the brookings institution about the future of u.s. education policy. and we will take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. washington journal is next. ♪ host: it is the "washington journal" for april 7. the trump administration has placed sanctions on russian oligarchs and their business. according to the "new york times -- a is in response republican legislature is calling for the removal of epa head scott pruitt, plus over 60 democrats going for the administrator's removal.

outside of oklahoma, teachers continue their strikes next week in order to get more public funding for public education. even is a possibility of more teachers joining the effort. our next hour this morning, we want to get your thoughts on the teachers protesting across the united states and how effective you think they are in the andova improvement of funding teacher salary. give us your thoughts. (202) 748-8000 for those of you in eastern and central time zone s.irit o in the mountain and pacific time zones, (202) 748-8002. you can tweak us @cspanwj, and you can post on our facebook page, facebook.com/cspan. haswspaper out of oklahoma the latest story on the teacher strike expected to continue next week, talking about the fighting is currently going on in the

capital there. among otherthat things, the cooperative council said many administrators are anxious to get students back in class. testing deadlines are approaching. many districts will have to add makeup instructional days, and school support workers are in jeopardy of losing pay. "our legislators have approved nearly $500 million in new revenue to or public education. the entire country has had the chance to witness how teachers' amazing passion for students this week. we are hearing from many of our school administrators and teachers that they are ready to get students back in school soon. we are ready to work without teachers and educators statewide to shift our momentum toward electing more pro-education candidates and changing the course of future for students." continued investment and advocacy for students will be needed for years to come. "teachers, your stories have been heard at the capital and

across the nation. are the result of your fight for kids. i know your hearts are in the classroom. i am inspired by your years of dedication, humbled by your sacrifices, and proud." tax andnet sales made by the repeal of hotel and motel taxes. now they want the legislature to sh senate bill 1086, which is estimated to bring in the state coffers $70 million to $100 million each year by limiting capital and tax exemptions. teachers are protesting over salary for many of those involved in the protests. in fact some of the national education association, according to their research and estimates, salaryt the teachers' for 2015 at 2016, when it comes to average him is about $58,000 is what a teacher makes. live and work in new

york, it is about $79,000. mississippi, that is about $42,000 with a range in between. there is a chart that you can access online which gives you a breakdown state-by-state of what teachers make and their salaries. as you can see, those in oklahoma at the top of the list with those in california at the bottom. let's start with bill in jefferson township. good morning to you in pennsylvania. you are up first. tell us what you think about your teacher strikes. what job do you start with a two-month vacation? how long do you have to work for a regular employer? the teachers are spoiled, and the union is backing them. it is ridiculous. they are crucifying the taxpayers. the people that are paying for

citizens on social security that hardly can pay their houses that they live in. terribleof living are everywhere, the utiliti and everything, ande the taxes keep going up, new schools, taj mahals for teachers to work entered it is ridiculous. host: ok, let's go to michael in newark, new jersey. good morning. your next up. caller: good morning, pedro. thank you for c-span. i agree with the teachers' protest simply because if you compare the same education level, teachers are dramatically underpaid for the amount of education we need and for the amount of work we do. public three years in

accounting, and i took a $20,000 pay cut when i started teaching. if i teach for 10 more years, i still won't make the same amount of money i made as an accountant , and the impact that i am and onon my community the world in general i think is a lot greater now, but the money is just not going to be there. and the work is extremely difficult. you are basically -- you are responsible for educating your community, so it is a lot of responsibility. host: michael, tell me what has led you to change from the one profession to teaching. what led you to do that? caller: just looking for something more fulfilling, i guess, rather than being stuck in a cubicle my whole life. washington, d.c., by the way, we will show you some of the listings of what teachers make, according to reuters.

that caller from new jersey, elementary school teachers come , buterage, $66,000 a year when they make in the elementary school system. in the secondary school system, about $75,000 is what they make. again, statistics and information spyware -- information by reuters this morning. beverly is up next and washington, d.c. caller: i am calling in reference to the substitute teachers, who make $15 an hour. then they go to the unemployment office, and then they do not get ,he benefits for the summer unemployment, which really puts them at a disadvantage. they do get money for the summer, substitute teachers, but then they ask for the money back, $15 an hour. teachers,bstitute

much of the time the original teacher is not there, which inns the substitute is charge of the class community 20 or 30 students. their am trying to say is needs be more pay given to substitute teachers. they are treated unfairly curren. host: on twitter -- teachers contract to teach for a specific salary. they should be sued and fire cured another -- the hell with that. it's not "for the kids," teachers are entitled to a decent wage in their own right. reuters tells us if you teach in the state for michigan, elementary school teachers, you make of a $62,000 a year. our next call is from detroit, michigan. mrs. albert. go ahead. caller: first of all, where did

these teachers come from? i know schoolteachers, especially elderly schoolteachers. no one is making $60,000. are you kidding me? are you comparing it to principles'salaries and stuff? numbersese are just we're getting from reuters. caller: this should be right, man, it is kissing me off to die of not even a teacher. what is important in our country our kids and cops. if you want to support these -- these people work hard for their money. i have a sister who is also a herher, and she tells me classrooms are 40, 50 people a classroom. america, get it right. host: albert, the first caller we had this morning said it is the taxpayer who ultimately bears the burden. what you think about that? caller: if we can pay for the

president to fly back and forth to his home in florida, we can find money for these teachers. this is very important. host: both of those decisions are made at the state level and a local level as well. caller: stop voting for republicans. they do not care. host: let's go to ralph. ralph is in new york. go ahead. caller: good morning. thank you. in these issues, nobody looks at these pensions. i know a lot of the people are starting to retire. final pay5% of their for life, and that needs to add into their overall pay over their career as a teacher. thank you. host: women it, you're saying the pension system needs to be sayinged, or are you what it means for the state and locality to support that? this is mike. good morning. go ahead. caller: good morning.

interesting program. childrenwo to who are teachers. one israeli prounion, and the other is not come opted to get out of the union, because she the union sticking up for teachers who are less ambitious. she did not want them in the classroom. the teachers that are very have, very organized, and their labor representative, but because of the teachers union, and the state of wisconsin, everybody knows what happened with our governor, that, you know, got nationwide attention, but 11% of our working public are union, and most of those 11% or government employees. marketplace for

teachers in the larger marketplace -- i mean, there are less people going into teaching now because it was so lucrative for the amount of work that you everybody looks up to teachers. we all remember our best teachers. so it is just kind of interesting. i mean, i would look at a teacher going on strike out a nurse leaving a sickbed, you know, somebody in the hospital, using our kids for leverage to get more pay. so that is just -- host: mike, can i ask you a question? since you have teachers in your family, what goes through your mind, or maybe what have they expressed when you heard some sentiments about their pensions that they get in their time off during the summers that they get and those kinds of things? caller: for one thing, i am very proud of my children. i am very proud that they are doing worthwhile work, and i

reinforce that all the time. all three of them were summa cum laude with a name through college. just to let you know, they are hard-working young people. above average intelligence but not extra bright. i am just very proud of them. one of them i just said, what are you going to do? i happened to the auto industry, and i work at a car dealership that had some gm brands and also with honda, and what happened with my son was very upset when all the stuff was happening here in wisconsin, i just looked at him and said well, what are you going to do? he said what do you mean. i said what are you going to do. where are you going to go to get the pay that you get for that. and he said i do not want to leave teaching.

my response to him as well, then stop complaining and go to work. host: that is mike in wisconsin calling third for the next hour, we will take thoughts on the teacher protests you have seen across the united dates, get your thinking on them. for teachers out there, (202) 748-8000. for those of you in eastern and central time zones, (202) 748-8001. mountain and pacific time zones, (202) 748-8002. postal world come of paper out of oklahoma, featured an op-ed about a teacher in oklahoma, giving her thoughts, she says in part "what works, do you ask? teaching assistants work. with a teaching assistant in the work, i can ask the offending what person ever to take a seat so they canta continue to learn under the ta's steely gaze, or the ta can take

them out of the room and read the lesson and their textbooks without the benefit of production values, but also without disrupting the rest of the class. teachers, schools, and students need teaching assistants, and yet there is insufficient funding to hire enough of them, and those who are hired on a pittance." she as some people may question why teachers are .alking out host: again, that is found in the "tulsa world" website. let's go to florida.

this is tony. good morning. caller: good morning, pedro. more.rs deserve 10% or they must be more smarter than our politicians. because betsy devos, i mean, she is not smarter than a fifth grader, for god sakes. are you kidding me? host: back to the teacher protests, what do you think of the long-term effects, though, of schoolnts stay out and other support staff that work at a school that are not teachers? caller: well, that is the only way they are going to get a raise. look at the kids in florida. how many of these kids -- 17 massacred? they are going to change history. that is the only way -- to protest. host: let's hear from a teacher in michigan. this is jackie. good morning. caller: hi, pedro.

how are you doing? host: i am well, thank you. give us your thoughts. caller: i have been a teacher for almost 30 years, and one of the things that has really changed -- at least in michigan -- is that we are not allowed to strike any longer, for about the last 15 years. they have changed the laws, so between that and becoming a with lessork state and less power the unions have to help us with pay and supplies for schools and safety and all that, things have really changed dramatically, unfortunately, and pay has gone down and down and down for the new teachers. for those of us who are going to retire, it is ok, but it is really different now. i have a daughter who is also a teacher who is younger, and it

is just a lot different. what i can say about striking is that, although the children will suffer for a little bit of time, they will not suffer ultimately if teachers are not respected. host: when you hear the teachers make their case for more education, give us your perspective. how long of a day is it for you being a teacher? when it comes to your own personal resources, do you pour those into what you need to help you do your job? great: o my gosh, question. levels areonal usually with a masters degree or more, at least in the state of michigan. also, as far as our budget, i have not had a budget in more than 15 years, so we have to put our own money into our resources.

my daughter also has to do the same thing, so i have spent thousands. i know that is going to sa sound crazy, but i have spent thousands of my own money yearly just about the things that i want my students to have. host: such as what? such as books, posters, magazines, equipment, the list goes on and on and on. you know, art supplies. everything you can think of. you need,-- whatever we just do not have it. we just do not have it. and i am happy to do it, i mean, teachers are happy to do it, but at some point, our backs are going to break. host: that is a jackie, a teacher in michigan, on theher thoughts

teacher strikes. in some cases, teachers are limited in doing so. governing magazine takes a look at that topic. weak labor laws actually spur more strikes. study says there's no evidence that collective bargaining has an measurable effect on teachers' salaries or on funding, and that is because so many of the states that have enacted these laws -- 19 of 33 -- also made strikingly illegal and subject to penalties, such as taking two days away of pay for every day of strike. strike,the ability to

unions lose their leverage and collective-bargaining negotiations. andy is next in seminole, florida. go ahead. you are on. in florida, which is a right to work state, there israel little protection, it is very antiunion. the atmosphere down here as a programmer, we have very little protections. hope that the teachers can stick it out. i am with you. we remember the 70's when we were going through high school, and we had great teachers to help you make it through school. i ensure they are outstanding teachers. one of my coworkers is a teacher in public schools, and i know she has had a hard time with it. i just really want to get through this for them, despite all of the trials that they went

through, some of the real negative situations. in the public schools especially, you guys are doing a great job. i back you up 100%. i know that the parents do not want to put their children into public schools, because they have misconceptions. they do not want to do their children,ork with necessarily, or they don't have the time to come of do not have the education to. it is an investment working with children and the teachers and the whole class methods. anti-in, that is florida. american joe responded to that op-ed i just read yo. saying "your school cannot afford assisted staff because you have greedily demanded all be given to you in salary and

benefits and pension costs." another -- "it is terrible that they have to resort to this. every adult whose job is to make change, buildings, or loss of how teachers and would not be where they are now without the influence of teachers. they have to earn master's degrees." this is jed. caller: my point is basically -- when do we as a country stop and say you know what, no, we are to have to prioritize our education? we are going to have to actually spend money to make sure education is not on the edge of the cliff like it is now? we need to stop cutting education of building a private school across the street, competing with the public school, which is already in bad shape. you need to be paying these teachers the proper salary and hold them to the assum seemed

that they are held worldwide, up there with doctors and whatever point that we hold whatever else of this country. here is a question to all the listeners out there -- if we take one carrier battle groups, which we have a think 12 or 13 now, in part one of them -- one of them -- for about a month out of the year, you can find every educational department at every level in every way possible for free for everybody. that is about priorities. have a great day. thank you. host: ja is a teacher in arlington, virginiay. is about teachers possibly organizing to protest and strike over pay issues. response of the john gabriel, an opinion contributor, this is the headline "tired of low teacher

pay? blame arizona districts, not struggling taxpayers." he says "the protesters should remember that taxpayers are also struggling and have been for a long time. strikes to not harm politicians but rather schoolchildren and strapped parents. before demanding more of paychecks these are come our education community should reallocate dollars they already spend." john gabriel is the author. alexandria, virginia. this is andrew. good morning. caller: good morning,

pedro. i'm not a teacher, but i have family members who are, and i worked in my county's education administration for three years. i strongly support the teachers. just examples i know of, the teachers who have to work waitressing jobs in the summer just to make ends meet. teachers have to deal with so many that kids, you know, large classroom sizes just to do their job. they can't really teach. they are almost like babysitting sometimes. i also think it is horrible when we have the state and local governments, like in wisconsin a few years ago, cutting teacher pay and benefits, but then they are giving, you know, millions to these sports team owners that are millionaires and billionaires. so again, i strongly support the teachers. host: a teacher in canyon,

texas. we will hear next from barb. good morning to you. caller: good morning. asupported teachers, and i'm 20-year teacher vet, who is now making a little money -- not much -- going around helping areas where they cannot afford to pay a teacher for so that these kids can compete for scholarships. my complaint is, as i watch buses -- we are paying all of these moneys for blessings and bussing and things that were made for segregation, when if parents would step up and get his where they need to go, we would not be in quite a mess we are. 100homa, just less than miles from where i live -- i imagine the parents a look, we already pay for taxes to pay for these kinds of systems. why demand more of us? caller: it is not that, it is

that if you in the classroom, everything has become about a a big dani am not rather fan, but he said years ago that only in america are we paying what people don't want. we have heard already this morning about the complaints of behaviors, etc. going a big homeschooling with the, you know, because this is pretty much the bible belt, and there is a lot of good in that because all of the things these teachers are having to put up with our a lot because we do not have parents parenting. nevermind the tax dollar. host: that is barb giving her perspective. twitter -- "after taxes, dues, and pension, that is not a lot to live on and supply their classrooms." eric manning says "we are doing this for the kids --

translation, they are doing it for the money." you can post on our facebook page at facebook.com/cspan. let's hear from dan and jackson heights, new york. hello. caller: hi. i think the real problem is pedagogy. what are the schools producing? you compare the european system with the american system, in europe, the educational product is much more potential playing ament and proper role in the society of a child. if you look at early education in this country, it is custodial. it is not really educational. as teachers ask for more money, aey should do it first as union or a professional association, the way doctors do. interest of the

client, and the interest of the client by american education is not served, because obviously we have a lot of clients who just do not fit in everywhere, who are not up to the task of the jobs that they get, who are not up to the demand that we need. settings not a social where social workers replace the parents. if it is going to be that way, schools to show special that are that way, but if it is not going to be that way, it is going to be in rolling the parents in all of the schools. it has to be clear over which has a lot of responsibility, and the school is there to prepare skills an early age with that are not genetically leaning in the developmental stage appropriate. host: that is dan in new york.

we will show you other stories. we have a half hour of getting your thoughts on teacher protests. same for thee other half hour. this is the "star advertiser" newspaper out of honolulu, highlighting the death of former who diedaniel akaka, at the age of 93.

host: again, that is senator daniel akaka, dining at the age of 93. that is a shot of the u.s. capitol. about continuing to talk statewide issues, particularly teacher protests across the united states. louisiana is next. that is where dorothy is. good morning, dorothy. caller: good morning. how are you doing this morning? host: i am well. caller: please give me a minute. i live in a small town. i am on the teachers at 100%. here,ed in a cafeteria and i looked and i see what is going on when they come in there. we have a system set appear with her principal where the kids that have fallen behind after lunch, he has them sit in there and have the teachers in there to help them with their work, so class they areer

failing in. if that is not dedication, i do not know what dedication is cured all of these people complaining about the teachers, complaining about the parents -- teacher?you blame a these teachers are taking money out of their pockets. i know how much the parents have schools to help to fly the kids. it should not be that way. if we can pay for our president to go to florida every other weekend to play golf, millions of dollars -- take that money and use it only schools to help these people. teachers can strike until you need to. host: we will go to karen in wilmington, delaware. hi. caller: hello. good morning. i am with the teachers 100%. i no longer have a child in school. my child went to catholic school from kindergarten through 12th grade, but i will tell you i support public education.

education is the foundation of this country. wise to you think we are having a trade war? these children cannot read, cannot write, cannot do simple, basic everyday skills. if we do not educate these children, our country is going to tank. we need this. they do not have a labor skills. labor in other countries, they all have the skills, because those countries have committed to education. i don't understand, like the gentleman from new york is absolutely right. teachers should not be babysitters. it is not a teacher's job to teach your child manners. if you're going to have that child, that is your responsibility as a parent. not the teacher's. host: all right, that is karen in delaware. if you are on the line, stay on the line. give your thoughts this morning. if you are calling in, please

continue to do so. we have been focusing a lot on what has been going on in oklahoma. we want to focus also on efforts in kentucky on these issues. erining us is daniel deros of the "lexington herald leader," the as their political leader. thank you for joining us. can you give us a snapshot regarding the strikes and the teacher walkout in kentucky? and the teacher walkout in kentucky? guest: two weeks ago, the through a rushed pension bill that everybody had kind of assumed had died, and they passed it list than eight hours later. that really riled teachers up. it got them fired up. they were already on guard about this tension dilemma, because the original proposal had cuts to retired teachers and had cuts to current teachers, and so they

have been rallying, protesting, even though the new bill really does not make any changes to retired teachers and barely makes any changes for current teachers, it really does affect future teachers, so teachers around the state are concerned about the state of the profession. there is concerned about new teachers coming in and whether or not kentucky will be able to new teachers, so they have been rallying and trying to whip up support. is "westant rallying cry will remember in november," and that is kind of where they are at right now. these bills have artie past, so they are looking toward the november elections to see what kind of actions they will take. give us a sense of the financial obligation kentucky will have when it comes to teacher pensions. now, there is a major unfunded liability in kentucky. we are probably one of the worst funded pension systems in the country, so the republican legislature has had to dedicate

resources to paying off that unfunded liability. $3they have set aside around billion in this budget, and a lot of that goes to teachers' pensions come and they finally for the first time in a long time fully funded the teachers' pension system. before that, they were doing their minimum funding, and it was not enough to sustain the system. now they have looked at the numbers and are putting forward the money that they need to put forward. that is a good thing for teachers. teachers appreciate that. rally andhe constant cry was "find finding first." that is what they were hoping the legislature would do, and they were hoping the legislature would find alternate revenue sources to pay for the unfunded pension system rather than cutting the pension system as it stands. while the legislature did try to find revenue in the budget, they did it through conservative tax cuts/increases. they cut the income tax while

raising the sales tax on some services. that was not exactly what the teachers were talking about when they talked about finding revenue. [laughs] host: what are the teacher specifically looking for? guest: they wanted to see marijuana legalized and taxed. they wanted to see casino gambling, and they wanted to see cuts to some tax loopholes. while freezing taxes on services is technically a cut on loopholes, there are other loopholes that are kind of bigger, a little less controversial than making you pay a tax when you go to get your car repaired that they were hoping the legislature would go after. host: you wrote "when it comes to future teachers that they're going to have to work longer, because before becoming eligible for retirement benefits."give us a snapshot for those future teachers. host: right now, teachers can retire after 30 years of service. right now it is the rule of 87. if your years of service that

you work and your age after the years of 57 add up to 87, you can retire. they can work until they are signified or at least have 30 years of service. they will have to work a little bit longer. the bigger change i think for future teachers anything that is concerning people is the fact that they moved from a pension plan to a hybrid cash balance plan. while they are guaranteed not to lose money in their retirement savings, they are also not guaranteed to have a constant paycheck coming in in the future. it also eliminates the and viable contract for future teachers. that contract is what protected current andfor retired teachers created by eliminating that commitment that means the legislature can come back in future sessions, and they can cut the benefits of these teachers have. host: for all that is going on, when it comes to what teachers are looking for and the activity

and the walkout, have students been disrupted as far as their education is concerned? guest: most of the state was on spring break this week, and that's when the big rally was. the big rally was on monday. but there were some school districts where the teachers did a sick-in, where they all called in sick to protest. they did so as well on friday, the day after the pension bill passed. the students have not been affected in that regard. the reason they are doing a sick-in is because the only change made for current teachers is there sick days will not be able to be applied toward the retirement anymore. that was a benefit that teachers got, and they are taking that away. so students have been affected lightly in some school districts. it has not been every school district. there has not been a statewide student impact in the same way as, say, west virginia, where the teachers were on strike for so long. host: "lexington herald-leader" reporter daniel desrochers.

if you want to i know more about his writing, that is kentucky.com, the website, if you want to look at it. thank you for your time this morning. guest: thank you for having me. host: back to your calls, we will hear next from joe, and deacon, new york, a teacher. go ahead. caller: how are you this morning? host: fine, thank you. caller: thank you for doing this topic. i have been a teacher for, going into my 16th year, in new york. i think it is great that these teachers across the country are finally drawing attention to this problem of parity. we do not have parity across the country when it comes to salaries and other benefits. and the requirements are still the same. we have to have masters degrees, you have to be highly qualified in areas to effectively teach, but yet in many places across the country, people have the

same health insurance. they do not get paid a wage that is up with the standard of living. this is a tremendous problem when you want high-quality teachers. it also sends a message that, you know, education is not really a high priority. in other countries, teachers are up there with some of the top professions -- doctors, lawyers, etc. so i think it is great that people are getting out and drawing attention to this problem. host: james is next in ohio. james, good morning. go ahead. caller: good morning, sir. i am from fairfax, not ohio. my comment was that i have noticed throughout the years that a lot of public employees

-- teachers, especially in this area, have had a lot of problems finding livable places. i have noticed that there has been a sort of disconnect where we do not look at the rest of the taxes and really how they are living. the truth is that -- what has in terms ofteachers their cost is mostly the educational requirement. after getting a masters degree, one is left with a lot of debt. that was not really true with the last generation of teachers, but this generation coming up and going into the system now, they really cannot afford to do the work. that is why you see a lot of people move out here. host: this is a teacher in dayton, wyoming. jerry. go ahead. you are next. retiredyes, i am a schoolteacher. it is hard for me to believe

that some of the same situations that i faced when i taught school still exist. i remember as a high school history teacher, i had a history book that was literally falling poor history was a book, and i actually had to hire money towith my own copy a fine textbook that i found that was up-to-date that i handed out sheets to the kids. it was not at all unusual for me as a teacher where i taught two spent $1000, $2000 a year on supplies for my students. and i also was single at the time, and i was living from paycheck to paycheck. i think some of that has improved, but it amazes me that

today, throughout the united states, that we still have a situation where education is so underfunded. host: ok, that is jerry, a teacher giving his thoughts this morning. abrupt resignation in congress as of yesterday. corpus christi republican blake farenthold. resigned from friday afternoon, less than four months after dropping reelection plans under siege for crude and verbally abusive behavior. he made no apologies from using $84,000 in taxpayer funds to settle a sexual harassment suit. he had promised to repay those funds four months ago and has not done so. the former conservative radio host and four term lawmaker said in december that he had "no idea how to run a congressional

office when he got elected, and as a result, "i allowed a workplace culture to take root in my office that was too permissive and decidedly unprofessional. it accommodated destructive comep, offhand comments off-color jokes, and behavior that in general was less than professional." to say thates on farenthold acknowledgment that he engaged in lewd conversations with staff, tolerated such talk assisting --s, aides, insisting that lauren green, his accuser, had been fired for poor performance. sheila, a teacher in oklahoma. hello. caller: hello. thank you for taking my call. our school has been on a strike for a week, and i do not know if we go back monday or not.

our school board and others across the street agree that nothing would be held against us for striking, and the difference this time on this walk out and all, our superintendent support of it because of the cuts that they have had in the school. we cannot afford textbooks, and, you know, and our textbooks now are to the point where they are so old you cannot even get replacement copies. so they are having to run copies and everything. it is that way across the state. host: can i ask you a couple of questions? your governor has signed legislation that did give local funding, but teachers are still looking for more. what do you think about that? caller: well, it is not going to make up for what they have lost. i think changes need to be done. a lot of times they put the

money just into the general fund instead of targeting it like ok, this money needs to be for textbooks, so teachers do not have money, so we will not go for textbooks. there needs to be changes i think in oklahoma to the education system. and i think we need to have major change all over in the united states maybe or at least in oklahoma. we have students that would just as soon not be there. we have paltry education, and i think they need to go european-based where they say ok, you are going to go to the system and get skills. there is no reason to keep them there if they do not want to learn and they want to be disruptive. host: you said you got the support of your superintendent, but have you heard from parents particularly on both sides? i am interested in it only because since their kids are out of school, are you hearing from concerned parents about putting their kids back in school? caller: i think they would love for them to come back, but they have a bus that has been taking

us up to the capital so we did not have to drive. they have parents lining the streets. they were on the streets supporting us, so they are, the parents are supporting us. there are some schools where they do not even have band anymore. thatn, kids that want outlet needs that. i do not know what the answer is. i am kind of thinking, though, taxes have of our moved south, so we do not have the taxpayers like we used to have come a we do not have the money coming in like we used to have. host: i am sure you have heard from taxpayers, maybe on the other side of this, who i like the fact that in some cases, teaching is not an eight hour off, youeast hours have summers off, you have the pension, how do you hear about that? caller: i have a son who feels about that. they get paid for a 12-month period, and they only work nine months, but that money is spread

out over 12 months. , think that is their opinion but come you know, teachers work hard. and i spend money out of my own pocket, and teachers do too. you will always have those people that say that, but we are not out nine months. i think we are in there more than what they think. host: how long, realistically, are you ready to hold out in this effort, and how long do you think you got before some results are going to be met? caller: i am hoping we go back monday. i think the point has been made. they have made some movement and all. other bigeven the point is they have some people now that are running against these people that are up for reelection in november. i think it comes up to where we vote again for state representatives. they have people now to run against him that would have never run before if this has not happened.

and our legislature has not done anything, so they have known the problems. we have talked about the problems, and it is not until they -- it is forced upon them because no action was done. they could have been doing something all along, and it never would have come to this. so i am glad that we have some people that are going to run. i think the point has been made. i think they know it. i don't know how long others will strike. was still not going to go, so we have schools not going, but we have to make those days of. go back.y to i think the point has been made. host: that is sheila, a teacher from oklahoma, giving the direct perspective from any of those teachers that you have heard about over the last couple of stagingt of oklahoma, these protests and efforts to get better pay and working conditions. some of the photos that are resulting from these efforts. we will show you those as we continue on for the rest of this

our, the couple minutes we have. let's go to tennessee. you are next up. caller: yes, i was just calling -- i am 82 years old, and i got tax from the county, and they are charging me, out of $2000, for are charging $700 students and $600 for school buses, and i am on a fixed income for 25 years. i get a little raise from the government, social security, but they get it back before the end of the year is out. and i am for teachers. teachnot have a chance to kids in schools, but i had a chance to take them in baseball and football. you have got to have people to teach other people. host: ok, this is kevin in

marshall, texas. kevin is a teacher. hi. caller: thank you. hi, pedro. yes, i do teach, so i am kind of submitting to the teachers, and i know they are underpaid. i have had my teachers license for 25 years, but i've only been teaching five years. because i really could not afford to, you know. pension,unate i get a so i can afford to go teach. and i love teaching. i think what we are overlooking , i was first teaching a public school, now i am teaching at a charter school, and the difference has been so much better as a teacher. i am feeling a lot less pressure. what i noticed is he constitution. i mean, -- we need competition. i mean, the salary is one issue.

teachers are underpaid. i know it is. it is the hardest job you'll ever have. but it is without competition, you are not going to see innovation. a lot of teachers -- they will say we cannot even afford textbooks. a lota lot of loss or of states will pass laws, texas, for example, where you have to spend so much money on textbooks. ! it is the internet age we shouldnot be buying any textbooks, for crying out loud . fact, a couple of years back, texas had an issue of storing textbooks because they were running out of space because everyone is going on the internet. i mean, there is no competition. you're not going to see innovation. and of course the teachers unions -- they are going to fight any kind of competition. they are trying to get rid of public schools. and then new teachers are going to have to pay the price for that. you know, we could make more money, but you're are going to

have to spend less in other areas, like textbooks, like administrators. we are spending on who can pass the test. host: that is kevin marshall, texas, giving us perspective as a teacher. the "los angeles times" highlighting the president ordering national guard troops to the border. nevada and oregon declining. this is from the associated press, saying when it comes to arizona and texas, they announced friday they were preparing to deploy national guard members. 150 cardmembers will deploy next week. umbrella agency said on its twitter account it would hold a friday night news conference in preparation. the president told reporters thursday that he wants to sit between 2000 and 4000 national guard members to the border to help fight illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

that would be fewer than the roughly 6000 national guard members that president george w. bush since in 2006 during another war to secure the operation, but more than the 1200 guard members president obama sent in 2010. in north dakota, the gop governor said if he is asked him he will contribute guard members. brian sandoval, also republican, said one of the latest to oppose the plan, said he does not believe the mission would be "inappropriate use of the nevada national guard." mike is an harris, pennsylvania. good morning to you. go ahead. caller: i do not know where to start. the republicans passed a gigantic tax cut for the uber rich, increased the defense budget by $700 billion when we already spend 10 times more than any other country in the world, but we can never seen to come up

with a couple bucks to help school district and fund education in this country. the only way it will ever change is people stop electing these anti-education republicans in offices across the country and whopeople in there actually understand the importance of education in this country. host: we have had a few calls this morning saying on the local level, you know, they have seen increases in taxes, and the tax burden on them in order to fund these education efforts. caller: right, well we are funding tax breaks for billionaires and increasing the defense bill by $700 billion. host: that is on the national level. i am speaking on the state and local level, since both of the ones that primarily make the decisions on these things. caller: the federal government

can increase aids and grants to school district's anytime they want, anywhere in the country, but they are not interested. we have a secretary of education who does not even believe in the public. him and has no experience and education herself. that is really helpful. host: let's go to david in oak ridge, tennessee. good morning. i want to make two points. the education system does it if it is working well, encourages people to fulfill the middle-class jobs that make the country run. you do not have an educated population, what were you do -- what are you going to do? you will have a lot of ditch diggers. the educated people do the honest work that make the system run. that is .1. -- point one.

point two is education has been to raisingg stone your place in society to your you go to school, work hard, you learn things, you go to college and get some kind of degree, and then you make it into the middle class. so that is the historical role of education in the united states. see that education in anng hollowed out the ways way to infrastructure is being holiday out. you drive on the roads, and the freeways have potholes. it is crazy. ok, david in tennessee. by the way, education secretary betsy devos was in dallas to visit schools and was asked by the teacher strikes. the "dallas morning news" reported she was saying as this

-- "i think about the kids. i think we need to stay focused on what is right for kids, and i would keep adult disagreements and disputes in a separate place, and serve the students on this topic across united states by teachers. indianapolis. caller: they should not complain about teacher salary when they nba paying kids to pay sports. $35,000 for six months to play a game. they do not want to pay the teachers. they are dealing with all types of chaotic situations in their schools. they are providing a great service. like the military they provide a great service. it is a service job and it produces. we ought to pay the teachers.

congress gets to retire in 10 years. we we have spaced that. they can't get anything done. host: last call on this topic. we will continue on the larger topic of education policy and two guests joining us. frederick hess will join us and michael hansen on a wide variety of topics when it comes to education policy. we will pick up the discussion when washington journal continues. ♪ >> this weekend on c-span, tonight at 8:30 eastern, the

50th anniversary of 60 minutes. sunday at 9:30 p.m. eastern, hillary clinton at rutgers university institute of politics. on book tv on c-span2, today at 1:45 p.m., the national black writers conference admitted or evers college in brooklyn. sunday at 1:00 p.m., yale talk aboutmy chua, her book on tribalism in america. on american history tv on c-span33, today at 10:00 a.m., the 50th anniversary of the assassination of dr. martin luther king jr.. sunday at five: 10:00 p.m., walter star talked about edwin stanton, president lincoln's assassination and the aftermath. this weekend on the c-span network. sunday on c-span's q&a, physicist and author mean she'll

talks -- michio kaku about the future of humanity. >> the norm for mother nature is extension. you will see the bones of the 99.9% that no longer walk the surface of the earth. we are different. we have self-awareness. we can see the future. we plot and scheme and plan. perhaps we will evade this conundrum. maybe survive, but we need an insurance policy. that is where this book is different from other books. the other books talk about the steps, but what is the goal? >> q&a sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span. sunday on 1968: america in turmoil, liberal politics. we look back to lbj's great society.

and liberal activist redefining the role of the federal government and challenging traditional values. our guests are kathleen kennedy townsend, former lieutenant governor of maryland, and michael:, author of "that's collin.co -- michael turmoil"68: america in on c-span. and on american history tv on c-span3. >> washington journal continues. host: for the next hour our conversation about education due toin the u.s., and the trump administration. michael hansen is with the brookings institution. by frederick hess of the american enterprise institute of the american ed