tonight, what was it like to be president joe biden's campaign strategist and his sister? our special guest this evening, valerie biden owens reflects on what it was like to grow up biden in her new book. california public schools continue to struggle under the pandemic's as enrollment drops again. alyssa mackin makes history as the first women coach on the field. we get a blast from our computer history past. in this week's look at something beautiful. coming to you from seven

cisco this friday, april 15th, 2022. welcome to the show. this is kqed newsroom and i am priya david clements. for close to a decade california public school enrollment has been on a slow decline. this week we learned enrollment has dropped below 6 million students for the first time since 2000. while some families have relocated, some have chosen a home school and others have enrolled in private schools. education aspects say that is not account for the significant drop in numbers. they are perplexed as to where the students are gone. you're now to discuss the changes in enrollment and to talk about the weeks of the top stories in the golden state is brian what and san francisco chronicle joker foley. thank you both for being here today. brian will start with you.

you have taken a little bit of a look at the school enrollment numbers. and the mystery to what is happening. we are talking both charter school and public numbers have dropped significantly. >> it is a mystery. we know this is been declining for years. even before the pandemic. we do know the pandemic hiked it up a bit. but if you look at the numbers, if you look at roughly 10,000 public school students, fewer public-school students than there were a couple of years ago, we are the gone? not everybody knows. some went to private schools but not nearly as many as anybody would think. so this is what people are trying to figure out. we know some schools are seeing problems with chronic absenteeism. that is something the state wants to do something about and wants to give school districts resources to go out and find

students who have fallen through the cracks. >> let's turn to a local school story here in seven cisco. lowell high school, a public school academically rigorous and made big national headlines in the past year when they dropped their requirements for testing to be admitted to lowell high school. now the principal who is only been there a year has resigned. he wrote a public letter this week saying he was leaving the seven cisco unified school district solely based on my desire to apply my passion for education in the district that value students and staff. joe, some pretty scathing words. >> very scathing. it has an outside impact because it is coming from the sensible. a high profile school. some of the concerns about the admissions requirements there or what fed into the recall of the school board members and

san francisco and that was a nationally watched story. so this is a big deal. >>i will say is someone married to a local alarm and went to college with the alumni, they are watching this. you see a principal who has been added for a year. i cannot keep doing this. that says something. >> it certainly shows there are more problems. we will be airing a documentary here on kqed on may 7th. it would be specifically about lowell high school and the struggles of high school and the rigors of it and getting into college that should be interesting. check that out. brian, we are hearing more and more about covid-19 cases . it does seem like the new variant is bringing it to the front. he recently spoke with the doctor about the current state affairs. what should we be concerned about? >> he definitely thinks this is an interesting time.

this is peter chen hong. this weekend and particular gatherings are up. we have easter, passover ramadan, and coachella if music is your religion. people are going to come together. as far as case rates they are about 25%. it sounds like a lot in the place like the bay area but right now that translates into a couple hundred new cases each day. you have to remember there was a time when we were seeing 20,000 cases a day. so bumpy in the numbers but not spiking. be careful. >> let's turn from the state of affairs of for all of us to one particular individual. there have been concerns for some time about the health of senator dianne feinstein. she is our senior senator here

in california. joe, we have been hearinsome time that her health degrading but colleagues of hers and congress are seeing they are very concerned about her mental acuity at this point. >> yes. six i did the story with tall coping. we have four senators and three of them democrats. these are colleagues and many of them friends of dianne feinstein. and three former staffers and one number craddick member of congress. they are concerned about her memory losses. they're so concerned they think maybe it is time for dianne feinstein to step down. this is huge. >> what are they saying and how are they seeing that memory issues play out? >> we have one democratic member of congress who has recently had a long conversation over a couple of hours with senator feinstein said, usually they have rigorous policy debates. because that's how she is. but he said she asked to

reintroduce themselves to each other. and they exchanged pleasantries. it is sad. many of the people, the story we spoke with the client to put their name to it. because much of that is out of respect for dianne feinstein. they are concerned about her. she is a pioneer, she has been in office since the late 1960s. the first female mayor of seven cisco. the first female senator of california along with barbara boxer. she is seen as a role model for any people, particularly women and politics. it is a very sensitive story. it is one of concern. she is the senator for 40 million people. if she cannot do her job to the fullest extent that is a problem. >> any word from her that she will step down or step aside?? she released a statement but spoke of the chronicle's editorial board and she says she has no plans to step down.

she says she thinks this is a bunch of nothing. part of the concern is she lost her husband in late february. richard blom died after a long illness. she said she has been preoccupied with that and going back and forth during his long illness from california to washington. but she says she is as engaged as ever. >> one of the most innovative projects the state of california is taking on is looking at reparations. the california operations task force recently sent out the eligibility requirements for who could potentially benefit from reparations. they specifically called out to send childhood slavery or descendents of those who were free brad people living in the u.s. in the 1800s. the local san francisco reparations task force leader, eric donald things it doesn't go far enough. ryan, i know the task force met here in seven cisco this week.

what did you hear out of that meeting? >> the big action that the task force took this week was that they approved the report that they have been working on for quite some time. is it official as is a stance that reparations are necessary and it is important to educate californians about why they are necessary. detailing the antiblack racism in the history of california. this meeting was the first public in person meeting that they have held after 10 months of meetings virtually. a lot of pride for one of the task force members, reverend dr. amos brown. third baptist church. he got to host this. >> a picture in seven cisco. >> exactly. and i think we are going to see more meetings like this as they get this report out there. and as they start working towards an actual recommendation to the state

legislature next summer. and this is a really big deal because the activists want to know, we are getting reports and getting a lot of study. this week they focused on education and equities. but what is going to happen, what will be the recommendation and what will the state legislature do? >> the nation is watching because california is once again out in front on a major issue. what we do here will resonate nationally. >> the eyes of the nation are on california as oklahoma took a big step this week. the governor there signed a new abortion ban into law. very restrictive. only in the cases of incest and sexual assault. we say we will help women to help terminate their pregnancies and we are expecting an influx of women in preparing for that. >> there is a future of abortion counsel here. there will be a ripple effect and it has only started. texas enacted it, restricted

laws. people were going to oklahoma. now that oklahoma has shut down, people go to kansas and further and further out. that will eventually lead to tens of thousands of people coming to california. there are a dozen bills in the legislature right now that are seeking to address that. people are preparing. when roe v wade is likely to fall the summer and if they overturn it, that will cause seismic shifts in the way healthcare is delivered in this country. we need to be prepared for it. >> difficult news. it's to do some good news here as we close out this segment. this ball is back. opening day was last week. the giants made history by putting the first female coach on the field during a game. alyssa and acon. whatever crewmembers was actually there. we have pictures to share with you all. here is that history making moment. alyssa was signing various

photographs. linda kagan, thank you for the photos. brian, tell us what you think about this. >> she was simply asked to go and coach at first base. she did it and did the job. she knew it was a big deal but she didn't say, my job is to be ready and i was ready. this was a no-brainer. this is my job. that's wh she said. the other interesting part is what led to her being put out there. the original first base coach was ejected from the game. that situation was not pretty. there were racial undertones about what led to him being ejected. so it was at the perfect moment but it was a moment where you saw baseball doing what it does. it's working through the problems of our society. breaking the barriers of our society that need to be broken.

and there was something very beautiful about it. >> the first baseman from the padres recognize the history there and went over and shook her hand. we are doing this on the 75th anniversary of jackie robinson breaking the color barrier. >> great. finally another special moment to note. but every task and retired as a park ranger from the rosy chu river national park. she was on the show not long ago. a few years ago. it spoke about race relations. her words are resident and we would love to share with our audience. >> i think since i have lost my sense of future, because i'm 96, my sense of past has been enhanced. i am aware now that this country has been going through these six single times of chaos. we are in another one right now. it is those times that the democracy is being redefined. and we have access to the reset

buttons and we are one of those places right now, for me it's very hopeful and exciting. all those things that we had that were very negative and ugly are now available to be seen by the entire nation with the used to be things that existed in the black commity. not everyone sees them. >> such a treasure. i wish we had more time. it has been a pleasure. brian and joe. thank you both. thank you. thank you. >> we have a special interview with a woman who has made her mark in part by running political campaigns. she has managed seven senate campaigns into presidential campaigns. and been the national cochair for a third presidential campaign all for her brother. resident joe biden. úvalerie bi the first woman to have ever run an american presidential campaign and she writes about those experiences and more in

her new book, growing up biden. this owens joins us now from delaware by skype. walking to the show. >> inky. i am happy to be here. please, valerie. >> valerie, share with us first why you decided to write this book? >> i wrote the book because i loved growing up biden. i love to tell the stories about the relatives, and the characters in our family. at about the values that my mom and dad instilled in my three brothers and me. at about the grid and optimism in the brazilian's that they surrounded us with growing up to make us feel competent and secure. and i think, good stories, even set once have magic in them. and i hope maybe there was a

little magic and some of the stories. >> there was certainly the sense of resilience that comes through many of the stories to share. you talk about how your parents would say, is not how many times you fall down it's how quickly you get back up. i'm curious if there is a favorite memory from your childhood with resident biden you would like to share with us. >> oh my gosh. throughout my childhood, my brother was so good to me. the very first memory i have is my brother putting out his hand to me and saying, come on we have things to do and places to go and people to see. and we began our journey. when we were little he took me everywhere. and his friends would say, why did you bring a girl? and he said, she's not a girl. she's my sister. so i knew i owed it to him and myself, being the young girl and the woman that he thought i could be. because he told me anything i could do you can do better.

i knew that wasn't true but i did try to live up to it. >> did you ever have a time in your life or you felt like you wanted a little space from your family? where you needed to have a little separation to grow independently? >> when we grew up we were raised pillars. faith and responbility to take care of each other. my mom would always say family is the beginning the middle and the end. to be a tight knit family and use of katie filling. and you overpower one another. we were four children and we each were in our own lane. no one wanted to beat the other. and we all stuck together. so i felt safe and competent as opposed to being sheltered or smothered. >> the other siblings were all boys. you talk about in the book and

getting to know the president second wife, joe biden, that you had to learn how to talk in a female way or understand in a way that you didn't growing up. you didn't have that sort of communication toolset readily at your disposal. and you share a story about simply bringing to the salad to an event. >> my two brothers, joe and jim, both give me a great gift. they married women who became truly and really my friends. my sister-in-law jill is the eldest of five and my sister-in- law sarah, is the youngest of four. so both of them are all girl. and they had a little work to do with me. because girls speak in a different language. i think voice, or i was more direct. so the story that i tell them

the book is, early on in the marriage joe called me and we would always have sunday dinners together. in she asked if i wanted to bring potato salad. in my dream house does not have a kitchen. so i don't care what i eat. i take a tasty cake and coca- cola. that's my idea of a good dinner. so i said to her, what i would like to bring, no i would like to but sure, i'll bring it. this went back and forth. finally i said, do you want me to bring potato salad or not? she said, yes, i will see you on sunday. things. we both had a laugh at it. >> would you share with us your experiences of learning to run a political campaign and really owning that space as you grew into it. there are a few stories to tell in the book to speak to your

sense of an experience at the time. there was one story that really made me laugh where the major campaign donor asked you flat out how old you were when you told her basically you tell her how old you were if she told you how much she weighed. >> that was one of my better moments. i learned at the switch. joe was the first senator that he and i had ever met. we didn't have any money and we weren't structured. so we just improvise. with what we had. we had vision, passion, the best candidate. in 1972, our first campaign, we had the combustible relationship between youth and issues. kind of like this last campaign. we ran against the war in vietnam. and for civil rights and to save the environment.

which her stages started in 1970 so we were one of the first candidates to pay attention to the environment. we learned by reaching and risking. we were bold. we were not brash but we were bold. >> tell me more about your own evolution. as a campaign manager working in the political sphere. how did you yourself throw in that work? >> when i started out women were not involved in politics per se. they opened and shut the headquarters and they made coffee. my brother held up a seat for me at the table. in 1972. and at the table there were all men. he asked the men at the table, he said this is my sister and she represents me and speaks for me. what she says goes.

so pay attention. so i had a lot easier time than a lot of women. i also have on the flipside of that a lot of resentment. i was looked at as the token woman or e token relative. úso room and left the head of the table, i was on my own to learn as i went along. when you don't have money and you don't have resources then you have to be creative. in the exession is, we thought out of the box. but we didn't even have a box. let's try this and let's try that. >> how connected are you and your brother these days? how often do you speak? >> we speak often. everyone asks me that question. he is president of the united states but he is my brother. we have been best friends or whole life. so we are very much connected. >> in a recent interview you

stated when your brother worked next to president obama he understood the job of vice president and word well. i'm curious what you buy that. and your analysis of how the current vice president, kamala harris is doing at the job. is she as good of a vice president as your brother was? >> i don't know you will have to ask joe. i respect her and i like her very much. the role of vice president is you are vice president. gary trun said, the buck stopped with obama. the buck stops with joe. but it is inappropriate for me, to talk about what they do or what they say. i can tell you the relationship is really good. and joe was very proud that she agreed to stand with him and the vice president. >> let's turn to thtopic of faith. you said when president biden's son bo died, your nephew, you wanted to take rocks and

knockout the stained-glass windows of the church. you've also shared about the importance of meeting the pope more than once. could you talk to us about the role faith has played in your life and in the presidents life. >> we were raised in an irish catholic middle-class family. where faith is not something we expressed on sunday when we went to mass. we went to catholic school and we went to mass on sunday but we were not a devout family. so faith matters. faith is not the structure of the church you walk in, it is what you hold in your heart. and for me i need something bigger than myself. to hold onto when things are angry. boy was i mad. are you kidding me, god? what are you thinking?

why? and i realized that life has a way of interrupting. and the more you think you're in control and you hold on, the more you have to let go. in the four hardest words for me to say work, thy will be done. it is not something you say. it is something you live. then you try and live to the best of my ability. >> valerie biden owens, thank you so much for joining us today. >> my pleasure. thank you for having me. technology has a deep innovative history in silicon valley. you can see some of it on display in this week's something beautiful. the computer history museum in mountain view houses a collection of computing artifacts that preserve technological history.

including 90,000 physical items. hundreds of gigabytes of software and more than 1000 recorded interviews.

you see the glance upon? that was great. that's universal for tonight. you can find kqed newsroom online or on twitter. or you can email us at k and are at kqed.org. you can reach me on social media. they can for joining us. we will see you right back here next friday night. have a great weekend.

yamiche: russia warns the west in the fight over midterm messaging. pres. biden: i called it genocide because it is becoming clearer and clearer that putin is trying to wipe out the idea of being ukrainian. yamiche: president biden raises the stakes, calling out russia for its brutal slaughter of ukrainian civilians. >> ukraine need supplies, anything to repel russian forces and stop the war crimes. yamiche: president zelinski pleads for even more weapons from western allies as russian forces prepare for a major assault on eastern ukraine. plus -- pres. biden: i am doing everything within my power by executive orders to bring down the prices. yamiche: president biden takes his message to key states, while