on this edition of "our world with black enterprise," the man behind the $100 billion to stimulate this country's educational system. can arne duncan save public schools and a generation of undereducated children? we'll ask him. he's our headline. and american airlines is trying to urge kids to open their minds to new career paths in aviation. that's our "slice of life." all that, up next. ♪ our world ♪

thank you! >> education was a top issue for barack obama on the campaign trail. now that he's in office, he's set aside an unprecedented amount of money to try and fix a broken educational system and offer more opportunity for young people to get a quality education. the former head of the chicago school system and barack obama friend arne duncan was tapped by the president to lead the department of education. he's charged with fixing a system that many say has been broken for decades and figuring out how to make american students competitive on the world stage. i met with the secretary in the library at the department of education in washington. thanks for joining us, appreciate it. >> thanks so much for having me, giving me the opportunity. >> let's talk little bit about the expectation of what people want you to do with education,

high on the president's priority list, such a huge expectation based on what you had been able to do in chicago. so many people talking about "thinking out of the box." when you took the job, you must have understood that the spotlight would be hot right on you. >> yeah, but i thrive in those challenges. i thrive on the opportunity, and i think we have -- i'm convinced we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to dramatically improve public education. you get a president that is absolutely passionate about it, and it amazes me that every single day, despite two wars, despite the worst economy we've seen in decades, he keeps coming back to education. you have with him and the first lady, michelle, two people who weren't born with silver spoons in their mouth, who are the leaders of the free world because of great education. so, this isn't just something they, you know, think about. they're the embodiment of what a great education can do for a child. so, to have a chance now to help the country get dramatically better, regain its economic

competitiveness, and i firmly believe this is the civil rights issue of our generation. if we're going to end poverty, this is the only way, is to educate our way to a better economy. to do this, yes, there are expectations, yes, it is a challenge. it is an unbelievable opportunity and i feel lucky to have a chance to try to make a difference here and be part of this team. >> you've said that in terms of the civil rights issue. you've also called it the most pressing issue facing america. i'm curious if you can give me a grade, what grade would you give the american public school system today? >> that's a good estion. i would -- i don't know if i can give a letter grade. i would say mediocre with a long way to go, and let me explain why. in an international economy, our students aren't competing for jobs down the block or in the district or even in the state. our children are competing with children in india and china. right now, those children are going to school 25%, 30% more than our children here. so, if we're serious about being economically competitive, we have to get dramatically better. >> so, if you see it as mediocre, let's call it a "c."

large urban areas have to be failing at this point. what do you do for those parents who have no other option but those schools, they have no option to move, and they look at their child's future as doomed? >> well, obviously, i come from one of the largest urban areas, chicago. and i would put our schools in chicago at the same category as many other larger urban districts. we have some of the best schools, literally, some of the best public schools in the country, 5 of the top 100 schools in the country are chicago public schools. we have some in the middle and unfortunately, some of the worst in the country as well. you think about those three different buckets. the high-performing schools which exist in every urban area, we need to do more of those, replicate it, create more seats, figure out those success stories and do many more of those types of schools, and we try to move aggressively to create new school options in chicago. those schools that are in the middle that are improving, we need to continue to invest in

them and do development and bring new teachers in there. i believe our school day is too short, our school week is too short, the school year is too short. we need more time with students and need to invest in there. for schools that year after year chronically underperform where dropout rates are 60%, 65%, 70%, where i'm not a believer in absolute test scores to measure growth, i'm more interested in growth and gaining how much students learn each year. and year after year, when students aren't learning, in the schools where they're dropout factories where it's simply not working for children, i think we really need to study that status quo dramatically with a sense of urgency, come in, bring new teens and adults who can make a difference in those children's lives. we did that in chicago. very controversial, very tough, turned around schools. it's fascinating to watch. the same children, same socioeconomic challenges, same families, same neighborhoods, same buildings, new teams of adults who we brought in. those same children sometimes perform two to three times better, not 2% or 3% today, two

or three times better. >> if chicago has great schools, mediocre schools and a lot of poorer schools, go down 94 east of it to detroit, my hometown, where 70% of the african-american males do not graduate from high school, where 300-plus schools will be closed this year alone and $300 million deficit, newly found on top of the deficit that was there. how do you turn that kind of situation around? >> what's happened in detroit is an absolute travesty. it is devastating. you could almost say it is criminal. what is going on for children there should be unacceptable in our country. and the dropout rate i think for the entire district, not just for african-american males, approaches 75%. it's staggering. so, what you need, obviously, is not to tinker around the edges, not incremental change. you need fundamental and dramatic change. >> i think detroit is ground zero for education in this country. detroit is new orleans a few years ago without hurricane katrina.

and i feel a tremendous sense of both urgency and outrage. when you have -- you pick a number, two-thirds of your students, three-fourth of your students dropping out, when you have dramatically more freshman than seniors, that's a real problem. >> what i have argued specifically in detroit is i think, you know there is a mayor election now -- i think the mayor has to take control and to take ownership of the public schools. the problems there are so deep and so entrenched that the public schools by themselves cannot solve it. you need the mayor, you need the sister agencies, you need the business community, the philanthropic community, the non for profits, the religious community, you need everybody rallying behind fundamental and dramatic change, and to get there, you need leadership at the top. >> you have a huge honey pot. you talk about $100 billion, and that really shows a commitment from this president. yet, i think many would be surprised because you have had to, quite frankly, face governors who have said to you, we don't want the money in the

way you're going to give it to us. a, i suspect and i know for a fact that you gave a letter -- quote -- to these governors. there was some disappointment from your end to hear that based on particularly a state like south carolina, who had tremendous educational failures. talk to me about what you want to tell people in terms of when politicians turn away from this. >> right, and let me talk about the investment so that your viewers really understand it. it's over $100 billion in education, just an absolute historic investment. so, we're trying to put unprecedented resources on the table, but we're asking for unpress daenth refocedented ref. we really have to get dramatically better, but there isn't a state in the country -- i've met with every governor and every school chief and asked them a question, how many of you have conquered the dropout problem? how many of you do you feel you have enough high school graduates and ultimately college graduates? and the room always gets dead silent. lots of progress, lots of momentum, lots of, you know, interesting models to learn from and replicate. no one is there yet. and so, by definition, if no

one's there, we're not close to being there as a country. so, to see a place like south carolina, when the inequities in funding are devastating and where the dropout rate is scarily high and when children simply because of the poor education have no chance of entering the mainstream society and being successful, where the education system in too many places in south carolina is a part of the problem, for the governor or anyone else to say that those children1x don't deserve more and don't deserve better and we shouldn't invest in them is absolutely inconceivable to me. >> all right, let me do this, let me take a quick break here. we'll be back in just a minute. >> for the first time, adults and children around the country can say, if i work hard, if i get a great education, i can be successful. come on, kiddo, let's go. hold on a second... come on up here where your brothers sit.

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[flames crackling] only you can prevent wildfires. back now, more with secretary of education arne duncan. having lived here for over a decade, i understand the beast that is washington, d.c. you just left the hill a few moments ago. talk to me about dealing with some of the folks that you're dealing with today who, quite frankly, watched this grow from the sidelines. this did not just happen the last eight years during a republican administration. the degradation of the public school system, the destruction of it, quite frankly. i'll use those words, won't give them to you. it happened over decades, and some of these people, it

happened on their watch. how do you deal with these folks? >> yeah. i think -- and again, i'm probably the most non-political, non-ideological guy you're ever going to meet. this has nothing to do with politics. my job is to wake up every day and fight for children. that is my only job is to fight for children. and republican, democrat, new school, old guard, whoever it might be, i need to work with everybody. what i've actually been very heartened by is, again, both sides of the aisle, congress, senate, whatever it might be, people understand that we have to get better. i haven't met with one person yet who said this is the time when complacency's okay, when the status quo's good enough. everybody knows we have to push the envelope to get dramatically better. we might have disagreements about the methods, strategies to do that, but everyone feels the same sense of urgency that i do, so i'm going to partner with everyone i can and challenge them and ask them to challenge me to push with a real sense of urgency. i'm acutely aware every day of how short this window is. i was lucky enough to be the ceo

of the chicago public schools for 7 1/2 years. and let me tell you, that time flew by. that's like yesterday. so, you hope for eight years, but you can't bank on eight years, so you have to think in these next four years, how do we so fundamentally change the status quo that we change education forever in our country? and we need to work with everyone to move with a real sense of urgency to accomplish as much as we can in a relatively short amount of time. and yes, i would say make up for years, years, you could argue decades, of neglect and lack of support. >> one of the things that people applauded you for when you headed up the chicago public school system is that you weren't afraid to deal with charter schools. you weren't afraid to do the things that so many people concerned their selves with in terms of political fight. question of whether vouchers are better, incentive education, et cetera. yet, with all of that, particularly on a national

level, strong lobby is the teachers union. are you ready to take that fight on? one has to believe that if some of what you want to put in, you're going to have a huge fight down the line. >> i think it's so important that, as i said earlier, we all have to stretch outside our comfort zone, we all have to be willing to challenge the status quo, and that includes the unions. i think it's very important that as they change, as they adjust to this new reality, that they be partners with me. it's very important that change happen with folks, not to them. and so, i'm in constant communication with the leadership of the nea and the aft, and i will tell you in all honesty, so far i've seen an absolute willingness to think differently to partner in different ways, and we all have to get dramatically better. but let me be clear, just as i'm going to challenge the unions every day to behave differently, we have to look in the mirror and we as the department of education have to equally be part of that change. let me give you a quick example. when i was in chicago, when the department of education used to call me, that wasn't always a call i welcomed that was usually a call about a compliance issue or audit report. it really had to do with how you

close the achievement gap or help students learn more. so, i'm fundamentally trying to change the culture here. easy to talk about, harder to do. but can we move from being this big bureaucracy, this compliance-driven place to being a place of innovation and best practices and skills that work? so, yes, i'm going to challenge the unions every day, i'm going to challenge parents, students, we talked about that but we're going to be self critical and know we have to be part of how that change has to happen. we have to not only change ourselves, but we have to change how we interact with each other. and i will tell you, honestly in too many places around the country at multiple levels, the dysfunction, the inability to communicate, to sit down, to listen, to work together, that's hurt children tremendously. >> we should note that your father was an educator. your mom ran and runs a program for underprivileged kids in the inner city. so, you have been around african-americans and minorities your whole life. so, i wanted to couch that with

this question. when you think about the importance of education and the symbolism of education, how much do you believe that the president's image and the first lady's image will go beyond the zeal of what we have seen now and be pervasive to change the thoughts of many of these not only young people but parents? >> i think the real and symbolic power of the president and the first lady is extraordinary. and i talked about how they are literally the living embodiment of what a great education can do. as i visit schools in chicago, as i visit schools around the country in this new role these first 100 days, i hear children talking not about just wanting to be the president, they talk about they want to be smart like the president. and i've talked a lot about the barack effect, the obama effect. anwhat he and the first lady have done and have the unique ability to do is they have made

being smart hip. they have made it cool. and that's not to be underestimated. children around the country for the first time in their lives really think if i work hard, if i do well, i can accomplish anything, i can be the president of the united states. adults used to say that historically, but as you well know, the adults didn't even believe that in their own heart. they didn't see it. for the first time, adults and children around the country can say, if i work hard, if i get a great education, i can be successful. so, i think the president has a phenomenally powerful ability, and the first lady, to relate to children and say i was in your, you know, i walked in your footsteps. when the first lady came and visited our building, first thing she said to the staff here is she said thank you. she said because of great educators -- she went to neighborhood schools, not, you know, nothing elite, neighborhood schools on the south side of chicago, she and her brother. they have both gone on, obviously, to do fantastic things. she said thank you, because educators like you made me. think about how powerful that

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the airline industry has seen its share of economic troubles, but american airlines is making plans for a brighter future. in fact, now the company is providing hands-on training for prospects in the field of aviation. we spotlight an american airlines future pilot program for giving promise to young people who others had written off. here's our "slice of life." ♪ while most students study math and science, these texas high school students are taking these subjects to new heights. they're actually in training to become pilots and aircraft mechanics. >> what we're going to do, when the wing's going to be on this mount, we're going to fix it. >> i don't really know what i want to be when i grow up, but

now that i see this, i know i want to be an engineer, a mechanic for the airplanes. >> thanks to an american airlines-sponsored future pilots flight school, students, usually from underprivileged areas, receive training and skill sets to prepare them for an aviation workforce that's drastically underrepresented by african-americans. >> after i learn how to fly and stuff, then i'll have a career already ready for me if i want to go into the pilot field. >> when i got in this program, i had never seen a plane in person or actually been on one, so when i got -- when we first came out here to the hangar, that's first day that i rode in a plane and that's when i wanted to, like, be a pilot, too. >> with legendary tuskegee airmen and american airlines pilots steering students in the right direction, they're bound to reach their goals. >> they should take advantage of it. there's been a lot of doors opened. unlike there was before, they don't have to look back now. >> the school allows us to reach

out to the community and provide an opportunity for at-risk kids to realize a passion. >> critical paper flight is what? >> landing. >> when you're landing and when you're taking off. >> with after-school classes monday through friday and several weekends over a four-year period, the 18 students who are participating in the program don't take this opportunity lightly. >> i think it's important because it shows we can do this, we're smart enough to do this instead of the stereotypes that say we can't. >> stay with us. we'll be right back. welcome to our mcdonald's. yours? really? it's been our dream since we were kids. uh, that long, huh? why not? mcdonald's really supports entrepreneurs. they spend over $5 billion dollars... with businesses in communities like ours. you two really know your stuff. we've done our homework! time for breakfast. mom! not in front of the customers. wake up! wake up!

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only you can prevent wildfires. that's it for this edition of "our world with black enterprise." for more information or to drop us a line, go to ourworld.blackenterprise.com. until next time, i'm ed gordon, and thanks for making "our world" your world. a microfiber sofa bed at the extraordinary price of $329. just $329. i use capzasin quick relief gel. [ male announcer ] starts working on contact and at the nerve level to block pain for hours. capzasin. takes the pain out of arthritis.