time she took over. >> in 2007 the education world went into a frenzy over the possibility that michelle rheectually turn around the school district. >> featured in the lightning rod documentary "waiting for superman" rhee turned the school system upsidedown, firing dozens of schoolteachers and closing 27 schools. you famously clashed with the unions while you were in office. do you think still in retrospect and looking forward, are teachers unions a fundamental problem to educational reform? >> well, i think that teachers unions, but more specifically the contracts, the collective bargaining agreements that dictate a lot of the policies in school districts are extraordinarily problematic. >> one of the policies rhee has been fighting has to do with seniority. when schools cut their budgets, newer teachers are often laid off before the more experienced teachers regardless of their performance. it's the so-called last-in, first-out policy. >> this is a policy that makes absolutely no sense for children. because what it results in is one, you end up firing some of your best teachers. two, you e

michelle rhee, c.e.o. of students first, and former chancellor of the washington, d.c.public schools. matthew segal, cofounder of ourtime.org, an organization focused on empowering youth. eileen mcdonnell, president and c.e.o. of the penn mutual life insurance company. dr. joe greer, assistant dean and professor of medicine at florida international university. john bogle, the founder of the vanguard group, the world's largest mutual fund company, and mick cornett, mayor of oklahoma city and president of the republican mayors association. tell me one thing, one thing that is working well, one thing that gives you hope. >> i still believe in american ingenuity. i think the 18th century was about the best farm. i think the 19th century saw a move toward a more manufacturing economy. i think the 20th century was about creating the most efficient factory, but the 21st century is going to be about ideas and i think america is going to produce the most ideas and we're going to rein supreme. >> pelley: matt? >> i say the service ethic of the country, but in particular, my gener

this came out and make comments that the former dc school counselor michelle rhee said. she said the average teacher's salary is $55,000 bid isn't a great teacher were $55,000? the average pay as closer to $110,000 because the benefits are about equal to the salary. it is not just a great teacher getting neck, it is sort of a good teacher and a poor teacher and a teacher who should not be in the classroom at all getting bad. there's not much differentiation in pay between the best teachers and the not so good teachers. the folks across the educational spectrum who may disagree with our findings often argue that we need to have some institution of merit pay. it cannot simply be based on how well your students are doing. some students come to school better prepared and others to learn. we cannot simply say that all teachers have to be assumed to be the same. the better teachers deserve to be paid for in the not so good ones should either be paid less or if they are bad, they should find another line of work. host: our next call comes from a teacher in richmond, virginia. w

michelle rhee, c.e.o. of students first and former chancellor of the washington, d.c.lic schools. arturo vargas, the executive director of the national association of latino elected and appointed officials. matthew segal, co-founder of ourtime.org, an organization focused on'm pow everything youth. eileen mcdonnel, president and c.e.o. of the penn mutual life insurance company. dr. joe greer, assistant dean and professor of medicine at florida international university. and john bogle, the founder of the vanguard group, the world's largest mutual fund company. >> we the united states of america are losing our ability to govern ourselves. and if we lose that ability and we're very close to losing it now, i don't know where we go as a nation. but it's not good. >>. >> pelley: the job approval rating of congress is 9%, the lowest we have ever recorded. why do people not believe in washington anymore? >> i don't think they like the idea that partisanship has taken over washington. that it seems to matter more if you're an "r" or "d" rather than if you have a good idea. peop

and michelle rhee, c.e.o. of students first and the former chancellor of the washington, d.c.ic schools. >> we've lost the american competitive spirit. if you look at how we're raising our kids today in the culture that we are creating, we are spending so much time trying to make children feel good about themselves that we've lost sight of putting the time in that it takes to make them good at something. so, you know, i have two little girls, they play soccer. they suck at soccer. ( laughter ) they really do. but if you were to go into their rooms today you would see trophies and medals and ribbons and plaques. you would think just based on that i'm rating the next mia hamm and i think part of that is not doing a good service to our children because we're not teaching them in order to be great at something you have to put the time in, you have to put the effort in. it's about discipline and work ethic. >> frankly, it's about personal accountability. it's the student, it's the teachers it's the parents all working together. we can throw money at education but it falls short whe

this came out and make comments that the former dc school counselor michelle rhee said. said the average teacher's salary is $55,000 bid isn't a great teacher were $55,000? the average pay as closer to $110,000 because the benefits are about equal to the salary. it is not just a great teacher getting neck, it is sort of a good teacher and a poor teacher and a teacher who should not be in the classroom at all getting bad. there's not much differentiation in pay between the best teachers and the not so good teachers. the folks across the educational spectrum who may disagree with our findings often argue that we need to have some institution of merit pay. it cannot simply be based on how well your students are doing. some students come to school better prepared and others to learn. we cannot simply say that all teachers have to be assumed to be the same pair o. the better teachers deserve to be paid for in the not so good ones should either be paid less or if they are bad, they should find another line of work. host: our next call comes from a teacher in richmond, virginia