a bigger gun. one thing the federal government can do is to have a direct action statute that allows them to prosecute people if they commit a felony with a gun. the federal government does not have that right now. they could change that. workedond thing and what and 1996 is 100,000 new police officers on the streets with federal resources. back in the day when we have the first decline, the city was receiving $6 million per year. ,hat work all over the country because this was introduced by senator biden and president clinton. that actually work. this allowed the police department to get into that tough neighborhoods, do the community policing, so that helped. caneemed to me even the nra agree we have good background guns out ofwe keep the hands of convicted felons, people having difficult issues

with mental illness. the country has to come to a standstill on that. unless and until congress changes their mind and allows the legislature to do things, we are somewhat stuck on the issue. i love my friend mike better. i do not necessarily agree with across the policy south is very different. i think we can honor second amendment rights within reason that reasonable limitations that most people agree with. we cannot legally get there because of the restrictions by the state legislature. this is notable to any outsider who flies into new orleans. you talk about beautiful, new buildings across new orleans. there is a beautiful new jail. just repeat that. [laughter]

talk to me about why, you cannot jail your way out, why is it there? [applause] landrieu: might want to ask someone else that. i will give you my thoughts. first of all, it is very important we secure the streets of new orleans and make it safe. there are bad people that for whatever reason will hurt themselves or other people, and you have to have enough law enforcement to do that, but 56 to 60% over budget is spent on the back and police officers, jail etc.. that jail -- i said katrina and rita did not cause all of our problems. this is a perennial fight between the seat i said and now into ever occupies the sheriff's office. that jail was declared

unconstitutional at the request thehe president's team at department of justice. we have to, if we're going to jail people, house them in a way that is consistent with constitutional rights. we had a weird system where in this city the sheriff gets to control the jail and the mayor has to pay for it. attenuation have an , whenever you have any system of government that is set up where one person can end the money and someone else is responsible, you are going to create attention that does not exist. that is about governing model. as it was said, in this country right now, one of the things we have gotten wrong is how to do in course duration and help returning citizens come back home in a very significant way. you know this. is recidivism rate

exponentially high. we jail more people in louisiana that i think we jail anywhere else in the world per capita, and it has not worked out well -- crimeur crime wave rate is terrible in new orleans, but it is really bad in shreveport. lake charles, lafayette, the in the state,rate it is a statewide problem and made -- nationwide as well. one of the things we have done is put people in jail and don't think about it. the department of correction goes from 200 million. enrichment programs etc.. everyone is like great, lock them up and throw away the key. now what people in new orleans, some folks on the other end of broad street want to build a bigger thing.

we can figure out we do not have to arrest everybody for everything like if clancy got pulled over and did not have his drivers license instead of taking him down to jail. we would give a summit. i know you would never -- would never drive without your license. can reduce the jail population. make sure we are spending less and on the front end and more on the back end. the backend. given fighting this in federal court. whenever you are under the thumb of a federal judge, they are fairly powerful and takes a while to work through those things. james: let me ask you one final thing, and it relates to the jail crisis, the incarceration issue. we went up to angola recently together. before we got there you told me you will bring me my knees.

the highways literally ends. a one-way highway from newark means. the highways literally ends in angola. there it is. 2100 residents are permanent residents now of angola. innovationstrina are you most pleased with in this city that is going to stop the pipeline? what are the specific things your administration has done that you think will cause the jail to be closed from disuse and what are the things that will reduce the population from people in new it iss from angola? >> not -- not just my administration. whether it is the city of new orleans or the city to which the mayor does not run, the health care system, which we do not control. the thing i am most proud of his level of cooperation between and

amongst the different entities. true thatrally nothing has happened in the city in the past 10 years without everybody having to participate in some form or fashion. nobody has everything we need. we cannot get anything done if we do not wrap our arms around each other. we are marching in the right direction. the institutional changes, even though there are concerns about the schools, that will get itself worked out. the image now is people believe every child not only has a right to a great education but it opportunity, and i do not think the school system is going back to what it was before, where we have 73-80% failing. now only 6% failing. our graduation rate before katrina was 50%. now it is like 75%, higher than the country. there is always a lot of elbowing is that going on for that is the single most

important thing we can do in the the educationsure system gets right. you can tell very early on. great work.ing partnering with the da and gang unit. finally, the one danger of the city is the further you get away from katrina and the further out you get and the further out of life and death situation, we will have a tendency to go back to the small little fights we had and lose the overarching arch. i told you this week was about commemorating and remembering,

thank you. this week for all the people in new orleans, and there are tons of events everyone in the city is invited to. this week did not happen by accident. we organized so we can start talking. a 300 anniversary, which is not too far away to think about how we as a community will keep the momentum of. one of the folks on the panel said how will we continue to be out in front? this week is out in front. three presidents of the united states coming back to see us. that is what is using this week to tell the story about where we have been, where we are and where we are on. about one president in particular coming on friday, president bush. mayor landrieu: i invited him.

i personally invited him because i think it is important as we think about how this works to get in an issue -- get to a place of healing and reconciliation. president bush was the president when this event ocher. everyone knows the initial president -- presidential response was slow and in adequate. we have gone through a couple of different mayors and governors. after the initial hiccup, we had to work together very closely. i think it is important to be entry thethoughtful dignity andth respect. no one in this room has been perfect. this was the united states of america. not us against them. republicans against democrats, all of them coming together and

owning on our jerseys. i think it is important for all of the people to take a moment to be grateful and thankful to anybody and anybody who called us, no matter how small or big. i invited president obama down. i'm thrilled all three of them have said we are so important to them and the rest of the world, not only in the past in the future that they will help us remember all of the folks we lost and help us get to where we want to get into thousand 18. [applause] -- 2018. razor hands. -- raise your hands. >> one very quick question. >> hey allison. i am allison flyer with the data center. there is a lot of work we have

all done. our more that needs to be done. i am not had a chance to talk about is connectivity to the suburbs and outlined area for jobs. training opportunities, increased awareness and the data shows there is a lot of great opportunities up river, and there will be more with coastal restoration projects. it seems like helping those connected to the jobs is a hurdle. one thing weu: never did before the storm is never really counted anything in the city. one thing we do now is not everything. it is hard to look in the mirror i yourself. yourself andt analyze yourself.

there are some things we saw we did not like. allison's team is the one that put the number on -- anybody wonder how many that is? 52%. 38,000 hundred human beings. is we're we are doing doing something called the pathway to prosperity. we're trying to find the men, the individuals. the different individuals. different neighborhoods. different parts of their life. some of them did not get through high school. some of them got a ged. some graduated, etc.. we are terrible about this in america, all over the country. biden ande president obama are trying to work on this is workforce development and training. not everybody is going to college. it is a great aspiration to

have. last year some of our kids went and got $75,000 scholarships to some of the best universities. a lot of our young men are not going to get there. this is what we have at least -- louisiana. the two medical ventures coming out of the ground. we are building $60 billion of lng plants. everyone knows, you know why we don't have transportation to and .rom on the issue of race that is changing genetically because there is a huge need to have folks who are working for them. what we are trying to do is connect these young men with the jobs that exist and create the pathway to them. the first and worst -- and most important pathway is not the best, but the training for the specific job. we are talking to all of the institutions around. to say you have people living in your shadow that should be

working in that building. there is no better example than the university medical center. if you go down orleans avenue, you are going to see the new housing development. individuals rolling up in the new housing, which is better than it was before should be able to walk down the street three blocks and walked into the medical center and do a whole plethora of jobs, depending on what their skill set is. something as simple as a phlebotomist, med tech, nurse, diagnostics, dr., the person that runs the place. my vision and hope and dream is that in a couple of years that pathway for be easy, seamless, and the people that live in the neighborhoods will be running those major institutions. that is what a beautiful new orleans would look like in a couple of years. but thank you very much for talking to us. [applause] saturday, august 29, marks

the 10th anniversary of hurricane katrina, one of the five deadliest storms in u.s. history. andght, see the tour recovery efforts. 9:30 hearing featuring the and word means citizens featuring before and after the storm. let's they told us they would get the seniors to help. they floated us up on these military trucks. then they declared the city of , orleans parish in jefferson parish of war zone, and it still did not sink in we were the prisoners of war. 8:00, theay night at tour damage. >> but it your whole life gone. but cement left. not only her house but your whole community. your friends, family, everyone

is on. a year later and you do not see anyone that you used to see. it is a horrible feeling. if you don't forget it. you will never forget the rest of your life. >> followed at 9:00 with 2009 town hall meeting in new orleans followed by the mayor ray nagin. levelte level, federal , i votedther levels for you to represent me on a local level. go.n't know where else to i don't know what else to do. text thursday night starting at 8:00, more from you new orleans conference from been few gate and dean mckay. at 9:00 president obama strip to

the region, as well as remarks on the recovery effort 10 years after the treatment. hurricane katrina anniversary coverage all this week on c-span. flex i am so thrilled and excited to be here. i am so thrilled and excited to be here. i hope the camera shows how huge the crowd is. and kathy said to all caps -- to often they are the exception. >> thank you all for coming. this is a wonderful event. it has inside heaven is a library. if that is the case, heaven has gone outside and we are in heaven at the national book festival. >> young people are not the leaders of tomorrow. i sent one time i am a youth leader for today. that was an article for the

electric trying to show we have this red-moved -- blue map. the political scientist for contact theory of the ideas the country itself is just wrong. people willl realize whatever they have done in life, is something that ought to be recorded and hast onto the next generation. that is the way we learn. from the future by trying to understand the past. all of us have a past. focused only only saipan. you did not talk about long. why did you do not? >> this is a great question that goes to the heart of almost all of the questions we have been talking about, and actually to the point. the real life there was no way we could tell the whole story.

a way we could be short of an encyclopedia were having the story reads like the telephone book. of course, the telephone book is not a story. >> i think all of the opportunities are open were women now. when i was in law school, i graduated 1967 with 13 women in my class of 500. today the law schools are 50/50. >> he never liked people that put profit above the public good. his view was the parts and wilderness areas belong to the american people. >> i made a career out of my book. i helped to found the texas book festival and the national book festival. i neverlove reading,

thought i would write a book, certainly not one about myself. the goal in some ways is a sense of urgency to go to the oldest people in our families and to find them and get the stories before it is too late. daughterd father and a in los angeles who both came together. after hearing the talks, the daughter said to the father, i am taking you to the copy shop now in telling the story. >> related to the health insurance role, that is going to be quite a change. said thether king universe spins slowly but spends toward justice. i think that was bending toward justice. you know what johnson would have said? he said it about the civil

rights bill. the important thing is to pass it. once you do, it is easy to go back and fix it. >> i tried to do that not only with outside figures you are familiar with, but also others who are less familiar and general teddy roosevelt junior. >> there is no big person to go back easily. i am bringing my guys at the same time and will write about leadership. that is really what i care about . thank you. >> c-span is going to have questions. c-span1 all -- will now answer.

>> president obama is on his way back to washington, d.c., today. mike noller tweeted out these pictures. he was there meeting with harry reid for a fundraiser. a picture of the president's limo as it prepares to help them get back here. joe biden is that the memorial for the late congressman but with stokes. several members of congress in cleveland for the first african-american to be elected to congress from ohio. he's just 30 years before retiring in 2012. he tweeted of the picture of the congressman and his younger days. he died in july at 90 years old. now education experts and teachers talk about a gallup whole examining attitudes toward cold. professional development for

teachers in demographic analysis . this is about one hour 15 minutes. [applause] >> thank you. good morning. can you guys hear me? sort of in i want to thank the government team, the partnership back 47had extends years and has resulted in the annual poll of the public attitude toward education, which in many ways, i have been in this job a couple of months and have always seen this as one of the best, impartial assessments of how people feel about schools. as i always say as a former recovering accountability guy and former superintendent, at best it is a question. my intent -- i will just keep

talking really loud. to answer questions. but i hope folks will do in your is thinkapacities about what other questions we -- shouldasked king be asking to get at the questions the poll raises. they are high-level, really interesting. the panel is will talk about it. we will do a q&a with analysts and -- with the audience. i do not know from survey data you can draw definitive conclusions. i would hope all of you in your various roles think about what else do we want to know about public education? what else do we want to know about how african-americans -- how african-american parents feel, democrats and republicans,

whatever it may be, because education is complex and there are no easy answers. before i moved into this life i want to make sure i acknowledge ,nd thank joan richard's and which not only is a great magazine, but joan has done such great work behind the scenes to get us to the point. thank you for all the work you have done to make sure you have the best publications that comes out all year. let me go into the data. i will share a bunch of slides with you. the panelll get appeared. they will comment, maybe even argue a little bit, i hope, and we will turn it all to you to ask questions. we have been doing this since 1969. to be a greatues opportunity to elevate the opinions of americans on how they feel toward public schools.

starting with the role of federal, state and local governments. interesteduch more in education being a local issue, particularly the state level. people do not want the fed mixed up much in schools. and they see the states as having a lot of responsibilities for pain. we all know state budget much more than federal education spending. even though policy limbs. people really want more local control the federal control. uptickas been a slight in a positive view of the president's education agenda, but only 37 percent of respondents give the president and a or b. only 9% grade him within a on the current education agenda.

are brokenslides down by demographic. i thought about doing all of them but that would be like a two-hour presentation. so i just pulled out a couple. please look on the website or look in here to see the different breakdowns by race. first time we have ever had its. in general, about a third of americans support the president's agenda. the biggest problem continues to be lack of financial support. interestingly, this has gone down slightly by about 10 points or so, which i wonder how it is related to the movement of the economy, even though we do not see it at the local level. certainly the public continues

to see it as a significant issue, even though it is less than the past. standards are certainly something that are on the radar screen but do not loom large as financial support. largesting issue looms for americans. interestingly, we ask is that too much emphasis on tests in the public school? 64% say there is too much emphasis on testing. it is going to be really important for us to break that down by demographics, and the website. i think demographic breakdowns are really interesting. i intend to post opportunities for further conversation about that during the year, because we cannot just say americans. we can say overall but african-americans, his and again americans -- different folks see the different issues differently.

using test for comparison, 24% it is verynts feel important to compare with other countries. 18% field tests are very important to compare with others will districts and other states. what is the value in using test socompare, interestingly much more of a global economy, people are tuned into what is going on around the world, increase the present. see some value in using test for comparison, but not that much. there is pretty significant opposition to using test to evaluate teachers. 65% oppose it. would like to ask a question, and i will not yet, but perhaps

next year we will. with that test -- would that change if we know -- if we changed it to student achievement. if you were to ask, should student achievement be included? how might that change? i think that will be an important question to ask. choosing school. parents like choice. this is america. 64% favor the option to choose within the community, regardless of where they live. people like choice. that has been pretty consistent. do nottingly, parents have enough information -- 46% say they do have information. certainly as an end -- superintendent we had pretty robust programs. it is interesting to see who has access to what information.

how are people making choices? do they know the choices exist yet so i think part of this data set is fascinating. there is a lot that needs to be probed on, particularly the way the choice is seen as someone all, structural policy solution. i think we need to probe further on the data. 94% of respondents say polity of teaching staff. 90 4%. 15% say student achievement on enterprise test. who is teaching, and 84% curriculum. what are they teaching? who is teaching and what are they teaching you to what will like it do every day if i choose to send them to a school across quality.94% it 4% say curriculum.

class size does not loom as large as one might expect. the quality of teaching looms large. has been in the education space for any amount of time those quality teaching is the most important thing to improve outcomes. support for charter schools. .0 percent favor charters there is opposition to vouchers. 67% oppose vouchers. people like choice. anyone know what i'm talking about that though i won't go there. 64% favor charters. 67% oppose vouchers. i think it is interesting giving the increased in the attention to vouchers around the country as certain politicians as a solution.

quality of teachers. when we ask people about how to improve quality of public schools, 95% they quality of teachers. this jibes with the research, with what we know works. 60 7% say expectations for what students should learn, who is teaching our kids, what are we teaching our kids. i am surprised more folks do not make the connection between the principles and quality teaching. when you go on the report or website, look at the differences between different demographic groups on this data set. we do see some differences. we did disaggregate this one. everyone -- this break that african-american responded.

quality of teachers looms large. this is just one example. i pulled out a couple of slides. note or 2% of african-american topondents say using test measure what students have learned is a very important factor in improving public schools. 19% overall. there is a difference there. i think we need to talk a lot more about that. student achievement standards. much split between folks who think standards are about right and are too low. 39% say standards are too low. 18% say they don't know. i wish that more people knew. a lot more to do in terms of communicating. 54% oppose common core. we know, the link between the

common core standards, which they are, versus whatever else they are, and have been interpreted, they are not being seen as the standard folks want their kids to be achieving necessarily. more people want higher standards, yet at the same time they oppose the common core. we clearly have had a communication issue around what common core actually is. assessing student process. when we asked people which of the following approaches would provide the most accurate picture of a public academic progress? examples of student work. what is my child doing every day ? what are they doing in the classroom? written observations by the teacher. in my mind, the teacher quality issue. we are not asking that question. what my child's teacher has to say. i know as a parent when i going

to parrot teacher conferences, the grades are important, but i am much more interested in what the teacher has to say about my kids. i'll is tell parents and teachers use a report card and test cards as a starting point. people see examples of student work and written observations by the teacher as more important than even grades or scores on the internet test. measuring the effectiveness of schools. if we ask people various factors to measure the effectiveness, engagement looms large. brandon could,. talk for a couple of hours about how important engagement is and the hope or the future, 77% of respondents. the science behind that is really compelling. kids should graduate with a sense of hope.

and kids should be engaged every day in class. people see that and respond to that. 14% say scores students receive on their device tests are most important factor in measuring in theectiveness community. there are demographic differences when you break that down. .e have to keep looking at that people do not necessarily see schools, test scores the same way. when we asked the used to measure the effectiveness of schools on standardized test, how important do you think each of the following is for measuring effectiveness in the community? 40 3% say somewhat important. 14% say very important to measure the effectiveness of schools. while it is not a factor in the improvement process, as an overall measure, test scores do play a role. we have to figure out a

way to talk about standardized test. standards, teacher quality not as an either/or. people see value in test. they see too much emphasis on them but does not mean we should simply do away with all tests. that is not what people are saying. there is value in them. this is african-american totals. note that in a previous 514% of overall respondents said this the standardized test measure the effectiveness of schools. 28% of african-american respondents feel that way. it is a difference. it is one that with the push upon a lot and understand. this has been a consistent finding for years. they think the nation's school as a whole are not that good.

certainly not a surprise. they like their own congressman or woman, not the rest of congress. the same thing. maybe i believe what is going on about all those other schools out there. in many the local issue ways, you can understand the dynamic. this has in one of the most consistent finding for years. grade thegly folks anyest grade higher than other great overall. i don't know why but interesting. introduce the esteemed panel. come up.our cue to i will introduce them as they come up. our first john clark grizzard, partner and vice president.

the ceo of chicago public schools, superintendent of rochester public schools, and principal of the high school in brooklyn when we first got to know each other. welcome. partner andck, policy at bellwether education. secretary and commissioner in new jersey and on this he born in maryland. stevens, former church, activist, progressive strategists and writer. only twice, national origin in the broader force for education and is part of the economic policy institute. thank you for joining us today. i am going to go down the line. their first ask them from perspective and experience to get a couple minute response to the data. two minutes each. they neither will then hopefully probing and insightful questions

to get a good discussion. what is your response and thoughts about the results that ? >> i also found most striking what you alluded to, while overall there continues to be very positive race on stu and perception of the public schools, those perceptions are very different depending on who muchsk, in particular, different along the ideological line. one that i would point to is 30 strongere is a majority with the public school, that is not true among black parents. black parents give their local school of very low rating. over half of the parents would give their public school a great letter of d or b. less than a quarter of black parents would. hispanic parents in the middle. i think sometimes the perception

is people just have different perceptions. my sense is they are looking at different schools and that is the reason. that is something i think this whole straw's out really well, as very sad reality, and that is this is the united states. we do not have a unified school system. we have thousands of individual school systems that look incredibly different from each other. very different by state defending on public policy. clinton states they look radically different and have a lot more districts and others. we do my county. very large districts versus new jersey. within districts they look different. the reality is what i see here is that as we know, wealthier cave, and tends to be the case white kids whether or not they

are poor or wealthy go to wealthier schools. they are seeing better schools, schools that have more resources , have more qualified teachers with the experience, extracurricular activities, more space, not to mention, they will not have broken windows and lack of toilet paper. toreas, black kids are going school, and in many cases poor black kids are going to in the school we would all rightfully described as shameful in the country that is wealthy. quick what is your take on the results?-- >> what is your take on the result? >> i had a lot of the same reaction. the other thing overall that struck me is the policy conversation, the conversation about more choice, ray standards ? all of these different things is very different from what people care about when they are talking about their own. the similarity in terms of

the people not saying anything about their congress and. except that most people do not tell you who their congressman is. most people are in their school every day. i trust what people are saying when they are in their own local school. what they are saying is from the media narrative. schools are bad and need better teachers. they say the number one problem is we don't have enough money. i think that is a really important thing to bring out, people haver again a different agenda from the everyday parents and ending their kids to school is to say we will not throw money at the problem, we have to talk about choice, more market incentive and more competition. people in those schools are like but there is a giant trash can collecting rainwater behind my student every day. throwing some money at that would be a really good idea. i think that is a really important thing to look at,

people perceive on the ground is probably the closest to the truth. whereas this narrative has a lot to do with -- that is my son. he has very strong feelings about this. things really do make a difference. i think that is something we need to pay more attention to and give people more credit to. those are things we see every day and need to give credit to and deal with. >> john kline, what is your take? n claud. when i think about how i feel, i look at the some of my experiences. just large systems, but as a parent and talking to parents of new yorkt parts state where i have lived long island, new york city, rochester, new york, and

watching what happens in different contexts in that state. the issue was no surprise whatsoever. watching what black people care about in actually push. groups well different published the rising drop in test scores every single year. half a point we celebrate in christ. main group could not care less about the six as stated above the neighborhood. is it a great? with a measure and look for is not what we publish too often. not a surpriseue at all. frankly you do not only see the game in the test. you have to be much more honest about the purpose of testing and why we do it. is not araphic surprise to me at all.

we used to be called hip-hop high. if you got the 95 on the physics region, it's a 95. --is the leverage they have seeing parents pushed that. -- this givesde many of them leverage in the system to say this isn't working. if i get the sat for all, which we are pushing in new york city, it gave me a tool in high schools of push on local