public high school chemistry teacher haley i can aiken are doing their best. across the country, policymakers are dropping the focus on academic performance. >> students may not be able to take federally mandated standardized tests this spring. >> reporter: education secretary betsy devos dropped testing requirements this year. she says it's wrong to expect students to perform at their best right now. schools in new york and new jersey and canceled statewide testing. >> our chancellor has said their grades can't be hurt in any way. >> reporter: across the country at least 15 states have canceled classroom education for the rest of the year. in chicago, students' grades cannot be lowered by distance learning. they can only stay the same or be improved. in michigan, students who were on track to advance on march 11th will remain on track and be promoted to the next grade. in florida, the governor has taken it all one step further. >> parents may at their discretion choose to keep their child in the same grade for the 2021 school year. >> reporter: one of the lar

, they got high school degrees in the aiken chapter. my dad, they were part of the great migration coming up to the north. they came up in about 1940ß1, i was born in 42. the federal housing projects my dad has always had three or four jobs and he became a subway modem up in new york. i went to boys high school in brooklyn new york and from there i went on to harvard, after harvard not really realizing what i wanted to do i went to medical school for a year which i really hated and also a part of my mother's, my son had doctor syndrome so we didn't do that. from there i went into am sorely looking for a calling i went into advertising i worked at a company called ted pager in new york and making ultimately ended up making tv commercials. i learned about film and tv in writing and commercials. i found something else to do. that was black journalism, that was my calling. black journal was first black nationwide network, black show in the country and it was by, for, and about blacks. i worked there for about three or four years. it was a g

aiken, south carolina. michael, good morning. why don't you describe the conditions these days with the coronavirus and then you can answer our question. how about that? what's the latest news in south carolina? caller: well, it's -- we laid off from work and they passed this thing. they are going to pass another bill to help us out. well it passed $2.2 trillion bill about three weeks ago and when you get laid off, you have no waiting week. well, three weeks when you got a check. they send you a letter first first week saying oh, your h.r. t you approved for unemployment. weekend week, they send you a letter saying you will get $256. but what about that $600 extra you're going to get? no, that's not in there. then the third week, no check. so why should they pass more aid for the american economy? they will send out nothing. i don't understand that. and then the people at the plant, the four people that are working there, the plant manager, the assistant plant manager, the supervisor and one other person, h.r. woman. and they get

my parents were from born in south carolina in the 20s and they went to school in aiken, got high school degrees from south carolina and my dad, they were part of the great migration coming up to the north. i came up here in about 1941 and i was born in 42. and we lived in brooklyn. new york in the housing federal housing projects. my dad has always had three or four jobs and the ultimately became a subway motor man in new york. i have a sister who is four years younger and we both did pretty well in school and i went ooboys high school in brooklyn new york and from there went on to harvard , after harvard, not really realizing what i wanted to do, i went to medical school for a year which i hated and so that was sort of part of my mother's, my son the doctor syndrome. we didn't do that and from there i went into, what did i do? actually i'm sort of looking for a calling and i went into advertising and work at a company called ted bates new york in making ultimately ended up making tv commercials. which was fun and interesting and i learned about filament tv and writing commercials and a

. >>> joining me now is derek aiken recovering from covid-19.eally good to see you again. >> nice to see you, too. >> you and i spoke less than three weeks ago, although it feels like a lot longer than that, and you were in the early recovery of covid-19. how are you feeling today? >> yeah, no, i feel really good today. i spent the last sort of two weeks getting my strength back. so as of today like i'm pretty much, you know, feeling 100%. >> wonderful. clearly you're immune right now, but for how much longer we just don't know at this time because it's a new virus and we're learning as we go along. what does this mean for you in terms of going back to work? what has your doctor told you about your immune status. >> i have a medical certificate to be around people out of the room isolation although still staying at home. you know, i think there still needs to be some more sort of testing done with that in terms of immunity. i know there should be some immunity for a certain amount of time. there have been cases in china where people have been re

aiken, south carolina. michael, good morning.hy don't you describe the conditions these days with the coronavirus and then you can answer our question. how about that? what's the latest news in south carolina? caller: well, it's -- we laid off from work and they passed this thing. they are going to pass another bill to help us out. well it passed $2.2 trillion bill about three weeks ago and when you get laid off, you have no waiting week. well, three weeks when you got a check. they send you a letter first first week saying oh, your h.r. t you approved for unemployment. weekend week, they send you a letter saying you will get $256. but what about that $600 extra you're going to get? no, that's not in there. then the third week, no check. so why should they pass more aid for the american economy? they will send out nothing. i don't understand that. and then the people at the plant, the four people that are working there, the plant manager, the assistant plant manager, the supervisor and one other person, h.r. woman. and they getti