and that included phillis wheatley elementary. >> what do you think it is? >> reporter: sean brown is the school's principal. >> once we hit that last hour of the day it's strictly reading. >> reporter: from fourth graders working on reading comprehension questions... >> we could eliminate underground... >> reporter: to first graders just learning the basics. >> they get darker and darker... >> reporter: students, taught by teachers from the school. >> hare... >> hare... >> reporter: read, read. and read some more. we want to hone in on the reading skills and then just push the students academically as much as possible. >> reporter: a high-poverty school where all students get free breakfast and lunch, phillis wheatley elementary is in a neighborhood with a high crime rate, and is the type of school administrators think could particularly benefit from the extra reading time. >> do you think your students need this extra hour? >> yes, i do. >> reporter: why is that? is it because they're so far behind? is it just not enough time during the day to teach these

former san jose police chiefs rod davis, bill lons down, todd wheatley, chris moore sat down with nbc bay area's damian trujillo to talk about the department they once led. >> public safety is the lawsuit number one priority of city government. and they failed in that process here in san jose. >> we ask men and women to put their lives on the line. we're not willing to support them if they and their families are injured as a result of the injury the officer may suffer? unheard of. >> we don't have enough officers and the good ones are leaving. >> reporter: san jose has fewer officers now than it did a decade ago. >> they're holding on but i think a lot are leaving for other departments and you can't blame them. >> reporter: the chiefs say massive cuts and measure "b" put the city on a dangerous path. mayor chuck reed says money is tight and there's no shortage of need. but he is working to hire and retain more cops. >> despite having to put in a lot of overtime, they're working hard and we appreciate that. the crime rates are improving over the last couple of years. >> reporter: the m

. >> before form are chiefs rob davis, chris moore, tom wheatley and bill lansdowne will stit down with me later this morning to discuss city safety. moore said this city needs at least 1,200 officers to keep it safe. san jose currently stands at under 900 officers. the mayor's office says crime stats are down in the industry. just about a half hour ago, we spoke here at city hall with former chief rob davis, who insists the city is headsed. >> this is very concerning to watch. we need to do something now, change how we're treating the police department. >> licardo has the backing of former mayors including tom mcrenry and the endorsement of the current mayor, chuck reid. we are. >> we're live outside st. >> 280 and los altos are back open after a wrong-way accident. >> in south africa, the judge has cleared oscar pistorius of premeditated murder but he could be found guilty on lesser charges, which include culpable homicide, which is the same as verdict. he admitted to keeping his girl friend, reeva steenkamp, but says he thought she was an intruder if. >> in president obama's speech l

he was once schmitten with phyllis wheatley of boston and poem to her. john barry's second wife sara her husband's th absences but the consequences of a family ripped in two. sara was a stitch sister of betsy ross. flags flew atop jones' ship ranger. while her brother samuel marched others to fight with washington in trenton and brother n, her older was such a staunch loyalist he responsibility by william howe to see that the patriots didn't burn the city down. left he british philadelphia, william went with not into exile but to one ship and d on command a privateer near the raid down the chesapeake. captured at yorktown and never saw philadelphia again. t fell to young sara, now caring for the young sister's eight children after the woman died in childbirth to have to return of the austin estate seized by the for ylvania assembly william's treason. gustavus cunninghamm was captured, he feels sent to england to hang weighted down 55 pounds of chains. letters but e spared the news after washington promised the british that six officers would meet the sam

unpleasant letters that you will not like to read in which jefferson gets a piece of poetry from phyllis wheatley and it says, she didn't really write this. couldn't believe a black woman would do it. or, in 1806 he exchanges a letter with another virginia planter who says, you know, i need to figure out how we're going to think about mixed race slaves and black, free blacks. jefferson wrote him back and said, half and half, it is still black. 3/had, it is still black. sally hemings is 3/4. 7/8, all his children by sally hemings by 7/8. the blood clears. >> thanks. so much to say, no question about it. , first of all, for, joe to have said that about my book is extraordinary thing. so thank you. that is remarkable and i appreciate it. there is no question about jefferson's views about race. joe's quite right, that is what they were and for me one of the most important features of working on the declaration was to discover how many voices contributed t to its constructi. and so, what i would say about that issue, actually specifically about the per suit of happiness phrase is that it is not jeff w

chris moore, tom wheatley, bill landsdown, and paul davis. >> we are not treating our officers the way you treat professionals. we are not there for them as a city to back them when they are injured in the line of duty. >> police chiefs can't be politicians, they must be committed to public safety, and they must have the ability to speak out, openly and honestly, about deficiencies they see with staffing levels and response teams. >> important to the department and you can't blame them. you know, you have to take care of your family. you can't live that way. >> you should be held accountable for the decisions that you make for the taxpayers that elected the person in charge. again, we do not have a strong bill. >> sam liccardo declined to be interviewed for this report, saying he wasn't going to debate public safety with former chiefs and credits the current chiefs for bringing crime down in san jose. but bill landowne says it may take years before it's back to normal. >> that's what this is about and it needs to be fixed quickly or you're going to lose these officers quicker than we'v

smitten with the young african-born poetess, phyllis wheatley of boston, and even wrote a poem to her. john barry's second wife not only dealt with her husband's absences, but the consequences of a family rent into by the war. some historians call the revolution our first civil war. they prove it. she was the sister of betsy ross. one of her flags flew at top jones's ship, but while her brother samuel marched with and other philadelphia sailors to march with washington, her older brother, william, was such a staunch loyalist, he was given responsibility by general william howe after the fall of philadelphia to see that departing patriots did not bring the city down. when the british left philadelphia, william went with them, not into exile, but to serve as a mate on one british ship and later command a 20-gun loyalist privateer during benedict arnold haase made on the chesapeake. william was captured at yorktown and never saw philadelphia again. it fell to young sarah, now caring for her half-sister's eight children after the woman died in childbirth, who also have to fight for the re

they no longer work for the city, but rob davis, bill lansdowne, tom wheatley and chris moore say they've been watching the changes within the department. today they sat down with nbc bay area's damian trujillo to discuss their growing concerns. >> when you go from being the safest big city in the country to now having statistics that are worst than cities all across the country on average, that's a concern. >> it bothers me when you dive down first street in santa clara, you would always see a police car constantly in this city. and they're not out there. >> reporter: san jose has fewer officers now than it did a decade ago. >> you've got to have the people for disasters. you've got to have the people for emergencies. it's not happening, and it needs to happen today. they need to move forward. >> the elephant in the room is we don't have enough officers, and the good ones we have are leaving. >> reporter: the chiefs say disability policy and officers salaries aren't competitive with other bay area cities. mayor chuck reed says money remains tight, but they've been able to give some raise