that s an excellent question and certainly one that has spirited a lot of debate. if you look, during the summer, there are a lot of government-funded programs already that parents are tapping into to keep their kids involved educationally. so i am suggesting that perhaps instead of doing the addendums to our education system, that he with continue to fund our education system so that we are able to keep doors open and maybe not burden taxpayers too much by the added hours in school. i did read your op ed. it is very interesting and very provocative. you mention other countries who have all year-round schools or close to it. their children do much better than american kids, right? right. being in school is not the only factor that is the reason why countries such as finland are doing so much better than us, at least ard could go to this test. the way the teachers are prepared. the coach s attitude towards
well, there s tremendous contention, because one of the unfortunate realities is that in american society when the powers that be have found ways to african-american people, it has done so with tremendous skill. now that you have a competing interest group, so to speak, you have an exploded lapotionla population, distribution of resources, educationally, because of speaking a different language, of course, the bilingual movement will open up. african-american people may be, in severe competition over scarcer resources left to one side, because of the perception that now we must cater kateer -r to latino interests. if we can figure a way to forge connections at critical points overen iigration, there s been tremendous difficulty and tremendous disagreement but there 0 could be a way inac whi
this is a complicated problem. one thing i ve heard you say recently is that teachers have been beaten down. that they ve been stigmatized. as you look at that problem, what s the diagnosis. why has that happened? and are teachers unions a part of that? by some of the requirements, the certain amount of hours they ve got to work. in other words, making it less of a profession? probably 20 reasons why that s happened. what we want to do is not diagnose it going backwards. we want to move forwards and elevate the profession. and other countries out competing us educationally, teachers are revered. in south korea, teachers are known as nation builders. it s a really interesting concept. yesterday we launched this national campaign to recruit 1 million more teachers over the next five years as the baby boomer generation retires. we have this new website, teach.gov. we want to do everything we can over the next couple of years to bring in the hardest working, the best and the brightest.
view of how education is. 77% in our poll give our public schools a c grade or lower. and in terms of the state of public schools, 58% in our poll, if you look at the next screen, 58% believe major changes or complete overhaul is needed. and, indeed, secretary duncan, an overhaul is in the works. where are we right now in terms of reform? we ve made tremendous progress. let me be clear, as a country, we have a long, long way to go. we have to educate our way to a better economy. education is an economic strategy. whp you see us being 20th in math and science, we ve fallen in one generation from first to ninth in college graduates. that s unacceptable. we re paying a terrible price in a tough economy because we ve lost our way educationally. that s why we re pushing so hard for reform. it s important to point out as well, there s a lot of money in the reform movement right now. you got a lot of it. you got billions of dollars. as part of race to the top. president bush started no ch
77% in our poll give our public schools a c grade or lower. and in terms of the state of public schools, 58% in our poll, if you look at the next screen, 58% believe major changes or complete overhaul is needed. and, indeed, secretary duncan, an overhaul is in the works. where are we right now in terms of reform? we ve made tremendous progress. let me be clear, as a country, we have a long, long way to go. we have to educate our way to a better economy. education is an economic strategy. whp you see us being 20th in math and science, we ve fallen in one generation from first to ninth in college graduates. that s unacceptable. we re paying a terrible price in a tough economy because we ve lost our way educationally. that s why we re pushing so hard for reform. it s important to point out as well, there s a lot of money in the reform movement right now. you got a lot of it. you got billions of dollars. as part of race to the top. president bush started no child left behind. that will