Transcripts For CSPAN Road To The White House 2020 NEA Candidates Forum In Houston TX 20240714

I am lily garcia. We represent 3 million passionate educators. What we have to say about the needs of Public School students and their families and communities should be important to elected officials, who will make the decisions that we all have to live with, that our students have to live with. That is why we have come here together on this special red day. Ead red for ed ed is all about the voice of educators and our responsibility to protect our students. And the integrity of our professions. Red for ed is a movement that has spread across our great nation. We are marching this Movement Straight towards election 2020. We intend to stand up and be part of the democratic process that will choose the next president of the United States of america. [applause] we are doing something very different. We talk to a lot of candidates this time. The questions you are going to hear will come from our nea members, educators who have submitted their questions through our website on either video, or typing it in and hear, what they want to on strongpublicschools. Org. Anyone can go there and take a look during todays fordham todays form. We are getting each of these candidates 10 minutes. Let me tell you how it is going to go. You will, each candidate will have one minute of an opening remark, anything they want to say. Then they will answer three questions. One will be on video. The other two will be written. We have taken them off the website. The candidates will have no more than three minutes to answer each question. Look in the a corner of the screen. We are going to put it up there, i think. When they Start Talking, you will see that it is counting down. [applause] nobodys going to get more time. Me tell you, when it gets to zero and it counts down, i dont want to hit a gong or a buzzer, what we want to do because we are polite is when it says zero, we will start applauding politely. Try it. [applause] yes. Ok. Yes. That is the very polite way of us saying nobody gets more time than someone else. Maybe some of the candidate forums could learn to be polite. We are going to show them how. For us, election 2020 begins right here, right now. Spanish] may i introduce our first candidate who would like to be the next president of the United States. Announcer please welcome bernie sanders. [applause] senator sanders i see this big clock, right here. It is very intimidating. Senator sanders, one minute. Chairwoman waters i see that asked senator sanders i see that. Believe me. I am wearing this red tie proudly today, because i am here to congratulate the nea and teachers all over this country who have had the courage to march on their state capital to demand that we change National Priorities in this country. That instead of giving tax breaks to billionaires and subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, that we invest in the children of this country, and in education. [applause] to tell you that the courage of the teachers is reverberating all over this country. Working people from coast to coast are now demanding an economy that works for all of us, not just the 1 . Teachers, thank you very much. [applause] made it by three seconds. [laughter] senator sanders is going for extra credit. There we go. We have teachers and support professionals, Higher Education, preschool, and Public Service folks in here. Are very interested in the question that came online. Let me read to you what tom, a retired teacher from nevada, asked. To protect and defend Social Security and medicare . A number ofers years ago there was an attempt by republicans and some democrats to cut Social Security. And at a time when we have 20 of our Senior Citizens trying to get by on less than 14,000 a are cuttingeniors their Prescription Drug pills in half, cutting Social Security did not seem like a particularly good idea to me. So what we did is, we put together a caucus that i chaired called the defending Social Security caucus. And we said that we will not allow Social Security retirement age to be raised, we will not support a socalled chained cpi, is notat we are about cutting Social Security, it is expanding Social Security benefits. [applause] and the legislation that i called scrapping the cap. In america, if you make about 130,000 a year, you pay the same amount into Social Security as somebody who makes 30,000 a year. If you are a multimillionaire, you are only paying Social Security taxes on the first 130,000. That seems to me to be absurd. What our legislation does is makethat cap on people who 250,000 a year or more, the top 1 . We bring in substantial sums of revenue, which does two things. It expands Social Security benefits for lowerincome seniors. Extendsnd of all, it the life of Social Security by about 50 years. [applause] all of you know that for the been a years there has war against the working class of this country, and at the same time republicans want to give theyreaks to billionaires are talking about cutting Social Security, medicare and medicaid. We are going to stand up to you ared our view is, not going to cut Social Security, you are going to extend the life of it so it will be strong and viable for our kids and grandchildren. You are not going to cut medicare because we are going to ,ight for a medicare for all singlepayer program. [applause] lily thank you. On strongpublicschools. Org we invite folks to ask questions. Our first member video question. Omes from hawaii my question for president ial candidates is, how are you going to increase salaries to make teaching more attractive, so we will have less teacher shortages nationwide . Thank you so much. Mahalo. Senator sanders let me thank mary for that very important question. The answer goes beyond teacher salaries, which i will talk about enablement. The answer has everything to do changing National Priorities. The answer has everything to do the culture of america so that we recognize that there is nothing more important than education in america. [applause] and if we appreciate that allation and learning is about what human life has to do with, all of us should be learning from the day we are born until the day we die. And of course, in america, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, it must go without saying we are going to have the best Public Schools in the entire world. [applause] and that means that it goes without saying that we are going receive thehers who respect and the remuneration that they deserve for doing some of the most important work in america. [applause] aunt it means that and it means that when we talk about teachers in the year 2019, the proposals that i put forward, the comprehensive proposal on education, it says that every teacher in america should earn at least 60,000 a year. [applause] another proposal we have brought forth which impacts 45 million americans, including many teachers, is that it is absurd to have so many of our people struggling with oppressive levels of student debt. We have got to cancel student debt in america. Now, i have been criticized for this proposal. I am criticized for every proposal. [laughter] its because i tried to stand up for working families in this country, and not the billionaire class. [applause] but on this proposal, if we could bailout the crooks on wall street to the tune of trillions of dollars, we surely can cancel student debt in america. [applause] lily senator, this question comes from linda, a teacher in alabama. Will you strengthen our countrys Public Schools and educate our citizens about why privatization and charger schools are not good for our children . [applause] a full sanders for answer to that question, please go to my website. And if you do, this is what you will find. Our proposal is called the thurgood marchal Thurgood Marshall educational plan. End federal funding completely for forprofit Charter Schools. [applause] taxpayer money should be going not to makeur kids, wall Street Investors even richer than they are. And our proposal puts a on all new Charter Schools until we have a full understanding of their impact on Public Education. [applause] and our proposal not only i, ours finding for title proposal not only moves smaller the to make classroom sizes that you have our legislation in another area raises the minimum soe to 15 an hour, everybody in a school is paid at least a living wage. [applause] our proposal moves aggressively to end the increased segregation we are seeing in schools all over this country. [applause] understands that real education doesnt just end at the end of the school day. We need to significantly increase funding for afterschool programs. [applause] we need to make sure that in our country, when Kids Leave School at the end of the school year they retain what they have which isnto the fall, why we need strong summer programs of education and recreation for the kids. [applause] and our proposal also understands that it is not just education, we have got to end the disgrace of having the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major country on earth. [applause] lily senator, it has been an honor having you today. Senator sanders can i say just one more word . Lily no. Sorry. [applause] announcer please welcome julian castro. Lily julian castro. [applause] mr. Castro [speaking spanish] lily ok, you know the rules. We are going to give you one minute to tell us anything you want us to know about you. When the countdown gets to zero, we are going to politely clap. Thank you very much, madam president. Thank you for having us. [speaking spanish] im julian castro. I appreciate the opportunity to be here today and say how much i appreciate all the educators who are here, who help make the dreams of so many Young Americans come true. Vision forou with a the future of our country, that in the 21st Century America be the smartest, healthiest, fairest and most prosperous nation on earth. I come here is the proud product of the Public Schools of san antonio. [applause] i come here as the son of a father who is a who was a Public School educator for 31 years, and the husband of a wife who has been a Public School educator 415. [applause] forublic School Educator 15. [applause] if the United States is going to be the smartest nation on earth, we need you. Thank you for having me. Lily we would like you to hear one of our video questions. This comes from rosie in arkansas. It is an honor to teach at this Historic High School where nine courageous students stepped forward to take on racial segregation in our schools following the brown versus board of education decision. Unfortunately more than 60 years latos with that 60 years later, we have not achieved equality in our schools. What we do to implement the brown versus board of education decision . Mr. Castro thank you very much, two rosie, if she is here in the audience. I grew up in an intensely segregated School District. I have a twin brother. He says the way to tell us apart is that i am a minute uglier than he is. I am a minute older. He is in congress. Tworew up in san antonio, of the poorest Public School districts in the state. I know from firsthand experience the impact of growing up in segregated School Districts. 85 igh school was 80 or mexicanamerican. The challenge is that today we are still grappling with so many of the same issues that we were grappling with 30, 40, 50 years ago. And even though our educators do a tremendous job with their students, you see every day the impacts of that segregation. What are we going to do about it . A few weeks ago i released my people First Education plan. One part of that deals with fairness in education. We want to make sure every child can get as great an education as in addition to investing in our educators and treating them with respect and having them lead when it comes to improving Public Education, in addition to investing and facilities and expanding opportunities, we also need to do things like tackle housing segregation. When i was secretary of housing and urban development under theident obama, we passed most groundbreaking rule since the Fair Housing Act further desegregate our country. I would also invest in more housing opportunity in higheropportunity areas, so we to gotudents ability into School District they traditionally couldnt afford to be in. In addition to that, i would invest in tools like voluntary busing so that folks are able to go to different schools. And i would make sure we invest in fair housing enforcement, because too often when a family of color looks for an apartment or a house in certain are turnedds, they down simply because of the color of their skin. We need to do all of those things if we are going to tackle the continuing segregation that the abilityimints of our students to achieve their dreams. [applause] lily thank you. Fromve a written question timothy, a specialEducation Teacher from alaska. Asks, my takehome pay has gone down the last few years due to the rising costs of Health Insurance. What are you going to do to address this problem . Thank you very much for the question. Reason inthere is no our country that anybody should ever go without Health Insurance because they dont have the money for it. [applause] up with a grandmother who had come to the United States when she was seven years old, from mexico, with her little sister because their parents had died. At the closest relatives lived in san antonio. She grew up on the west side of san antonio, worked as a maid, cook, and babysitter because she never finished Elementary School, raised my mom as a single parent, and then my mom raised me and my brother is a single parent. My grandmother had type 2 diabetes and i watched as her condition got worse and worse. Before she passed away she had to have one of her feet isutated, which many know common for severe diabetics. But that whole time she had medicare. I want to strengthen medicare for the folks who are on it, and make sure medicare is available to anyone who wants it in this country. Because too often times i the difference between health care and Health Insurance, is that Health Insurance is a denial letter you get telling you the reasons you are not going to get covered. Covered, but the outofpocket expenses, the costs are still too great. We can improve our system. We fundamentally transform our Healthcare System to do simple but powerful things. For instance, we need to end the distinction between physical health care and Mental Health care, and fully fund Mental Health care in our country. [applause] and as Public School educators, our Health Impacts care system and its shortcomings have on our students each day. My Education Plan calls for investing in a Community School based model that includes Wraparound Services so that students are able to avail themselves of good resources so they can be healthier. I believe these things go together, that all these dots are connected. We dont live in silos and neither should our policies in this country. Thank you. Question. Final comes fromastro, it james in illinois. [applause] illinois, they dont get out much. Is, how do you propose to allow professional educators to participate in the formation of true education reform without the inevitable politics that comes with it . [applause] thank you very much. Let me tell you a quick story that goes to this question. In between college and law school i went back to my old high school. I just turned 22 and i looked like 18, like i belonged in the school. Agot three classes as permanent substitute teacher at mile high school. One of them had 39 students, one had39 one had 38 and one 37, which i thought was against texas law, but apparently not. On the third day i turned around under student from the back of the room put together three or four looseleaf pages and chucked it at the back of my head. It hit me and i didnt know what to do. I didnt know whether to turn around and try to figure out who had done it, send him to the vice principals office, or pretend like it didnt happen and save my dignity. Remember every day going home that semester and feeling like i had to take a fivehour nap. You all know what i mean . [applause] the joy ofremember the moments when i felt like i had really helped a student understand something they didnt understand before, and the frustration when i felt like i wasnt getting through, or that i could save or i could see they needed other resources are needed Something Else i wasnt able to give. I came away for a tremendous respect for the fact that teaching takes skill, effort, understanding and patience, and that the teachers who have done it, who have been there, who have been through the ups and downs and have made a difference have so much to give to inform education policy. Already in this campaign, as we formulated this Education Plan we reached out to the nea and educators and teachers across this country. And my pledges that we will continue to do that if i am elected president of the united throughto make sure, commissions, testimony, through appointments to important boards, that educators have a strong voice as we move toward an education future. Thank you. [applause] lily thank you. Thank you. It is an honor. [applause] we are now ready for our next candidate. Announcer please welcome joe biden. [applause] joe, you know the rules. We are going to politely clap when we get to zero. You have one minute to give an Opening Statement. And then we have three questions from our members. You can share with us anything you like for three minutes, and if you go over, which i know you wont, i know you wont, then we will just start clapping. One minute for an Opening Statement. Mr. Biden if you get over, you get clap for . Well, maybe i will go over. [laughter] you get one minute to give an Opening Statement. Mr. Biden my deceased wife is a teacher. My present wife of 42 years, jail, its still teaching. I taught school. I taught law school as a substitute teacher. I came away with three things from this experience. Ber one, teaching is what is not what you all do, it is who you are. For real. You hold, more than any other profession, you hold the future of this country in your hands. Im not exaggerating. Its a fact. Are oure children children, they are all our children, the kite strings that lift our National Ambitions aloft, and they are in your hands. And we dont treat you with enough respect and dignity and we dont pay you enough. And i promise you, if i am your president , it will change on day one. [laughter] [laughter] [applause] lily we have a video question from rudy, one of our Education Support professionals in pennsylvania. [applause] there is a vast difference in the amount of economic support that goes into support our students of color, especially in economicallydeprived areas. I would like to know how you will help us out there. Lily how would you be more inclusive of students of color in economicallydeprived areas . Mr. Biden number one, everyone of our students has incredible potential, but most dont have the opportunity. The first thing i would do is double the funding for title i, or triplet, from 15 billion to 45 billion a year. And you have to focus on equalizing teacher pay, you have to make sure you are in a situation where you bring into the School System all the people and the aide you need. For example, school psychologists, sociologists, people you need in your toolkit to help you, because we ask too much of you right now. Thirdly, i would see to it that we rebuild the infrastructure of our schools. The infrastructure of our schools is horrible. Billion dollars in infrastructure money to rebuild schools, particularly in areas that are economically deprived. And i would make sure that we understand a moment the moment a child is born, no matter their color, race or background, they all have a shot. We would start with universal prek and before that, going into what i dont get is why we are arguing about this anymore. All the data is in. There is overwhelming evidence that it enhances every community if we do it. The other thing i would do in those schools that are challenged or in tough neighborhoods, i would invest another 100 billion in School Districts across the country in order for teachers to be able to get paid for mentoring, to be able to get paid for teaching other teachers, bringing them along, because we have to have you in the schools teaching, teaching, teaching. It shouldnt be doing three jobs or two jobs. Really. [applause] im married to a schoolteacher. The reason i became a professor at the university of pennsylvania, i was tired of the mail coming dr. And joe biden. Position where we have the opportunity to fundamentally change those schools we are talking about. I would see to it that we are apays challenging programs, programs, programs that allow every School District to challenge their students. Afterschool programs, as included in my initiative. I would bake sure that we leave children in a position to go beyond high school. Lastly, 12 years is not enough for anybody. So i call for anyone seeking a certificate or degree, whatever the deal is, including Community College, that it is absolutely free. We can easily afford it. The 1. 6eliminate trillion dollars in tax cuts on a stepped up basis. That means folks have a lot of money, they are about to cash and capital gains, guess what, eliminated, it only takes 17 billion to pay for all of this. [applause] lily it is a winwin. Question someone typed june, and art teacher in massachusetts, would like to know, what role do you think educators should play in terms of crafting educational policy, local, state and national, and why . Lily mr. Biden its like asking someone who runs an engineering operation, lets go get a plumber, lets go get a lawyer. You are the folks who know it. As president of the United States, the first thing i would do is make sure that the secretary of education, not betsy devos, is a teacher. [applause] not a joke. Number one. And so the press doesnt get confused, i promise im not going to appoint my wife. [laughter] by the way, she would be a good one. The second thing is, you have got to have wraparound initiatives here. We have to bring the entire community in, everything from the boys and girls clubs the ymca to the Community Development program, everybody to expose children. What is the greatest thing you can do for a child . To what expose them they have the potential to do. Kids dont know if they have never been exposed. I never knew a banker or a lawyer or a doctor other than the family physician, but when i got a little bit older and got exposed i thought about it and realized, the stuttering kid, i can do that, i can do that. Kids dont know what they can do unless you expose them. [applause] with regarding is, to education, you in the classroom should be part of the agenda as to what you are going to teach. You should have a say in it. You should have a say in what you need to teach. And i would put the School Districts in the position where they could fund everything. Look at the art programs that have been cut, the afterschool programs that have been cut, the job Training Programs that have been cut. How many of you have shopping your school anymore, art programs in your school anymore, how many of you are in that situation . Teachers should have the ability to have input. It should be regularized in terms of the School Districts, thats a local decision but i would put a lot of pressure to make sure teachers are in on deciding what the curricula is, what you are going to teach, because you know better, you know the response to it. And lastly, the thing i have to do the most is that we have to elevate teachers as the professionals they are. [applause] my time is running out. It is all about being treated with dignity. I many times have you been introduced and someone says, im an engineer, and then you say, im a teacher, and they say, you teach . Come on. [applause] mr. Vice president , you do us a great honor being here today. Thank you so much. Guys. Den thank you, thanks. Ait,wait, my bad, dont go away. Dont go away. Because you have one more question. I thought i flunked. [laughter] no, dont tell anyone what i did. Do not tell anyone what i did. It is just between you and me. Teachers can keep a secret. Lily im sorry. Its because im nervous. One of these guys is going to be the next president of the United States. [applause] all right. ,ohn and Washington State asks john in Washington State asks, how would you handle the soaring cost of Postsecondary Education . Should be inu position in the high school curricula, and every state has the capacity to do this now, that while in high school, learning and getting credits for Community Colleges or for a trade. That is in our wheelhouse right now. Cant go into more detail the second thing is, we are in a situation where we can really afford to make available the opportunity for people to be able to pay for, have paid for them, this opportunity. Go idea of being able to into a trade. That is why barack and i tried hard to significantly increase apprenticeship programs around the country. We should be inducing businesses to have more apprenticeships. Im a labor guy. Labor is the only guys that can do it right now. We should be encouraging businesses to engage in what is in their interest. The longer they keep an employee, the better loyalty they havent they can promote from within. The point is, apprenticeships are available now. There are over 100,000 jobs out there. When i was Vice President , the president asked me to do a study , hightech jobs that are going unfilled, jobs that dont require anything more than a high school job a High School Degree or a certificate, but they are not being filled. We came up with 8 billion to work with Community Colleges took a lot to businesses and say, what are your needs . What are your needs . And we said, here is what we will do. You bring that need, whatever it is, there was one in michigan they were making photovoltaic shingles but they had people who didnt know how to run a photovoltaic machine on the so a person who puts coal into a Blast Furnace can learn how to do that and they put the machinery in and train them on that machinery. There was a conveyor belt, an average 48,000 a job. It turns out the corporation didnt do very well at the end, but the point is there is a lot of these. Then rochester, new york, Community College up there, you all know that, dealing with kodak having collapsed. Its a big, big deal. Its an obligation of governance to put together people who have mutual needs. And it can be done, not easily but it can be done well, if you do it. The other thing is that we are , my wife,ion now jill, has an expression. Any country that outeducates us will outcompete us. We should be spending a great deal more money on pure research. Anyway, thanks. [applause] thank you so much. [applause] we are now ready for our next candidate. Announcer please welcome Elizabeth Warren. [applause] lily here is how we will do it. One minute for an Opening Statement and that we have three questions for you, unless i forget to ask the next question, but that would never happen. Everyone can see the timer on the big screen and when it hits zero, we are going to politely clap. So you have one minute to make an Opening Statement. First let men say, hello, nea, hello teachers, librarians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, everybody who takes care of our children every day. Andame is Elizabeth Warren i have known what i wanted to do since i was in second grade, and i have never wavered from it. I wanted to be a Public School teacher. [applause] anded to line my dolls up teach them. I want you all to know i was tough, but fair. [laughter] by the time i graduated high school, we didnt have money for a college application, much less to send me to college. But it was the university of houston, 50 a semester, a commuter college, that was my chance. [applause] i hung on and i became a special needs teacher. I have lived my dream. [applause] i want to say one thing. No. no, nice try, though. Senator warren i understand. Allowed people to upload videos of themselves asking all of the questions. You are going to hear one now from sarah, and Education Support professional in kentucky. What can you do for the United States to ensure that all children are entitled to a fullyfunded Public Education, a quality education for all . Ive got a plan for that. [no audio] because i believe if you want to get something done, you really need a plan for that. Let me give you some pieces of it. It starts with a wealth tax. On the top cent tax 1 10 of 1 of the great fortunes in this country, people who have more than 50 million in wealth. And firstllionth dollar, pitch in two cents and two cents for every dollar after that. Here is what weekend do with two cents. We can provide universal childcare for every baby in this country aged zero to five. [no audio] for everyprek threeyearold and fouryearold in this country. Raise the wages of every preschool teacher endeavor childcare worker to the professional levels they deserve. [no audio] [applause] invest in our infrastructure so we have good clean schools, stateoftheart, for all of our kids. [applause] universal, tuition free technical school, Community College and fouryour college for everybody who wants to get an education. [applause] more. Here is we can same two cents, make all these investments plus theseds cants investments, plus cancel Student Loan Debt for all who have Student Loan Debt. [applause] for me this is about our values, about what we respect as a country. Are we a country that just wants to keep working better and better and better for a thinner and thinner and thinner slice at the top . Says, that top 1 10 of 1 , 75,000 families, they have got to keep it all . Or a country that says, if you make it big, good for you, thats great, we celebrated, but pitch into cents so that every one of our kids has a chance to make it big. [applause] there is nothing in this country more important than the education of our children. And i will tell you this about Public School teachers. We recognize the work of every human being. We invest in the future. And we never give up. [applause] lily a couple of people wrote in their questions. Judy is a retired teacher from washington. She would like to know, what endd you as president do to a highstakes testing so students and teachers have a fulfilling and i namic educational experience fulfilling and dynamic educational experience . Senator warren let me start with the commitment i have already made long before i got to the stage today. I will name a secretary of education who has been a Public School teacher. [applause] because here is how i see it. I want someone in washington who, every time they think about standards and who is meeting what and they are writing all the regulations, someone who has actually seen a child light up, someone who has actually seen someone engage and actually lift their head knowing something they hadnt known before, someone who has seen a door open. That is who i want for secretary of education. Thats a divorce need not apply. Betsy devos need not apply. Like i said, its about our values. Special needs teachers understand. This notion that it is all about testing, that it is all about what somebody far off in the state capital or National Capital says, here is what constitutes success, and worse yet, here is what constitutes failure. That is not what education is about. Education is what goes on in the classroom, what a teacher has sat as the goal, and when the kids get there, it is a teacher who knows it. We do not need highstakes testing. [applause] i think this goes to the fundamental question of respect for our teachers. Too many folks seem to have gotten the idea that teaching is kind of like working on an assembly line, and we will just test your widgets to see if they are coming out all right. And if they are, you must be a good teacher, and if they dont meet a standard set somewhere else, you must not be. That is not what teaching is all about. [applause] teaching is about bringing out the best in our children, it is about Opening Doors for our children, it is about listening to our children, it is about responding to our children, it is about making the most of every minute we spend with our children. That is not about testing. It is about the educational experience and we need our teachers to be front and center in that. [applause] lily thank you. , for your final question an Elementary School asks when nebraska, and how will you as a leader make it possible for teachers to earn enough to support themselves on a teaching salary alone . Senator warren this is at the heart of it. This is partly about money, but again, it is about respect. It is about recognizing every day the work our teachers do. Here is the best place we can start. To raise teacher pay and get schools, strengthen our teachers unions. Make it easier to join a union. [applause] make it easier to join a union, and give those unions more power when they come in to negotiate. [applause] every teacher understands this. It is what we do individually, one child at a time, but it is also what we do together, that is our strength. We live in an america where democracy is under assault. Time after time, decisions made in washington work great for the rich and powerful, they get the tax breaks they want, the benefits they want, they get the exceptions they want, but for the rest of america it is just not working. We have the chance to turn that around, and that starts with our teachers. Our teachers showed us last year, when they went on the front lines in west virginia, when they were on the front lines in california and arizona and oklahoma, georgia, south carolina, they went on the front lines. Whats a lesson not only in teachers need to be able to survive, it was a lesson in democracy. We ask america, statebystate, whatteachers stood up, kind of country do you want to have . Works want a country that better and better for a thinner slice at the top, or do you want a country that works for all our kids . Teachers are on the front lines fighting for all of our kids. [applause] i have plans to get more money into Public Education because i believed in Public Education, but i understand this is about so much more than money. This is about how we build a country going forward. Of everybout the value single one of our children. Teachers whobout are going to lead that fight. Lets put a teacher in the white house. [applause] lily we are ready for our next candidate. Announcer please welcome amy sen. Klobuchar thank you so much. Lily here are the rules you have one minute to tell us what ever you want to say, and then we have three questions for you. Over, we all love you with a round of applause. Sen. Klobuchar we elected a teacher as governor of our state. We put in place a union member and leader as education commissioner in the state of minnesota. I am the daughter of a teacher who left with wisconsin for minnesota because they had a strong teachers union. She taught second grade until she was 70. I believe education is a right as i stand before you, the granddaughter of a minor, a miner, the first woman elected to the state of minnesota, the u. S. Senate, and a candidate for president of the u. S. That is what education is all about. Thank you. [applause] on. right we have several questions, thousands of them that came up on our website. Some folks were brave enough to videotape themselves. , from anne for you aspiring educator from iowa. Here is the video. [video clip] many of my peers interested in teaching have chosen other careers due to the escalated cost of college, and crippling student debt. What is your plan to retain more educators, in particular educators of color . My first plan is to increase teacher pay. That is what we have to do when we have a situation where only 3 of the federal budget goes to education, that is wrong. You can pay for it by many ways. One of them is by changing the estate tax, which helps the wealthy. Encourage the states to do the same, by rewarding them for investing in teachers. The second thing, because so maybe of you are loaded down with student loans, is to make that Program Review gets to have your loans paid back from the federal government, to make it actually works. It doesnt work for our teachers and it should be. You need respect for our teachers. I know this from watching my daughter, who was in school for a number of years. I saw what it was like when you didnt have that kind of respect and to those resources for teachers. That is why i think we have to fully fund our Education System. We have to stand up for fully fundng idea, and fully our School Infrastructure. When i came out with an infrastructure plan, it was about highways and bridges and everything. Front androm center was funding our School Infrastructure. We have Public Schools all over america. We have schools where we didnt in baltimore. Funding that School Infrastructure has to be a major part of our plan for america. We are not going to compete with the rest of the world if we dont invest in our schools and our teachers and if we dont invest in our kids. That is how you recruit teachers. By makingt teachers sure you have pain, a good job environment, that you are fully funding your federal programs. Schools byou support supporting our educators all over the country, and that means good pay. [applause] senator, this question is from mary in arizona. Said, how would you work across the aisle to ensure dreamers are given their opportunity to attend an institution of higher learning, pay instate to which an tu ition, and given a pathway to citizenship . Sen. Klobuchar millions of kids came to this country through no fault of their own these kids are in your schools, nearly every school in america. What i think we need to do is put them on a path of citizenship, to make them secure in this country. Recently, with the Trump Administration. I would make sure we dont have any commissioner like betsy devos in this country again. What the Trump Administration did, they sent us backwards when it comes to immigration. And tried to turn the table not do anything about the dreamers. Even when we gave them a bipartisan compromise. What i would do in my first 100 to make sure the dreamers are safe and secure in our country. In addition to all those other things, i would then make sure we have a past to citizenship for the people of this country. That is comprehensive immigration reform. I believe immigrants dont diminish america, they are america. You are the ones that are happened what has as a result of your work, we have 70 of our fortune 500 companies that are headed by people that originally came from other countries. 25 of our u. S. Nobel laureates were born in other countries. Many of these kids start out with nothing. They may not even know the language. Their parents dont know english. Who educates them. You do. You have put them on this path where they are such such a necessary part of our economy and our world. Record, i willck make sure these kids are a part of america, that they are not treated like secondclass citizens, and you who educate them are rewarded for that work. [applause] one more question. This one comes from jason, and educator from illinois. An educator from illinois. What would you do as president to remedy the decaying infrastructure in so many of our countrys Public Schools . One of thehar wasgs this president said that he wanted to invest in infrastructure in this country. He said it the night he won the presidency. He didnt really win he didnt get as much votes as everyone else. He said that night that he wanted to invest in infrastructure. . Hat has he done he called over the leaders in the democratic party. He says he wants to do something. They come back and he blows up the whole meeting. Why when i put this plan out, that was four months on my mind. I have seen these schools. Schools thes schools in nevada, and saw that they had air conditioning that hardly worked. Kids cantls where even go out and play because there is no place. Schools thatublic my daughter was in for high school. It had 60 kids of color, and they invested in that school. And i saw how the teacher spoke when they went to work every day, they had modern computer equipment. See the difference firsthand. When you have lived that, like i eyes you cannot close your to the need for infrastructure and the need to support our have as and the need to major part of our platform going forward. I want to thank you for your work. I would not be here today without teachers. My mom loves to teach. Her favorite thing she talked was the Monarch Butterfly unit. She dressed up in tights and an antenna and a sign that said to mexico or bust. She went grocery shopping. A mom came up with her severely disabled son. She said, he had your mother in second grade. He got a job packing groceries, and every year your mom would come back after she finished that day in that outfit and stand in his line and give him a big tug hug. That is where i come from. Thank you, nea lets get to work and win this election we can do it [applause] lily thank you, senator. We are ready for the next candidate. Welcome betoease orourke. [applause] crowd beto beto beto one of the casualties in texas is cashmere gardens. By a numberod hit of hurricanes in the past five years. We showed up in the neighborhood, and we saw four of the five libraries still shut down. We passed cashmere elementary. I said, this has to be a tough school, but your president said this is the bright spot in the neighborhood. I want to make sure i have the backs of educators and show them they respect they deserve. Thank you for having us out. Gracias. Lily you can stand or sit. I am comfortable. [laughter] website, great strongpublicschools. Org. All of our members are putting up a video, we have invited them to ask a question on the site. This is from new york. Clip] my students are at the vortex how will you ensure my ruralts and tehiheir community are heard in washington once you get there . Beto thank you. Perhaps picking up on where i left off at kashmir gardens, those children or parents who are have parents who have addicted to opioids. They have lived so much, and suffering that no child should have to experience. When they walk in that classroom, that teacher will do everything within their power to make sure they are providing worldclass instruction, but also paying for supplies for that child, paying for that meal , so they have a warm meal to look forward to the end of the day. Ensure that when the child shows up in the same clothes, she buys them a new set. Teachers to make sure kids who make sureling to struggling, who are i want to help them by holding pharmaceuticals accountable. Otherwise, the 70,000 drug deaths we saw last year will continue in this country. Let us not put criminals behind bars and those educators struggling under these , i want to make sure they can focus on the child in front of them, and not have to work a second or a third job. Organizes the right to for every single educator and state in this country. That means a living wage so you dont have to work two or three jobs to make ends meet. That means we forgive 100 of your Student Loan Debt if you are willing to dedicate your life to Public Service. It means we invest in minority ensure institutions, to that the teachers and the educators in those classrooms look like the students in front of them. Thank you for the question. This question is from james, a social studies teacher in california. [chjeers] what have you done to support unions . Beto thank you for the question. Devastations in our communities and states when unions are not allowed to organize. I was just in ohio over the fourth of july and learned from the great educators in iowa. 2017, when the state legislator stripped their rights to organized, their ability to used the leverage they provided in Public Education, no longer able to organize for higher with better instruction. Those educators are leaving iowa. Is seeing a bumper crop of kindergarten teachers paid for by iowa. To make sure we guarantee the right to organize for every educator and Public Servant in the state of the union, including iowa, and right here in texas. [applause] sure i follow the lead unions have set to guarantee that you can take time off with your family, that child care is affordable in every single part of this country, without regard to your income or zip code. We know that is an investment that pays handsomely. Health care is not a function of privilege or luck or circumstances. It is a basic human right upon which every single child, man and woman in this country can depend. Lead thatllow the unions have set to make sure we are investing in people and communities and neighborhoods. When we do that, this economy and our country will truly work for every single one of us. Our kids will see a future for thiselves, which means great democracy will continue to have a future on the face of the planet. [applause] i have been choked up since the last inauguration. All better. Cynthia, question from a life Science Teacher from washington. [cheers] what is your stand on Charter Schools and vouchers . What are you going to do to make sure Public Education funding is strictly used for Public Education . Beto great question. Parents of a the 12yearold boy, his sister just turned 11, and henry is eight. Worldclass dual language Public Schools in texas. They are getting an absolutely terrific education. That our make sure belief is in Public Schools and Public Education. I want to dramatically increase the funding for Public Education , paying the full obligation for funding, having a Permanent Fund for Public Education, 500 billion, that will be invested to alleviate between minority School Districts and quite majority School Districts in this country. Sure we invest in educator training, so that our administration will pay for that, for every educator who wants to avail themselves of that. Expand theure we Master Teacher program, so that invested soe who much of their lives in service to this country can also help to mentor the next generation of educators. Do i and you understand not a single dime of public tax dollars can go to vouchers for private schools in this country. Texas,in a small town in listening to a republican schoolteacher. Devosid, if you let betsy take my public tax dollars and send them to a private school, i will find you and i will hold you accountable. We all believe in Public Schools. There is a place for public, butrofit Charter Schools, not a single dime in my administration will go to private schools. We will fully fund Public Education and educators and make sure we have a worldclass system of Public Education in the United States of america. We are going to have your back. [applause] lily thank you. Beto thank you very much gracias lily we are ready for our next candidate. Announcer please welcome jay insley. [applause] jay inslee. [applause] lily welcome. You have one minute to make an Opening Statement. Then, we have three questions. We are so polite that if you go over your time, we will clap for you. Gov. Inslee i am governor of the state of washington. ]cheers gov. Inslee i am the product of educators and the educator community. I am the son of a biology teacher and coach, the brother a brother. Touched so many thousands of lives. I know what teachers and educators do in our state. It is time to have a president where education is a Family Affair. This is a Family Affair for me. I believe we need well compensated, skilled teachers. Authorized the biggest teacher pay increase in the United States. [applause] website, weour invited people to ask questions they wanted to hear. Some of them were brave enough to put it on video. Fromis a video from daniel georgia. [video clip] how do schools prepare students for the 21st century . How do you ensure all students have access to highspeed internet in the School Classes to prepare them for 21stcentury and skill classes to prepare them for 21stcentury careers . Gov inslee the question was how to access the technology. Here is what i fundamentally believe. You give up all the access to technology that you can imagine. If you do not have a Skilled Resources educator to provide the relationship with people, nothing good happens. Here is why i say that. Story. To tell you a when i was running for governor in 2012, i walked out of a aboutg and i met a guy, 73. He asked me if frank was my father. I said yes. Junior in was a Garfield High School in seattle in 1957. He was walking down the highway. He was thinking, i am going to drop out and i am not coming back. It is not working out. He said my father came up behind around,tly turned him and said, i have been watching you. There is something going on in your life. I want to help you. You are a smart kid. This 73yearold man told me a lightbulb went off. It was the first time someone besides his mother that he was on the ball. Caregured out how to take of his Health Care Needs and became a union organizer. We need teachers in the classroom more than any single thing to see to it those kinds of things happen in the United States. I believe that. That is why i am committed to compensation. Government federal reverse the front trump tax cuts. We take money from the oil and fundndustry, and fully dea measure soe i you can pay teachers what you should. So we can actually give students a step forward. This, we have to about theng as much career aspirations of noncollegebound students as those bound for college. So that younology can become a genius just as much as the physics physicists in this country. A Higher Education instructor wants to know how to keep guns out of schools and make school safe for children and staff. [applause] gov inslee we are heartsick that your students have to be under the shadow of fear. We are heartsick you have to to this yourself anxiety, when you should be helping them their curriculum. We need is a president who has the ability to stand up on these issues of gun safety. Someone who will stand up to the nra. In 1994, i was a freshman congressman from a small town in a republican district in washington. Proposed tocame up ban assault weapons. I knew if i proposed to ban assault weapons, i would lose my seat in this district. To ban assault weapons, i lost my seat, and i have never regretted that vote for one second. It was the right vote then and is now. [applause] seat, thank you to the Washington State Education Association for that, thank you very much. [applause] major gunssed three safety legislations. It is time to have them on the run in washington dc. [applause] we know thats not the only issue. Says the solution is to give firstgrade teachers pistols. I went to the white house last february and told him, you are wrong. Bleeding soquit much and listen to educators more. Eting so much and listen to educators more. [applause] we need a functioning Mental Health care system so that your students have Mental Health care in the United States. We need more counselors to help students when they have domestic violence, when they have homelessness, when they are exposed to the problems of growing up. Educators, i mean educators. I am including bus drivers, surerians, we have to make [applause] we have one last question for you. This one comes from a special Education Teacher in kansas. [cheers] it is a well researched fact Early Education is a great investment. How can you finance high quality, Early Education programs for every child . In 1989, i was a legislator in Washington State. We came up with this radical idea, of getting three and fouryearold students Early Childhood education, so they could be ready for kindergarten, so their kids could be ready for first grade. Really time, there was not a lot of neurological information about the effect of that. I voted for the Childrens Initiative to finance that. We did not pass that. A quarter of a century later, we know this is perhaps the single best investment of the dollars of our taxpayer money. We understand this now. [applause] havepleased to tell you we not only achieved full day kindergarten for every student in washington, but thousands more now get an Early Childhood education. [applause] the question is, how do you finance that . Ou finance that the new way the old way is giving billions of dollars to the top 1 and you hope that trickles down to all the working people of the United States. The way we finance it in the state of washington is by taxing ,he people who should be taxed so the burden is not put on working people. As we move forward, we should make rational decisions to toeal the trump tax cuts, put money from the oil and gas industry into Early Childhood education. That is how we get this job done. Stageing to leave the with a couple other comments. One is about immigration. Trump said, he threatened me, when i said i would have proimmigrant policies, he threatened me. I said, we will have diversity in the United States of america. I will close with this. Dedicated you are professional lives to the generations to come behind us. We know we have a moral obligation to those generations, to defeat the planet crisis. I have dedicated the last two decades of my public life to defeating this crisis. I have proposed a plan to make sure we put people to work, and i am the candidate who is saying this. Honor, i willhis make defeating the Climate Crisis, the number one priority. [applause] lily we are ready for our next candidate. Announcer please welcome tim ryan. Congressman, welcome. Well go over a few ground rules. One minute to get the Opening Statement. Three questions we would like to give you, three minutes to answer. Welcome. You can sit, stand, get comfortable. One minute. Ryan everyone is telling us how good things are. I wonder why we all feel so bad. Why do we wake up in the morning and have a not in our stomach knot in our stomach . Systems in the United States have been broken for 40 years. Our Economic System is broken. The Education System has been broken. The food system is broken. The criminal Justice System is broken. Issues make their way into your schools. Is about notssion happy reform education, but how we transform education. [applause] website wherea people can upload video questions or type them in. We have a video question for you from sandy in pennsylvania. [video clip] how would you help School Districts with funding at the federal level . Schools that have to do with economic areas in learning and have food insecurity. How would you help them . Congressman ryan great question. I would put 50 billion back into title i and other programs to help local Communities Fund their schools. I support and have cosponsored a push for a hundred billion dollars in Infrastructure Projects in schools all across the United States. A 23 billion gap between the wealthiest School Districts in the country and School Districts that have high populations of poverty, schools of color. It is imperative we close that gap and make these investments. I think we help these schools rebuilt and we help with Infrastructure Projects and playgrounds. Help with schoolbased Health Clinics and make sure every school has a maker space so we can move ourselves into the 21st century. That are the issues critically important. , a loan plan Forgiveness Program for teachers and an expanded tax credit for moneyrs who pay a lot of to keep the classroom going. I know this because my wife is a first grade teacher. We need an economic plan and the United States that rebuilt the middle class. We have not held the people accountable who have run away with all the gold. Get the gold mine, we get the shaft. It is time for us to host this broken Economic System accountable. Iny have convinced people the United States that if we cut taxes for the top 1 , somehow that is going to build a school. That will pave a road or build a hospital. We are not just talking about education. We are talking about shifting the priorities of the united 1 to of america from the the working class of this country. Say working class, i mean round, gay, straight, north, south, urban, rural, all of us. They have tried to divide us for 30 years. Who was the me democrats who is a democrat . Who is in the union . It is time to unite this country. We have an educator from hawaii. On the website. She wants to know your plan to address gun violence and stopped the proliferation of school shootings. A greatman ryan question. This is very personal. My wife is a schoolteacher. Our fiveyearold goes to preschool. This is an you, issue we see too often and is unique to the United States. Support the universal background checks. Upport making sure we give get weapons of war off the streets of the United States. [applause] call closingt we the charleston loophole. I support stepping gun violence as a Public Health issue in the United States. Violence as an Public Health issue in the United States. [applause] i believe we have to play a fence. Offense. Will have a Mental Health counselor in my program in every school of the United States. [applause] that we can have a nurse in every school. Kids who come to a school and use a gun and kill students and other educators, 90 of those kids come from that school. Kids have felt bullied or isolated. Uselieve its imperative for to have social and emotional so that in every school we can make sure all of these kids, we can make sure all of these kids are connected to each other, to the teachers, to the school. When sandy hook had their terrible tragedy, they went on and did an analysis of, how can we prevent this from happening again . Mine a dear friend of mine, they put this analysis together, and they came back with three recommendations. Analysis, gun control and social and emotional learning. God, if we are going to transform our schools, we have to start recognizing that before we do anything, we have to Start Talking about how we take care of our kids in our schools. How do we address their trauma . [applause] [indiscernible] teachers, so i follow the rules. [laughter] [applause] lily you are wise. We have one more question for you. Barbara, ames from retired educator from the great state of oregon. Is, what you do as would you do asul president to ensure that pensions would be available for the future of retired educators . Would repealyan i the windfall elimination provisions. [applause] i should probably sit down. I dont know if it gets any better than that. Is an essential issue i have been dealing with for a long time, representing ohio. [cheers] thank you. We are an obnoxious bunch, but we dont care, do we . [applause] see what im saying . Fix sociale to security after we do that. I want to make sure we have Social Security until 2100. I want to make sure we give millions of citizens who give Social Security get Social Security a pay raise. I want to make sure this is solved for our kids. I want to make sure you can negotiate good contracts that put more money into your retirement. That means we have to double the size of the unions in the United States of america, so that we can push this agenda. I just want to end with a quick story. Ali d [cheers] there is a great story of someone catching him in kentucky when he retired. He said, champ, i saw you fight. Voice. A high pitched he said, you got not down knocked down. The champ said, it wasnt my fight. He said, my dad took me to the fight. You got knocked down in the third round. Said, ive never been knocked down. I am either up, or getting up. The American Union movement is never not down. We are either up or getting up. Teachers are never knocked down. Our kids are never knocked down public educators are never knocked down lets win this election [applause] thank you. Lily thank you. Congressman ryan honor to meet you. Honored to meet keep up the good work. Lily you dont know what i am hearing in this year peace. Lily adlib do somethign relax. I wont be singing a song. We have our final candidate. Nnouncer please welcome, Harris Kamala harris. [applause] sen. Harris [laughter] hello thank you for what you do every day lily [laughter] we hope you didnt get any speeding tickets. Here are the rules. Of pencils version down. See that thing there that everyone can see . I will let you breathe for a minute. One minute to make any Opening Statements. Hi, senator sen. Harris hi. We have three questions i will ask you that our number submitted. You get three minutes. When the clock winds down, if you keep going, we will just start clapping. You can sit, stand, the comfortable. One minute for your Opening Statement. Sen. Harris greetings everyone. I want to thank you for what you do every day. Children. Raise our two groups of people raise our children, parents, with the assistance of grandparents, and hell. I am proposing what will be the first in the nations history, federal investment to close the teacher pay gap, but i am thinking of teachers as her educators, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, custodians. Educators, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, custodians. I believe you can judge a society based on how it treats its children. I believe there is no greater expression of love that is exciting cap extended that a society can extend toward its children than to invest in their education. [applause] thank you. Lily on our website, strong publicschools. Org, we invited all of our 3 million members and anyone in the public to upload a question or a video. What we have for you is our first question. From carlos in colorado, you can see his video over here. Clip] will you promise to ensure all students, especially ensures with high needs, that they have the opportunities to succeed in our schools . Sen. Harris i am a cosponsor of the idea act. With your help, i will sign it as one of my first acts of business. There is a mandate the pattern government pays federal of specialpays 40 needs education. It is about 15 . The states have to try and make up the difference. They cannot. Whoseday we have children needs are not being met, who are being placed in general education classrooms, who are falling through the cracks through no fault of their own because the system has failed them. It is immoral, wrong, and i will address itk as one of my first orders of businessl address it as one of my first orders of business. We have to give them the tools they know they need. We know we have children with these things. We have a system in place for accepting mac. We still are not meeting their needs. It is wrong. We are failing our children. [applause] writing in on our website is susan, a retired teacher from minnesota. [cheeres] [cheers] what questionable you ask when picking your department of education secretary question will you ask when picking your department of education secretary . I will not be picking grizzly bears. [laughter] and i come from the golden state. Seriousness, that is probably one of the most important positions in the cabinet. , tos charged with a duty concern itself with the future of our nation and children, to concern itself with whether we are nurturing our children and supporting them. That is not what we currently have. I promise you the person who is nominated will be someone who comes from Public Schools. [applause] you that you will be at the table to help me make that decision. [applause] many of you know this issue of education and to our teachers and educators are, it is personal on so many levels. Teacher atade Thousand Oaks Elementary School, her name was mrs. Wilson. Teacher attended my law school graduation. [applause] here ifnot be standing during the course of my life there were not those teachers whoinvested in me, convinced me i was special. I wasnt particularly special, but they told me i was, and i believed them. That is what you do for your students, which puts us on a path to believing we can do anything. We have to have as the secretary of education someone who knows the power and relevance and importance of our Public Education system. In that position will be one of the most can ever acts that i commit as president of the United States. And i look forward to doing it the right way. [applause] lily this is your final question. Sen. Harris lets make it multiplechoice. [laughter] comesour last question from one of our Higher Education members. Sally is a psychology professor. She wants to know, what will you do to ensure students are treated fairly by loan companies, and future students wont have to carry the burden of student debt . Sen. Harris when i was attorney general of california, where i ran the second Largest Department of justice in the United States, second only to justice,department of i took one of the biggest forprofit colleges out of business. I sued one of the biggest for profit colleges called corinthian. And put them on the business. Their Business Model has clearly been to put profits over the education of their students. And so, what i saw with that for profit colleges they were promising these students that with large amounts of payment and tuition and fees that they would get in education that would allow them to get them a job and a life that would be productive and would be a living wage and that is not what happened. My priorityou one, will go after the predatory folks servicing these loans giving these loans out. Im a proponent of debtfree college. I believe we need to have loan forgiveness for middleclass and working students. I also believe we have got to take seriously the ability of our students to refinance their student loan thadebt. We have got to get the predators out of this space. Ive got a minute and 30 seconds left and i want to talk about another issue, and the other guys,is, i will tell you there are so many issues from Climate Crisis to National Security that i always think of do the lens of a child. Other issuese that directly impacts you is gun violence and what these leaders are not doing to not have the courage to pass smart gun safety laws in our country so that you have to, you have to perform drills with our students and teach them about how they should hide in a closet in the event there is a mesh shooter roaming the hallways of your schools. Roaming theooter hallways. Those children are distracted in terms of their ability to learn because people on the United States congress have failed to have the courage. So, i will tell you on day one, i will give, when elected, the United States congress 100 days bill on my desk for signature and if they do not i will take executive action and put in place what will be the f irst comprehensive, universal background check required. I will require that we take the licenses from gun dealers and i will ban the importation of assault weapons into our country. Done. [cheering] lily lets give them all a big round of applause. [applause] ten candidates. Candidates. To came to hear your questions. I am still just amazed. And i still want settle, settle. I want you knowim going to say it for the next year and a. Half strong Public Schools. Org. Thats when someone says what is nea doing about the next election, you say i am a delicate to my union. I was one of 10,000 people that got to personally hear what these candidates had to say about education and children and our profession. [applause] to strong Public Schools. Org. Say, ask your question. Let me tell youre going to find there. You will something that has all of the events of all the candidates. By the way, we are not here at this early part of the campaign promoting a candidate. We are promoting our agenda. What we want for children, for students, for our profession, for our families, for social justice. [applause] to show upwant you at every single event. You can get to. They are all over the country. Go up and go events, what is around where i am going . You get a car ufull of people ad you go to every event. Wearing something that delicate, you as a as a leader of this association, of this union, that will be called upon to make the decision of which candidate we will ultimately, at the right time, decide to support. We have so much to do. And so little time. But we are going to do it. And we are going to do it together. Thank you, all, for your patience and making this event happen. We are going to take a quick break. Get people back up on stage and we can finish our business. Some cameras i dont just disappear. Take a stretch break. Dont go far. We will be back in five minutes. Well see you in 10 minutes. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [playing shout by tears for fears] cspans washington journal live every day. Coming up saturday morning, britney shepherd of yahoo news will talk about the latest campaign 2020 news. Then Washington Examiner country bitter Naomi Schaefer will talk about her article looking at efforts to dictate how terrible foundations spend their money. Be sure to watch washington journal live at 7 a. M. Saturday morning. Join the discussion. Our guest on newsmakers this week, we are joined by stephanie schriock, of emilys group. Working to elect prochoice Democratic Women to state and local elections. Thank you for being with us. We should tell our audience that you had a big announcement that you are committing 20 million to 20 races to flip state legislatures in 2020. We will talk about that and lots of other electoral politics questions. Let me int