education. it is the key to success in american life. everybody knows that. but after decades of reform and counte orms according to the education department. since 1980 we spent trillion dollars on federal schools. ing e department since 1980 pent more than a trillion million dollars on u.s. schools yet the u.s. still doesn't make the top ten for literacy. fox news reporting dove into the world of textbooks, asking if you know what your children were really reading. we bring you a snapshot of american education and tell you what is going on in schools like this one. what is being tried and what is

being scrapped and what the final grade is likely to be. america's ultimate natural resource is its children. when it comes to education, from the elementary level to college, this nation finds itself at a turning point. we know the countries today will outcompete us tomorrow. >> we are all being intimidated and all being put through hell. >> this flash to remain here to be held accountable for what happens. >> i spent 130 or something for my french book but when i sold the book i only got $40. >> we can just pretend this is white america and hispanic -- >> we have to concentrate on students here, not on the bureaucracy. >> we want results! we want results.

>> in the end the future of our country depends upon education. >> the goal of this administration to ensure that every child has access to a complete and competitive education. >> over the past 30 years, president after president has labeled education one of the most important tools for this country's survival. >> all this money, billions of dollars gone into improving public schools and it seems like that has been for naut. why? >> it represents the communities responsibility to educate its children. >> what makes public education difficult in this country is that we have a popular culture that is deeply antieducational and many parents who don't take responsibility for their children and many student who don't have motivation. >> there is motivation in the lonestar state.

battleground texas, round two. in 2009, fox news reporting covered the state board of education heated debate over science standards and how to teach evolution. >> i disagree with these experts. somebody has got to stand up to experts. >> this year, board members are back in austin, butting heads once again, this time over who and what should be included in the state's social studies standards. >> i'm about to lose it. >> i cannot support this motion. >> this is ridiculous y'all. >> as one of the two largest buyers of textbooks what texas ultimately decides impacts schools across the country and the three largest publishers in this $9.5 billion industry have once again declined our interview requests. more on this clash a little later. from 1985 to 2009, the student population of public elementary and high schools rose from 39 million to 50 million.

and that pool is estimated to grow another 9% by 2017. there is some good news about handling this growing number, though, for kindergarten through 12th braid the average public school teacher abouts salary is now a respectable $51,000. overall ratio of teacher to pupils of one to 16. the bad news -- >> we have one of the highest high school dropout rates of any industrialized nation. >> why after years of people thinking about how to keep kids in school do we have the drop yachdropout rates? >> the country has been slow to look into the marketplace and the economy. our dropout rate approaches 30% nationally. we lose about 1.2 million students each year to the streets. it is a staggering number. so me that is economically unsustainable and moral ally

unacceptable. what chance do they have to be contributing numbers to society? >> no child left behind set out to change the landscape by expanding federal funding and awarding achievement through standards based assessment. >> the new role of the federal government is to set high standards, provide resources, hold people accountable and liberate school districts to meet the standards. >> the federal legislation basically said what the states had to do but there was a fair amount of flexibility that the states had because each developed their own standards. the problem was that there was wide variation among the different states with respect to the rigor of the assessments and focused on the required state tests and the results that students showed on those tests. and then sanctions can be taken

in if those targets had not been reach. >> that doesn't necessarily to work to our benefit in a state like, alaska. we're very big on vo-tech curriculum and making sure that kids are geared up for the trades and resource development jobs, oil production and commercial fishing jobs and mining jobs. >> no child left behind, the standards got dummied down. we are in effect lying to children. >> the obama administration looked for other ways to achieve school reform. one is a national state competition called race to the top. $4.35 billion, money from last year's economic stimulus package is now up for grabs. >> we didn't just hand this money out to states that wanted it. could tonged them to dom pete

compete for it. >> you must remove your limits on charter schools and remove any restrictions that prevents grow judging teachers by test scores. states are dizzily changing their laws to comply with the administration requirements. >> alaska has chosen not to participate in president obama's race to the top because alaskans believe that more local control is most beneficial. we know better than the bureaucrats in washington, d.c. what will benefit our students. >> the education department website describes race to the top as an attempt to dramatically reshape america's education system. >> our students have to be life long learn ares and we to in still a love of learning. >> in marjah, tennessee and delaware were announced as the phase one winners. they were awarded a combined $600 million. these two will go into effect later this year with president obama requesting an additional

$1.3 billion for the program in 2011. >> in my view it is funny -- the department of education doing something it has never done before which is to tell all 50 states to change their laws to be eligible for a $5 billion prize. $5 billion prize. >> take a look at how no child imagine being at thirty thousand feet with a plane full of kids. and you have a heart attack. that's what happened to me. i'm on an aspirin regimen now. my doctor told me it's the easiest preventative thing you can do. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. see your doctor. simple.

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taking a test. the most dreaded part of being a student. before no child left behind, testing seemed a lot less complicated. now, it will determine not omaha bank a student's grade

but a school district's funding. >> what we want to do is create the next generation of better assessment. we go forward and look to fix no child left behind and want to put a huge amount of money on the table to award school districts. >> i think most americans are tired of that argument that it takes mor more money to fix the problem. >> every state makes its own test and grades them the way they want to. there are no standards other than what the 50 different states establish. >> depending on what was happening in each state you got different degrees of movement and then a state could move in and do certain things and maybe there could be reconstitution of its goals. >> the idea behind testing is you need some hard measurement of whether kids are progressing or not. that is not a good idea? >> today when people talk about accountability, they mean let's

punish the teachers and close the schools and that is a misuse of testing. >> how the accountability system played out and worked against construction of a broader curriculum, narrowing it and making the punishments for lack of success ones that could not be uniformly applied. >> in march, president obama submitted a proposal to congress to overhaul no child left behind. >> the schools that achieve excellence or show real progress will be rewarded. and local districts will be encouraged to commit to change in schools that are clearly letting their students down. >> one thing that won't be changing any time soon is the practice of tenure, the ultimate job security. >> with any protection you will find the stinkers and the lazy folks and i do think we do need to have more flexibility in finding those teachers another line of work and if tenure

dis aallows that flexibility then we got a problem. -- i could have saide said it it simply, good teachers don't need tenure. >> when i was teaching, i saw 20 and 30 year teachers slack off and they hide behind the union. >> the largest teachers' union, the national education association doesn't track tenure. the second wiggest union the second federation of teachers last tracked it in 2004. 74% of its membership was tenured. >> why should teachers have tenure? >> tenure doesn't mean you could never be fired if something egregious happened. that is a challenge. teacher evaluation in this country is fundamentally broken. >> are the unions on your side? >> absolutely. i went to the nea national convention. to the afc convention. in both places i said teacher evaluation is largely broken

and got applause. >> what may not get applause is the turn around. the department of education is offering $3.5 billion to the state to identify the bottom 5% of their schools and to fix them in one of four ways. one of the ways is called turn around. that requires replacing a school's teaching staff with no more than 50% to be rehired. this is exactly what is occurring at fremont high school located in south central los angeles. >> when i first came to the district two years ago, i identified 35 of the lowest performing schools. i put those schools on notice and i said that i expect improvement. >> fremont high is part of l.a.'s unified school district. second largest district in the u.s. with 670,000 students. it was one of those schools

superintendent cortinez put on notice. >> i visited fremont four or five times and there was never a sense of urgency and that is not acceptable for me. >> he released a restructuring plan for fremont. the first in the district's history. it included turnaround. needless to say, the teachers aren't happy. >> they want everybody who works at fremont high to reapply at their job at what they are calling the new fremont. we had been assured by mr. cortinez that we were on the right track in our reform efforts. none were ever teacher driven or driven by the pay rents. >> that -- parents. >> that is a copout. i gave them a year to give me a plan and to show me that they were working on the issues, to have some progress and they at any time. >> 5,000 students is ridiculous as far as trying to make major

improvements. the teachers are tired are taking the blame, perhaps three quarters of it are not reapplying for a job at fremont. >> so be it. i will restaff the school. >> while teachers are being blamed for the woes of public education here in los angeles we have never been given the ability to run school programs. >> he is using a model reconstitution that has never proven itself to be successful anywhere. our plan is to come up with a joint plan that made success for fremont. >> while fremont's future remains uncertain, the stakes were high when 36 underperforming or new schools was in the happens of the board

of education. >> the people have chosen. >> the people have chosen. >> this is the byproduct of a school board majority that has refused to do dominica their job. they decided that they can't do it so they will give schools away. >> the recommendations were. >> give away schools to outsiden at thi entities or award them to teens of teachers and parents who would put together school plans. >> after hours of deliberation, a majority of the schools were taken over by outside groups, in some cases with the support of the teachers' union. only four will become charter schools. the third rail of politics. >> first only the best of the best should be committed to open a charter school. secondly, you to give these educators reaah tonmy.

those that aren't achieving the best marks should over time be phased out. >> but the fact remains that more traditional public schools are failing and failing faster than charter schools. >> i have been here for 15 years around we have a dedicated staff. it was never about money. it is not just about curriculum. it is not just about more time. it is not just about parent engagement but it is about all of those things. >> closing schools and making the remaining schools stronger academically a the right thing to do. >> i expect those who remain here to be accountable for what happens. >> perhaps you will have to close down the school and the kids will go some where else. that is impossible in some of our areas in alaska. there is no other school. a provision like that doesn't work. >> why close the school entirely rather tan trying to improve it. >> we have been far too passive

to let these things continue to lap and year after year there are 20 students and you can look around and say 10, 15 of you won't graduate and be with us four years later, how can we allow that to be? >> rap music in math class?

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♪ if you are interested in what your kids are learning, you might want to know about this new educational approach. it is called flow cabulary. its cree, yeah tores haven't taught in the class room but they believe students can learn more with rap muse glick i had the idea when i was a student in high school.

>> i was struck even then with how easy it was for me to remember lyrics to songs and how hard it was for me to remember things that i needed to for school. >> flocabulary takes the academic standards and incorporates it into original rap songs. ♪ the idea behind that is that it is extraordinarily easy to remember the lyrics to your favorite song. >> in 2005, harrison and rap porappoport published their fit album, packing 500 sat words into catchy tunes. they saw an emerging market. >> we could effect more change if we made products we could sell directly to the school district. what we are seeing is larger

district adoptions. >> now, in over 12,000 schools across the country, teachers and students are rapping and not just to english but to his tore ihistory and even math. >> one times four is probably bored because one times four is about. >> two times three is -- >> the kids have a chance to respond to say the facts before the rapper says the actual answer. it is so much about the actual memorization. when we are doing ancient egypt and world history and science concepts that is when the writing puts more demand on our creativity. >> we recently signed a distribution agreement. >> they declined to reveal the terms of the agreement they signed last year and the textbook giant had no comment to fox news. >> the appeal for us is that if it was bundled with the

textbooks that it would get into every classroom. >> with the dropout rate of just 5.5%, clinton city schools, a small rural district in north carolina spend $2,500 for flocabulary's language arts programs. >> we want to provide an alternative learning strategy to build their vocabulary skills. >> when i first discovered flocabulary, i thought oh, my gosh, i know they didn't do this. this will get the kids attention. they will like it. it is relatable and it is just what we need to create the paradigm shift that we need that will make learning fun, accessible and nonintimidating. ♪ >> does it promote standard

english? >> we may take a few liberties where we are being humorful. we want to do this to learn standard english. >> in the job world standard english is still the requirement. >> it isn't saying that everything in your life you should be doing about rapping. >> have you thought about doing it with country music or heavy metal? >> we thought about trying this with all kinds of music and one of the reasons that we love rap so much for this is that rap has so much words packed into one sound. >> while there is no third-party study that proves it works many believe it does. it is used by an estimated 300,000 students. hip-hop is known for pushing the envelope and not always in a good way. racial rhetoric, vulgarity, sex

and violent images permiate rap. how do they take it real? >> we are trying to take it out of that. we are trying to work with kids directly and do something that is across-the-board positive. >> i do music as a hobby and i thought this was a perfect opportunity to bring it to the classroom. >> the artists, do they have educational backgrounds. >> we work with artists who have been students. >> have you had any complaints about itth from parents or teachers. >> certainly it happens but it is very, very rare. >> i wonder why it takes hip-hop 20 get certain students engaged in learning? i mean it never has, why does it now require that? >> i think the bigger idea is using something that students are interested in as the connection and hip-hop is one of those things. >> is technology improving the quality of education or is it a distraction?

and find out how thousands of teachers are making a profit outside the classroom. that's coming up on fox news [ sneezes ] ♪ music plays ♪ [ sneezing ] ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] what are you gonna miss when you have an allergy attack? benadryl® is more effective than claritin® at relieving your worst symptoms -- runny nose, sneezing, and watery eyes -- and works when you need it most. benadryl®. you can't pause life.

the classroom has come a long way since the chalk board. today, billions are being spent on high tech gad getry ranging from laptops to electronic whiteboards that can cost up to $3,000 and programs where families can monitor grades and homework online. >> parents in our district.

>> and students can get on it. it is called i student. >> nothing is ever going to beat a teacher in a classroom with the student sitting at the desk, the traditional learning environment. >> if the person behind the desk is a motivating and fair and scare, kids are going to learn. >> 1900 miles south of wasilla, alaska, is napa new technology high school. the flagship for the new technology network. 40 schools in nine states, a group that is changing the way a classroom works. >> you are not seeing rows and rows of desks and the teacher isn't the performer in the front. what show are really seeing is -- what they are being seeing is guide and coach and problem solver. the classroom should really reflect the work environment. >> here, project based learning is the preferred method of

teaching. the students learn by working on projects by themselves, with a partner and in groups. >> we are learning real world skills you apply in daily life. >> doing experiments hands on to see how it works. >> but some questions remain. >> the academic content would be embedded in the project. >> if you are not really in tune with what the teacher hopes you are thinking about as you are doing the activity you are not going to remember. it takes a special type of teacher to remember the techniques. >> the cost per pupil ranges from $5,000 to $7,000 more per student but the district has the highest test scores. and all the stew departments have their own computers. >> the teachers are required to mare a more rigorous

curriculum. >> technology has terrific potential. the problem is you don't give them an internet connection and all of a sudden they learn how to educate themselves. >> if you are hotel clerk, an auto mechanic, you have to use a compute. another change in 21st century education, teachers turning a profit by sell is lesson plans online. we are teachers.com. >> i had a vision of what would happen if we somehow could give the best teachers a mega phone. >> we are teachers is a social media website designed to provide an opportunity for teachers to find the best high quality materials, resources, grants, et cetera. >> another website, teachers pay teachers.com created in

2006 now has a quarter million registered users. >> whatever teachers create they can sell to other teachers for a modest price. average $2 to $3. teachers who are looking for fresh ideas or new approaches come to the website and purchase those materials from other teachers. >> in just four years over a million dollars worth of lesson plans have been sold on teachers pay teachers. >> when i first saw it i thought of it as a kind of ebay of teaching. >> you have to spend a lot of time to make any money on that little website. website. that could be a lot of time thinking about the kids you are paid to teach. >> teachers selling their lesson plans increases the value of what teachers do.

teachers who sell are becoming better teachers, teachers who buy are becoming better teachers. >> who owns the rights to teacher created lesson plans and should school districts get a cut of the profits. >> there are many opportunities that involve sharing work with other teachers either face to face or online but with no money involve. >> what teachers do on their own time as long as the district is not paying them overtime is probably fair game. what do the second amendment, hip-hop and the founding fathers have in

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your lung function for better breathing. (announcer) get your first full prescription free and save on refills. this is the moore family. >> 100-millimeters equals one sent meet. jason and audra and their five children. >> the appearing genius abbey is the princess. caleb is quite the thinker. zoe is two years old and the queen of the entire castle. >> the four attend public schools in odessa, texas, the second largest state in the union, population 24 million. one day in 2009 their fifth grader caleb came home from school and said this. >> we need you to help us memorize the declaration of independence and starts reciting we hold these truths

to be self-evident that all people are created equal. >> the original document says men. >> as a mom that upsets me. any misrepresentation of it i think is an injustice to our kids. >> i said caleb that is not right. >> he state that is how they taught us at school. >> outraged, jason turned into his alter ego, captain watch dog. >> my activism as grown out of seeing the world through the kids eyes. you have to speak up and say this is not right yes. >> filed an official complaint and traveled to austin where the texas state board of education was revising its curriculum standards. joining him were scores of protesters. >> save our history, save it now. >> media, lawmakers. parents and other concerned citizens who addressed the board's 15 elected members. five democrats, 10 republicans. >> i'm very concernd that we would use education to

indocktry nate or brain wash. >> as a mom i would like my children to know the truth. >> i would ask you to consider adding ida b. wells with her friend susan b. anthony. >> people care about what their kids are taught. but we are talking about in all this is the essential that must be cover. >> the final document will serve as a blueprint for textbook publishers and outline whateverry student in the lonestar state is expected to learn. >> in the great state of texas. >> throughout social studies, students build a foundation in history, geography, economics, government, citizenship. >> it as trail of standards. and there are about 4.7 million children in our school districts so that is the number

that will be impacted at the very least. >> i failed! >> failed what? >> my texas history test. >> is that your new book. let me see it? a whole chapter on salina? where are the chapters about the alamo? >> just like davi crockett's last stand at the alamo, the outcome of this showdown will be remembered and resonate throughout the nation for the next ten years. >> publishers will take what we do here and it will show up in every state. because traditionally texas and california drive the textbook market. >> it wilit behooves publishero pay close attention to the standards. they are out to make a profit and in the state board of education through the curriculum standards has told them what the customer wants. they have to provide that product.

>> the textbook market in america is worth a chopping 9.5 billion -- a whopping $9.5 billion. texas alone appropriated $465 million this year. one of the three largest -- the three largest publishers are ready to business in the lonestar state. they declined our requests for interviews. >> they listen to what we say. they come to all our meetings. >> we will move to the next section, world ouija original graphy. fox news approached a rep and he said he was instructed not to talk to the media. our cameras captured some 20 hours of click aircrafts as board members grappled over a seemingly basic question, what do we want the next generation of americans to learn. >> maybe some of us need to go back to school. >> that is how we end up with distorted and liberal biased textbooks. >> as you are about to find out there is nothing simple about it. >> the original standards were written by committees that

consisted of teachers and content specialists. >> a state board of education appoints expert reviewers and we go through and make the recommendations and then the state board of education will vote on what changes they want to make. >> and in history you have different interpretations. one person's view might be different from somebody else. >> those are at the core of the battle pitting democrats against republicans. >> this allows the students to learn about transvestites and transsexuals. >> i take the bible seriously. >> seven, including don mcelroy are said to be part of a conservative block that critics allege are imposing their political views and their religion values. >> we don't always vote together as a block. >> they very seldom break away from one another and you create the impression you are more

interested in having your ideas reflected than you are at looking at objective data. >> in 2009 the board tackled science standards. the evolution debate was front and the center. all eyes on mcelroy, then chairman of the board. >> it has been 150 years and records still has problems. people keep saying that we injected creationism into the science curriculum. you can see that we didn't. >> my col leak leak colleaguest spinning matters and and you have to read between the lines. >> mcelroy was recently ousted and will serve until january of 2011, long enough to leave a lasting impression on this round. >> we are still working on the world history chapter. >> on day two, tempers begin to

flare. >> we are not segregating them by the state, by region. we are doing it by skin color and i do object to that. >> people who fought in this war came out and because of their skin color, mr. bradley they could not get jobs. >> i think we need to look at what these people have done that is historically significant. i will not support names. >> and i will be nice, madam chairman. as hard as it is. >> we are not asking much. this is a really simple request. >> we are still going through a great deal of discrimination if we can't even agree to put two names. >> when we mention a few do we not diminish the accomplishments of the other recipients. >> the motion fails. >> next up, more passionate debate when mavis knight proprosed this amendment. >> there was a reason the founding fathers protected

religion freedom in america by barring government from promoting or disfavoring any particular religion over all others. >> this is not an accurate perception. >> you need students to understand the importance that the founding fathers placed on the separation between church and state. >> one of the things that we keep being hounded by the other side is that the conservatives religion. to inject no, we are not. nor do we want our religion history to be taped and drawn from a view point that is not historically accurate. >> it has nothing to do with the left or the right instead of what is best for the children. >> it failed 10-5. a straight party line vote. but what made it in? throughout the standards democratic republic was changed

to constitutional republic. the word capitalism replaced with free enterprise system. in u.s. history students will be required to examine laws of nature and nature's god. there were more changes to be made to the texas style shootout continued. >> we have been white washing social studies. you have to leave responsibility. >> i'm trying to exercise personal responsibility and restraint but i'm about tootles. >> i rest my case and i would like a record vote. >> by early evening it reached a boiling point. >> i had it. this is it. i'm leaving for the evening. >> we can just pretent this is white america, hispanics don't exist. >> when three more democrats made an exit, mavis knight was the only one left. >> i would like to stub student. >> after ten hours of discussion, nine more

amendments including one that said the civil rights movement created "unreasonable expectations for equal outcomes. >> maybe i could be enlightened as to what that means. >> that snippet didn't make it. neither did hip-hop. thomas jefferson who coined the phrase separation of church and state was axed from the thinkers. >> we are voting for the social studys. >> the board passed a preliminary version of the standards. again, along party lines. >> we have made them standards that texas will be proud of for years to come. >> i cannot go back to my community and say to them that i participated in perpetuating a fraud. >> what happened to the $35 textbook in odessa? the publisher told us "a new edition of the book was released and that page was removed. no part in due to the dogged determination. >> i think it is great that our

kids are learning to be proactive and to know that a publish her had to replace textbooks because of an error that a fifth grader found. >> when we return, fox news reporting goes to college. >> this semester i probably paid. >> 500. >> can you believe what students are paying for textbooks. textbooks. sfx: coin drop sfx: can shaking when you own a business, nothing beats the sound of saving time and money. and it's never been simpler to save - with regions lifegreen checking and savings for business. you'll enjoy free online and mobile banking. and with regions quick deposit, you can deposit checks right from your desk. drop by and get started with a business financial review through a regions cashcor analysis. it's how business gets into the rhythm of saving. regions it's time to expect more.

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college. some people call it the best four years of your life but that could be true with every passing year including is degree skyrockets. expects colleges and universities to do their part to hold down tuition increases. >> by your administration. >> students and parents will

figure out where they are getting ripped off. >> a family that prepares themselves for that high tuition cost. we made it a priority. four kids in college at once my dad had. >> four at a time. they didn't get much help either, did you? >> i would stay home for a semester to work to pay for the next semester tuition. more pound for the candier to me and others like us in the real world who had to work our way through college. >> look what it costs now. i hear these astro gnomical figures. 3040, $50,000 and up. >> for the 2009, 2010 school year more than $129 billion of financial aid was available. almost two thirds of students in higher education received some that kade. aid. >> across the country the average student graduates with over $23,000? debt. >> are all of you going to be in debt when you graduate? >> yes. >> we sat down with nine fox

news interns. all in or recently graduated from college and talked about the rising costs. collectively they spent over $900,000. >> covering my last two years in student loans $20,000 a year for each year plus housing plus the interest rates. >> part comes from the exorbitant prices of textbooks. >> the highest one semester was $800. >> how much did you get back? >> probably about $250. >> last semester i refused to buy books because i was paying close to $500 every semester for books. >> some of my professors will put them at the library. >> i avoid buying three textbooks. >> sometimes even expensive textbooks can be wrong as in that profiled last year of columbia university's former provost, the author of the unfished nation. the fifth edition was released in 2008 but still way off on

the number of suspects charged with terror-related crimes since 9/11. >> you write only one such suspect was ever charged with a crime. is not correct, is it, sir? >> at least 129 suspects were not only charged but convicted of federal terror related crimes when the edition was published. we asked if he planned to correct the mistake and brinkley responded to fox news this way -- well, that new edition was released last december with a list of suspects convicted had grown to at least 523. but the section in question in the latest version was now deleted. we asked the professor for an interview. he declined. we also asked him why the section was omitted in the sixth edition. his replay "i almost always reduce come and of recent history because the length of

the book must stay constant and recent history is usually written with more detail. last december, fox news bought it online for $86. so with everything that goes into achieving a college degree today the question remains is it worth it? >> it will be worth it when you get a job out of it. i'm also going to have to be working doing something like waitressing to make the paybacks of my loan. >> if you stick your mind to it and keep on winning the race it's worth. >> last semester we had furlough days because of cutbacks and i he feel like i'm not getting the time learning all of what they are teach. >> i kind of feel like i'm paying all this money

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as you have seen tonight, american education stands at the crossroads. this country continues to lag behind much of the developed world in basic educational categories. countries like japan, australia, south korea now outperform the u.s. in reading, math and science. yes, shoddy schools, bad teachers who can't be fired and ineffective bureaucracy are to blame but there is another factor. every expert we interviewed mentioned family. whetheror not you are a pay rent we have a stake in -- parent you valuabl