time she took over. >> in 2007 the education world went into a frenzy over the possibility that michelle rheetually 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 are 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, yo

schools there amongst the most troubled in the nation that's something that former school chancellor michelle rhee spoke about openly in the film waiting for superman . you wake up every morning and you know that kids are getting a really crappy education right now she think the most the kids are going to. go i don't think they are i know they are. all right or how about poverty considering that washington d.c. as a state ranks third in the nation for the highest poverty rate at one thousand point nine percent behind only mississippi and louisiana now congress hasn't made that a priority either so why is occupy d.c. why do occupy d.c. need an entire congressional hearing to talk about it i mean it's pretty civil right it's politics they're all i said has been on a tirade since december to figure out what all is happening in mr macpherson square he's requested all communications from the white house from the interior department and the park service so that he can decide for himself is the president is allowing protesters to stay in unsanitary conditions for political reasons and according to the wa

certainly the school went through a lot of change under the michelle rhee administration and kaya henderson said, back when this report was commissioned, she said that this was a potential game changer. that was back in august. the gray administration commissioned an illinois-based group to do this study. the iff, the illinois facilities fund. the report is out and it includes some dramatic recommendations. as many as three dozen schools across our city are slated for closure or for some serious restructuring. they ranked the schools in various tiers here. it is the fourth tier schools they are talking about. they are in some of the city's poorest neighborhoods and they are underperforming schools. i have some schools for you on the list, just a few of those that are on the list are spingarn high school, woodson high school, anacostia high school. those are just a few of these on the list. the city does have a problem with underenrollment. there were about 40 schools across the city that have fewer than 300 students. that is considered a low number. the iff is also recommending increasing h

. >> michelle rhee who was the former chancellor in washington d.c., basically blame teachers for low achievement but. >> i think the results that just came out showed that the schools, that they have eliminated some of the teachers who were not performing. >> they also manipulated results >> this idea is sidelined competition. i am a member of a sorority inc. with black women's organizations that basically has a lot of teachers. [inaudible] >> i thought i like to but you made a mistake. who got the holy water? who got the holy water? [laughter] >> next question. >> hello, my question is, we talked about the young people and then we have -- you talk about the gap. my age group is, i guess we don't get a voice because a lot of us are educated and we are not employed as well. we are not being considered and i wanted to, as somebody who grew up in the city who moved to other states and who is a very persevering person, i would like to know one of the things that specifically this book fair is about books. my industry that i am interesting -- interested in publishing and was outsourced to

the vice president of legislative affairs for advocacy group students first, tim, you work with michelle rheeu have been working across this country, my understanding is, to try to get a merit-based approach as opposed to just who's been here the longest. this group in massachusetts is just the latest to object, this teachers' union, saying it really overstates the problem, it really fails to understand the unique dynamic between teachers and students, and you can't just do can a one size fits all, okay, you know, now we're going to say it's merit-based and leave it at that because teachers will be taken advantage of. >> right. well, and, megyn, thanks for having me on. um, yeah, their system that they advocate for is just one size fits all, and it's based on just how long you've been there with no consideration for how effective you are as a teacher. when you say that this fight is brewing in massachusetts, this fight is going on throughout the entire country. there were seven states last year that moved this direction, so they eliminateed lifo as not a mandate based on where they're going t