>> a deal has been offered to philadelphia teachers, but their union head says he's not taking it to them to consider. is that the right call? let's get the inside story. ♪ good morning, and welcome to "inside story." i'm tamala edwards. let's introduce you to your panel. let's start this morning with attorney ajay raju. good morning. >> good morning. >> marketing exec brian tierney. >> good morning. >> good morning. a gentile o'donnell. >> good morning, tam. >> and radio host dom giordano. >> and executive. >> and executive. everybody's an executive. maybe one dai' executive. >> today i make you an executive. [ laughter ] >> i'm not sure what that means, but okay. all right. let's get going, starting about the teachers' contract. an interesting case. they have not had a contract since august of 2013. the district came to them and said, "here's what you would get over the next four years. you would get step raises

depending on where you're at. you would get a raise if you would go into a difficult school. and if you're a teacher at the highest levels, there might be some more bonus money for you. you need to pay more into your healthcare plan. but here's what you're not getting -- you're not getting any retroactive raises, and you don't get any raises if, let's say, you go back and you get a higher degree." jerry jordan said, "i'm not even taking this to my members." now, some would argue, shouldn't the rank and file have an opportunity to consider this? because they're kind of up a creak. state law says that they cannot go out on strike. so they're stuck at the same pay wages as august 2013 without getting a chance to consider this. >> gonna offer it to the people to vote on it? 'cause he thinks they'd accept it -- that's why. i mean, look, i get everybody has to play their role. jerry jordan has to play the role. and if i worked as a teacher, i'd want more money. and i totally get all that. but you've got to step back and say, "overall, what he's asking for would ta t $500 million to $1 billion going forward. let's talk about, in public schools, 1/3 of the students have opted to go something other than a public school -- a charter school, a catholic

school, et cetera. the audience is down 'cause the product's not there. and jerry should kind of focus on, if he's really long term thinking about it, what do i need to do to help make these schools better? 90% retention. so it's not like they're losing teachers. only 10% leave. 90% stay. what do i need to do to make it better so that there's more people who want to choose public schools? >> well, i would answer this -- i'm on the side of the teachers. as far as i think, they're underpaid in this. i think the problem is, though, jordan ought to talk about, where does all the money go then if teachers are this underpaid? and the other thing, and i know they'll never do it, for some reason, is merit pay ought to be on there in a much bigger way. that ought to be part of the package. but obviously, they ought to be able to vote on it. and i'm kind of surprised they haven't reached critical mass yet of these sort of rogue-teacher groups that are pushing against him, to demand that you vote on it. >> well, brian raises something interesting, which is that his audit went through and looked and said, "they're in the black right now, but down the road is a $500 million deficit." and bill hite is pretty much saying, you can't get blood from a stone. is that not an honest argument?

we understand it's not fair to the teachers who've been stuck while things got more expensive, but it is what it is. >> well, a couple things -- i do think he should take it to his members. i do think there's an obligation of leadership to engage the members, present what there is. and look, we've all got really tough stuff to grapple with in this city. there's probably an argument to be made, i think, that teaching is as much a calling as it is a profession and a job. and i do think, while i want to see teachers properly compensated, i also think that people have to dig deep. and let's create an organized system for teachers participating in a meaningful way, in solving the problems of students. >> for my republicans on the panel, a rogue question. >> [ laughs ] >> mm-hmm. >> betsy devose, her name is being put out there as the next education secretary. very pro-charter. we've got a republican legislature in harrisburg. so the reforms that she may make in washington could likely come

through in harrisburg. does somebody like jerry jordan have to look and say, "the land is changing underneath my feet. i'm about to lose a lot of money, so this may be the best money i get"? >> i think you have to improve the product, as brian said. and look, i agree with almost everything everybody said. there is this long-held notion that teaching is a vocation and not a job. but that is a great philosophy, but it makes for a bad public policy. the fact is that if you want to attract the best and the brightest, you have to pay them what they're worth. and then you attach it to accountability and merit-based, as well, and figure out exactly where the money is being spent. for a great, well-trained public workforce, as well as a great defense for generational poverty, for welfare programs. all of the things that are ills of our society, a well-educated system or a city is the perfect cure for it. and that's why in order to do that, you have to invest in the right teachers and you have to pay them the right amount of money. and yes, it's okay to also hold them accountable for a quality product, as well. >> but underneath this --

obviously, you guys are executives -- is the idea that if i hold out, i might get something more. >> you may, but you're also, you know -- you could hold out, i guess, but so far, they haven't gotten a raise at all, right, going forward. and you can't get blood from a stone. and the fact of the matter is, there used to be 180,000, 190,000 kids in the public schools. now 1/3 of them have chosen another option. she's not pro-charter, she's pro-choice. and let's face it, if you have a fourth grader, a fourth-grade daughter or a seventh-grade son, you know what? i'd be saying, like, "look, while you guys figure it out, 'cause you've been talking about it for 30 years, this is my child's only fourth grade. so i want to educate my child. and, you adults, talking about money and this and that and seniority, that's not relevant to my child." >> 70% of working-age americans do not have a college degree. you have to start at early childhood and inject in them a love for learning. >> and the pressure's not coming fr t is a bit just of a gadfly, and yeah, i don't have a lot of respect there. it's coming from parents. i think there are 40,000, 50,000 people on the waiting list for

charter schools in philadelphia. they want more charters. be against that are ultimately going to be paying the price now. >> that means half the students would be out of the system... >> right. >> ...voting with their feet. >> tomorrow, if thercent charted see those numbers going to it. >> let's close out asking this question -- is there any means by which rank and file members you need to bring this to us"? or they're really left waiting on him to decide or not? >> i follow this a bit and there are these smaller groups that are pushing back against them, but i don't think they quite have the clout yet. otherwise, we would see this on the front page of newspapers, that they were pushing back against this, yeah. >> and there's a certain social thing. you don't want to look like you're agastership, et cetera, i understand all that. >> so, let's change and talk about this -- and this has been a hot-button topic across the state and here in philadelphia -- what the rules should be when there's a police-involved shooting. we've seen a lot of debate within the police department here, among city leaders. the state district attorney's association came out with an op-ed this week and said, "here's what we think they ought

to have -- an outside agency" -- so let's say there's a shooting in philadelphia, you go to the state police or you go to the bucks country police and have them investigate it, the d.a. should be there from the start watching, keeping track of the files and the facts, releasing things, preliminary report, final report, and that that is how they should maybe change things here. "...they have an internal affairs bureau from the police department that does these investigations." let's start with that piece of it. should they indeed go to an outside agency? the police department, the fraternal police saying, "we don't like that. we like the way we do it." but should they take up that recommendation? >> no. i would say no. this is calling into question that what they're doing is wrong at this point. and they resist this narrative. we just saw the charlotte shooting come down with the d.a. after a period of time, to talk about the police were correct, or at least not guilty, in that. i wouldn't favor that, and i think it sends a bad message that, somehow or another, they're doing something wrong in these investigations. >> but if we have so many questions and people are calling for transparency, we're not saying, "go to california and

get some police officers." we're talking fellow police officers, people who do the same job you do in the area that you do it. but maybe when the verdict comes down, if it doesn't go your way, you say, "that's one less thing to argue." is it such a terrible idea? >> one of the things that i think is so important is, i don't see -- in all of the commentary that i've read and content that i've read, i see nothing that equilibrates for social media. i mean, people are gonna videotape episodes. we've seen it all over facebook. and there has to be a recognition that social media is becoming a great leveling force in conveying to the public things that other people don't want made public. >> i think body cams, dash cams. these are all part of the cultural revolution to find more transparency and accountability on both sides, not resorting to knee-jerk statements that are inflammatory in nature. there is the perception that there is institutionalized racism, especially against certain ethnic groups. if that is the case, then immediate -- whether it is

desensitivity training, de-escalation training, whether it's independent investigations, all of that helps with calming both the perception and the reality of institutionalized racism. and it's more of a cultural -- >> well, but i think there's a knee-jerk on one side that sees these police shootings as wrong, and they think most of them are institutional racism. i go case by case. the two big ones that we saw -- the north carolina shooting. clearly, to me, that was justified. the shooting with the female cop shooting a guy who was just outside -- >> but it's not clear to everybody. is there a way to make it so that you could sort of take some of this off the table? >> nobody gets to investigate themselves. so it makes sense to say, if it happens in philadelphia, i don't think it's a horrible thing to say, "we're gonna go one county over and have them take a look at this." have as much confidence as they possibly can -- and trust -- in their police department. and this is a way to ensure that trust. we're not talking about having the aclu come in, or some group like that. we're talking about having another police department in

another area. it seems to be common sense. >> and also an argument is whether or not the name of the police officer involved should be released. governor wolf just vetoed a bill that said you'd have to wait 30 days, or at least till the end of an investigation. some people, like charles ramsey, said, "look, transparency -- we're public servants, put it out there." other people don't want it out there unless a crime has been charged against the officer. what's right? >> i think case by case. i mean, it may be pending investigation if the public outrage is so sensitive at that point. it may be for the police officer's safety. you may not want to release. it depends on a case by case. and i think you all have some deference to the authorities to decide whether or not it would be -- >> but pending the outcome of the investigation is a cha-- i mean, i think you have to, first of all, look at the security and safety of the police officer and his family. that's got to be number one. but there's other ways to do it -- by posting police outside the person's house, et cetera, et cetera. but the idea of waiting till the end of the investigation in every case, you can see that would be a very -- you could see there'd be a lot of mischief, potentially there.

and people's right to know would be -- >> but there's so much more to this issue. i mean, yes, there are police shootings, but there's police misconduct in so many different ways. i mean, i think of some of the video footage i've seen of the sandra bland episode on facebook. these are the kinds of episodes that contribute to a legitimate sense of institutional racism, within the black community certainly. >> so is there a middle ground where maybe you don't say it right away, you don't wait 30 days. maybe you say two weeks. you give people a chance to calm down for one week. like, should there be a middle ground, that they go back to the legislature and say, "not 30 days, but what about a week?" >> well, you're talking about the bid and the ask is between -- if you take the "until the end of the too long, okay, so you take that out. then you're talking about between 3 and 30 days, is the bid and the ask. and it seems time in between tht protects -- unless there's some particularly unique situation about it. but people have a right to know what's going on. let me also say, being a cop is imagine. >> i don't know that the two weeks, though, is gonna satisfy the people that are critical of this. >> you can't give everybody c

say i gave something rather than, you know, one or the other. >> as those donald t always had, "you can't always get what you want." >> well, and that is very big issue, because that's creating >> a lot of people who wanted access to medical marijuana will be getting what they want in there's a bill moving through city council. state law says the dispensary has to be 1,000 feet away from schools and daycares. they said, "there's no place to works. can we say 500 feet, add on parks, pools, rec centers, is that a reasonable middle ground here? >> did you know there is not a requires public schools to test for environmental toxins, like lead and radon? i mean, those are toxins that are actually threatening the lives of students today. if this is a medical marijuana marijuana dispensary, then treat it like an urgent care center or any other medical facility, ifi. if not, you know, i think it is hypocritical to make this such a big issue, when we don't have a

single law that requires public environmental toxins. >> we want this to be convenient for people. but you know what happens -- in the beginning, everybody follows this. it's just people coming for medical marijuana. over the course of time d i thie of dumping in certain neighborhoods. like, where are these gonna be placed? who's gonna be okay with that? everybody says they're okay wit. >> i think the question becomes, if you're a parent, i can walk 500 feet to five minutes. that somebody can get their meds and be out in front of my kid's school or get to the park where my kid is playing. but if you don't change these au gonna put them when there's a school on every block? >> well, if they're medical dispensaries, why not put them near medical centers -- hospitals, places where there are physician offices, oncologic centers? >> yeah, in a hospital. yeah, that seems to be reasonable. >> you just found the middle way. >> an interesting scene in chestnut hill, near where i live -- two gentlemen making their way down the street. one holding a glass of wine while another guy spray-painted

some really, um, expletive deleted, anti-trump graffiti. turns out the guy who was watching and videotaping or taking pictures is the assistant city solicitor. jim kenney says, "this was dumb thing to do. i don't know what the punishment should be, but people make dumb mistakes." >> is this the way you guys do it in chestnut hill? do you walk around with wine all the time? >> i don't. i don't. i'm putting kids to bed. i don't get to walk around anywhere with wine. >> when you get past 7800 on germantown avenue, yes, you do. >> you never know. >> exactly, yes. >> is that the right call by kenney, just to say, "that was dumb, that was bad, don't do it again," or to do more than that? as a city leader, to say, "you know, you're part of the city establishment. you shouldn't have been taking pictures. you should've been calling the cops." >> he's the guy that's pounding this notion about malaise and hate crimes, and there may be some of them going on in philadelphia. they arrested another guy with the trump signs in south philly just recently. but this is the guy who usually comes down and he said, "these are hateful messages, et cetera. it's outrageous. it's an elitist mentality. god knows what motivates this guy. it's a tv movie of the week." but he ought to be saying his job could potentially be in

jeopardy. >> flip it around, make it a cop. flip it around, have the same first word and "obama" or "clinton," they'd want him out on a rail. >> but it's also destroying public property. >> yeah, i mean, it's -- yeah. >> so, donna's very quiet. she's not defending this -- >> well, i'm having a hard time getting a word in edgewise this morning. but let me just say this -- i mean, i think the mayor said, "we're back to the investigative process." i mean, and we're back to social media. we wouldn't know any of this stuff if it wasn't for social media. >> but it doesn't make it right that he could've gotten away with it five years ago. nobody would have seen it. >> of course not. and to ajay's point, it is destruction of public property. i'd like to know what the existing punishments are for that. >> well, see, and i'm destroying the time that we're supposed to be spending on commercials. we'll do that and come right back. >> "inside story" is presented by temple university. remarkable change isn't easy, but for those who take charge, it comes naturally. explore temple's impact. visit temple.edu/impact.

♪ >> welcome back to "inside story." i'm tamala edwards. i read an interesting opinion piece this week about the rebuild efforts that mayor kenney -- this was one of his big things to every city council member. "we're going to redo parks and rec centers and libraries in your area." the argument was that the person was worried that none of this money would go to minority communities, that we would see the unions, which have traditionally been mainly white, not share the money. now, the rule is that $3 million and less. they can give it to non-union workers. they're hoping that'll make 40% of the work go to others.

but this person said, "jim kenney should sign an executive order saying all bets are off, even over $3 million, to make sure it gets distributed." should he do that? >> i'm in union with jim kenney on this one. absolutely he ought to do that. >> i'm in shock. >> i'd like to see what the union -- well, i think this has been part of the gripe that i have. you have the guys that are part of this weird coalition, that are politically correct, beat up on everyone else, and yet, they've been able to keep this base -- i haven't seen the recent numbers -- that are mostly white. >> i want to take some exception to what you just said, dom. first of all, there are a number of programs that are under development and currently being launched by the building trades within minority communities. they're calling them micro-programs, and they're placing them within neighborhoods. now, they haven't made a big deal out of this because it isn't fully activated. >> but i'm gonna give you my reaction to that. that sounds like, we're gonna have the tax cut in 10 years after this is all over. like, this is not gonna be up, ready to take money now. >> but how long have we heard this, really?

at a minor level? >> well, first of all, i think one of the things that happened was sam staten's death triggered a whole series of conversations about, "how do we really do this?" and i think they're completely serious about it. so i think it's really gonna happen. >> i don't like the idea that you should live in the city and be forced to do that. but when there's money and we're trying to reform this, how many of these guys live outside the city? >> well, this is interesting to me also as a coalition, because labor is usually part of the democratic coalition. dougherty very powerful with that. minority communities. it's shocking to me that they haven't been able to work this out, that this is huge division among people who should be allies. >> the william penn foundation made, i think, the largest gift ever of $100 million towards this project. so that's a non-profit charity, very fo-- i think what you should be doing is trying to see, "for this amount of money, what's the most work we can get done?" going to the unions and saying, "i know your rate's normally 'x'. would you be agreeing, since it's playgrounds and things like this for the community -- it's not a high rise. it's not the new comcast building -- take you rate down 10%, 15% for the good of the community? non-profits have kicked in $100 million. let's see how many extra

playgrounds we can get fixed." >> we will see if any of this actually comes to pass. let's also talk a little bit about a vote we saw down in d.c. many people thought nancy pelosi, after that election, she was done. every democratic lawmaker in our tri-state region voted to keep her in the leadership position. what that the right call, or should they have gone with tim ryan of ohio? >> i love nancy pelosi. and i honor the fact that she was first woman speaker. i think she should've stood down as leader. what happened to the democratic party in this election should be sending a powerful message across all sectors of party leadership, and it didn't happen in this election. >> the argument she's made is, "i know how to get stuff done. i'm a tactician. you're gonna need that with both houses under republican control." >> let me echo what donna said. if you look at the scorecard, during the obama presidency, democrats lost both houses of congress, 14 state governorships, and 30 state legislatures. approximately 990 seats.

if the dems, who love to get on tv during senate hearings, had the same stats about a corporate c.e.o., they would be asking for their resignation. and i think it's, really, record matters, leadership matters. but i think what you're doing is you're doubling down on a failed record. >> and that's the working definition of "stupidity." sorry. >> yeah, but i think you've got to figure out who's running the democratic national congressional committee, 'cause that's what's out there to get them elected and re-elected, as well, and that's what the focus should be. the speaker doesn't really have -- i mean, there's another role of somebody who's in charge of making sure they get more people elected. >> i differ with this. it's the face of it. and they still haven't gotten the face of their party -- identity politics vs. what ryan is about -- rust belt, ohio. a guy like ryan would have put up a better fight in a place like ohio if he's more the face of it. they continue with pelosi and people like that, as a conservative, i wanted her to be re-elected. >> and also, they're having a fight over whether or not keith ellison should be running the party. are they still not getting it that they've got to regroup and not be stuck in fights among themselves?

>> i think keith ellison is terrific. i think he is the wrong person to lead. i know he's gotten senator sanders' support. >> very progressive, very liberal. >> i'll tell you who i want to run the democratic national committee -- jon stewart. because we need two things. >> laughs? >> i mean, if we've learned anything from the trump campaign, we've learned the importance of celebrity, we've learned the importance of wealth. and now i think we need to inject humor into trying to figure out how to reposition ourself in this wilderness. >> i thought tom hanks was gonna be their guy. now it's jon stewart. >> i think he's like, "i'm gonna keep making money as a movie star." very quickly -- pennsylvania is going to lose an electoral vote and a congressional seat in 2020 based on the last census. this has been the trend since 1920. is this just the way it goes, or should we be concerned here that the importance of pennsylvania is increasingly being tamped down with this trend? >> minnesota's lost one. i think illinois is losing one. texas is -- it's just the way the population is shifting. partly it's weather or jobs. we should be saying, though, "are we doing everything we can to make this a place that people can grow businesses and want to move"? and i think there's a lot of

room to grow. >> all right, we've got to pay the bills, and then we'll be right back with our insiders' inside story of the week.

>> "inside story" is presented by temple university. remarkable change isn't easy, but for those who take charge, it comes naturally. explore temple's impact. visit temple.edu/impact. >> welcome back. and here are our insiders' inside stories of the week. we'll start with you, ajay. >> tamala, they say that a differing point of view is approximately worth 40 iq points in the open market. so thank you for all your differing points. real quick plug for philadelphia. philadelphia museum of art, barnes, pafa, and all the other cultural institutions. don't waste your money going to paris or london this christmas season. stay here, go to the museum. mexican revolution and many other great exhibits open right now. >> great advice. brian. >> my inside story -- it has been a horrendous few years in terms of the internationally and domestic and shootings and the election and largest presidential -- my inside story of the week is a hope that we could have at least a month of civility. let's just try to find -- because 90% of this stuff unites

us as americans. and i'm really tired, and i know a lot of other people are, of just the constant what divides us. >> all right. donna. >> keep an eye on president-elect trump's new appointee to hhs, tom price, congressman from georgia. very close friend of paul ryan. price is a credentialed tactician. this is a guy who means business when it comes to passing legislation that will repeal aca and medicare. and we'll see what he does with medicaid. but the combination of that credentialed tactician and paul ryan, the ideologue -- put your seat belts on, folks. it's coming. >> all right. dom, we'll end with you. >> my inside story is, watch where governor christie lands. and the rnc is where he's throwing his hat right now. they'd have to find somewhere for him. he's part of the crony. he's part of the whole thing. i don't know if he's a good fit, but i think he'd make a lot of news if he were the rnc head. >> all right, we have a couple seconds. what do you guys think of christie at rnc? >> i'm floored by the concept. this guy -- up and down. it's this roller coaster. >> would his pugilistic manner

work as the party face or no? >> that's part of it. i mean, at some point, christie, when it blew up on him after the election, must have thought -- i mean, he put jared kushner's father in jail, as the u.s. attorney. >> and still thought he was gonna be vice president. >> he probably thought, "you know, i wonder if they're not really at me about this. this is gonna work out okay." >> i think one of the top election stories is paul manafort faking plane trouble to donald trump so he doesn't appoint christie vp. >> all right, well, that's it for us for this week. have a great weekend. we'll see you back here next sunday on "inside story." >> i'm gray hall, nydia han is off, coming up next on "action news" at noon, the family claims home invaders stole money and toys while three children slept inside. vote recount, pennsylvania ballots are expected to head to federal court. the eagles on the road for the matchup with the bengals

those stories and more coming up on "action news."

>> thank so much for joining s. nydia han is off, here's some of the stories we're following on "action news." thieves break in during the middle of the night and take children's toys intended for christmas, this is as the family slept inside.