other. these are things that we should caviat -- there is no snap of the figures and in every wikipedia articles fully informative. but by getting a cohort of people who are highly knowledgeable and good editors will start to see higher quality articles that go deeper into what a bill does. what the circumstances are now, how it would affect things and what the outcome would be. >> just to be circular, we can say the washington post, and put a sentence in there about with the washington post said. there is a certain level of adding references on the newspaper level, and then the next that is to go to the scientific papers. we will try to find academic studies with support statements. that is the next level of quality as we go along. >> we are just about out of time. thank you all for coming. if you work on the hill as a congressional staffer, you care about the well-being of our republic, hopefully this battle has encourage you to become more involved in wikipedia editing and improve the debate. michelle is already on record as saying she will help you. i'm sure that the jims will not mind helping as well. if you have any questions, we will stick around. please join me in thanking our speakers. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] wikipedia becoming a more useful toll for members of congress and social media is something a lot of lawmakers have been using. if taking a look -- taking a look at several tweets during the recess. college democrats of america. the youth branch of the democratic national committee. republican senator johnny isakson tweets and about his tour of the robins air force in about his tour of the robins air force base. al franken has this photo of himself at the minnesota state fair. had a fun time at the minnesota farmers union booth. this august recess, several members of congress are also participating in town hall meetings. and jared huffman spoke at a recent forum in california. it focused largely on the issue of college affordability and early childhood education. >> good afternoon. i am honored to welcome you to the college of marin. i'm the superintendent. [applause] we are truly honored to be hosting today's town hall meeting with jared huffman and nancy pelosi. --are joined today by [applause] esteemed board of trustees. please stand. please give a round of applause for our board of trustees. [applause] a varietyned today by of other leaders in education, both superintendents and there is a school board members. if you're in the audience, please stand so connect valid u.s. well. -- so we can acknowledge you as well. [applause] it is my pleasure to entu to ou. dana king was a familiar face in the bay area for 15 years as a five-time emmy award-winning broadcast journalist on the cbs five eyewitness news. marina familiar face in county. she has spent many years volunteering onf of children and youth, working to make early childhood education available to all students. marin the founder of kids. she is also a founding member of the marin strong start coalition. secure a stable source of funding to ensure access to a quality -- to quality health care and academic support for all of marin's children. she spent time volunteering every week at the juvenile justice center with young men in a maximum security unit. please welcome dana king. [applause] .> thank you very much it is so nice to be back in marin. it is sunny and warm over here. i heard a gasp when somebody said she's in oakland. what?! . do miss marin i was here for 50 years and it will always be my home. my children were raised here. now they are grown. when they flew the coop, i did, too. it is not that far. i'm just over the bridge. oakland, we have great restaurants and incredible art. i will do a little pr for oakland. we have a very important program to discuss. our agenda, to jumpstart the middle class. shall we? yes. [applause] we are incredibly fortunate today to have our esteemed representatives in from about thisto talk crucial congressional plan. nancy pelosi. [applause] own congressman jared huffman. [applause] we are going to hear from congressman health minister's day moment. he will give us a thumbnail sketch of the jumpstart action plan. .- congressman jared huffman the importance of preschool as well as the need for child care. without which come many families to send their child to preschool. it is rare to have the power base at this table in front of you. want tongs i'm sure you discuss, but we do want to stay on topic. we will go through the questions that make sure we do that. we will be passing congressman -- congressman hoffman's staff has paper and pencils. shall we get started? i want to introduce congressman uffman. jared huffman is a dad. he is a father of two children and he is married to a wonderful woman who is a public school teacher. public education is a paramount jared.nce to he values it personally for his children and their future success. was sworntive hoffman in as a member of the 113th 2013.ss on january 3, he represents our second district. the district spans from the golden gate bridge to the oregon border. cover six counties, including all of marin. congressman huffman is a member of the house budget committee. he has distinguished himself as a legislator who tackles complex public policy challenges. he works tirelessly and he gets results, often by forging bipartisan consensus on very difficult issues. you will read the news, right? bipartisanship is hard to come by. father, a husband, a member of our community and the leader in congress. i am very honored to call him my friend and your friend. and we welcome him now to the podium. [applause] thank you for that great introduction. thanks for everything you have done for marin and the whole bay area as a broadcaster and a community leader. i know i'm not supposed to say dois, but we hope you will even more as a member of the oakland city council sent. -- city council soon. i want to thank the students and the guests and the dignitaries. certainly the college of marin for hosting this important discussion today. i want to thank my colleague, nancy pelosi, for giving us some real quality time in a schedule that you would not just believe. as great as it is for me to be here at the college of marin today, honestly, i would rather be back in session in congress right now. theuld rather be working on mountain of unfinished work that this congress should be doing right now. many of us in the house of representatives urged speaker banner to keep congress in session to address a number of critical priorities, including passing something president obama has requested come a critical supplemental funding bill to address the humanitarian crisis we face at the border. the president has also requested critical supplemental funding to support federal agencies who are trying to fight wildfires throughout the west. we were're at it, if working like we should be in this congress, we could have the votes on bipartisan bills to raise the minimum wage and provide long-term unemployment assistance to job seekers. we could reauthorize the x port import bank to support america's small businesses. we could pass a bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform. we could bring up a bipartisan commonsense background check law so we could better protect our college campuses and schools and communities from these acts of gun violence that have become all too common in our country. since speaker banner declined our request to stay in session and work on those things come i'm still happy to make the most of this opportunity to be in the district. boehner.r i've been working with firefighters on the front line and met with agricultural leaders. today, i had the great opportunity to be with all of you here at the college of marin to talk about another critical priority. that is, ensuring high-quality affordable education for everyone in america. such an honor to have leader pelosi here. you will not find a more passionate advocate for education and for the middle class. she is the architect of this thing you'll be hearing from, dle class jumpstart agenda. ist she brings to it relevant to where we are at this time. we have the back-to-school energy here on the campus. leader pelosi has been in congress a long time. she still manages to bring that back-to-school energy to her job every single day and all of her work on behalf of the middle class. i'm so proud of her leadership. three months ago, i had the honor of addressing the college of marin graduating class at their commencement here on campus. i was struck by two things. first thing, this palpable sense of pride and accomplishment and optimism that you get from the graduates and their families. if anybody wants to understand what education means to people's lives, come to a community college commencement and look around. you will get it instantly. the other thing that struck me with the graduates incredible personal stories. stories of hard work, grit and determination. the college of marin takes pride in famous alumni like the great robin williams who tragically we lost last week. the college can and does and should take equal pride in the diverse group of graduates that i met a few months ago at the commencement. including the mother of three kids who is living on public waystance while working her through school. this young mother, after several comingf hard work and through to get her credential at the college of marin will be entering uc berkeley in a few days to study sociology. there was a young man who came to america from taiwan at age 16 and did not speak and word of english and did not have his parents with them and he worked grades andget good lift himself up for education that he not only made it through college of marin, but he will be to studysan jose state mechanical engineering. there are stories all over this country about how education transforms lives, families and communities. when you think about it and i think about my own experience graduating college and law school with what i thought was significant stint that -- student debt, we absolutely just have to do much more. if we want a vibrant and help the economy and we want young people to keep reaching up and pursuing higher education and everything it can do for make we have to do more to sure graduates can enter the workforce without crippling levels of student debt. he read marin, we are fortunate to have some terrific new new partners working to help stints gain access to college and graduate without that kind of debt. -- students gain access to college and graduate without that kind of debt. we need congress to do more. that is why i'm so happy to be here with leader pelosi to talk about our middle class jumpstart program. a 100 day plan for what we would do to turn the middle class around. it includes education and a big way. it is a straightforward list of priorities that i think everyone really should support. tax breaks for creating jobs instead of shipping them overseas. a priority of building america's infrastructure, raising the minimum wage, giving america race, focusing on supporting throughd families paycheck fairness and critical to the plan is our education agenda. affordable education to keep america number one. we think there is a lot to do to ofrove the bookends r.o.k.-12 education system. college affordability on one end and early childhood education on the other. bookends of our k-12 education system. refinancehelp folks their loans. we are working to advance president obama's call for early childhood education. we know that children who don't attend preschool are often behind once they reach kindergarten. many of them never catch up. that is not acceptable. we know that for many families, child care is an important prerequisite to preschool attendance. affordable childcare is also a prerequisite for economic survival for a lot of working families. we have to include affordable childcare when we talk about our preschool initiatives. consider the fact that even here in ring county, one of the most affluent counties in the united states, one out of every four children does not attend preschool. only 32% of latino children attend preschool. by the third grade come 65% of economically disadvantaged children do not read at grade level here in marin county. we have a lot of work to do. it will take federal, state and local leadership to address these gaps and realize our broader vision of a high-quality affordable education system. we have a terrific program here today. i'm looking forward to hearing from the other speakers and i thank you all very much for joining us. [applause] >> thank you. the work you do helps to lower foundation and it starts with education. it starts with pre-k. when a child does not go to pre-k compared which held that does, the one that goes to pre-k is 18 months ahead. they never catch up. i'm looking forward to seeing that bill signed and the work begun. we are talking about college right now. the affordability of it. or sometimes the lack of affordability and how difficult it can sometimes be to keep a job and go to school and get good grades and eat well and have a life. i would like to bring to the college --e and her she attended the college of marin. she transferred in order to save money and continue her education without having to take time off from college. in international studies and currently serves as a student ambassador. as an ambassador, she focuses on helping students that are understand that better understand the true cost of college so they can make informed decisions. -- better understand the true cost of college so they can make informed decisions. [applause] afternoon, everybody. thank you all for being here. i'm glad to share my story so other students will be more aware and can make better decisions about college. after high school, i first attended city college of san francisco and then transferred to the fashion institute of technology. not realizing how expensive it was going to be. that is where i learned the true cost of college. my parents could not afford to help me. i had to take out loans from the first year and then ended up iming back to california when realized how much debt i had already accumulated. now attending the college of -- college of marin, i am working to stabilize my financial situation. do your homework on different college options. what you might qualify for in times -- in terms of financial aid. i do not regret my college experience so far. at the same time, i wish i was not 22 years old with $15,000 in debt. the time and energy to research different college options can really pay off. moreill be able to make informed decisions that will make college less stressful and more enjoyable. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much. $15,000 in debt. economyrals into the because if the student comes up with a huge debt, they can't buy cars, they can't buy furniture, they can start their lives. we have to work on this. i want to bring to the stage, a young man who was originally from los angeles. he enrolled at the college of marin as a reentry student in 2010. during his time here come he was active in the latino student union and served as associate student president. he spent much of his time advocating on behalf of students . he focused on creating projects that increase access to edg ucational opportunities. --porting student access success academically and financially. icalajored in electr engineering and computer sciences and he transferred to uc berkeley this fall. [applause] ,> chrisman huffman leader pelosi, i want to thank you for being here today. my story is one that strays from a traditional path. i did not go to college straight out of high school. i never felt like college was for me. i went into looking for a job an electricalp in apprenticeship program. there was a component that had a night class. i gained the confidence and the strive to want to do more. that was the genesis and the spark that brought me to school. was looking for how i would go about this, i wanted to look for a place that have smaller classes. i needed something that made sense for me and what made sense for me was coming to college. smaller classes, personalized attention. and affordability. that was a huge factor for me. i did not have a lot of means to go to a university's right out of college. university straight out of college. it was not easy. there was a lot of times where i had to think about the cost of education. there is books, supplies, housing, transportation, so many other things that happened through the course of your life. fixing nat problem or something like that. -- an ac problem or something like that. i had to look like resources -- look for resources like the pell grant. my story does not differ from a lot of other students. there are students with similar situations or even worse. made the difference for me was being able to come to a affordablei knew was and had the resources that were there so i could get my education. many of our students face a lot of obstacles. there are students that face another obstacle where they worry about their legal status. as another psychological effect that most students are not aware of -- i ask that you both continue to support legislation that not just opens the door, but expands the door for many students like myself that never felt they had an opportunity, but are now reaching their dreams. thank you. [applause] >> inspirational voices. there is a struggle. how much of a struggle doesn't have to be? -- does it have to be? i get the opportunity to now introduce the college of marin superintendent. he began his tenure here in 2010 in december. throughout a 25 year career in higher education, he has been recognized for his leadership locally and nationally. a came to marin following i successful five-year stint at evergreen college in san jose. a variety of administrative positions at the washington state community college system. he has a bachelor of arts degree in configuration and public relations from central washington university. -- communication and public relations. and a doctorate of education in educational leadership with emphasis in organizational seattleent from university. he was presented with a 2006 special achievement award by the central washington university alumni association. in may of 2007, central washington university dedicated the david wayne kuehne center for excellence in leadership. [applause] pretty awesome. fortunate? he has taken great pride in helping shape the center in a manner considered with his -- consistent with his own sense of humility and commitment to service. dr. wayne kuehne. [applause] >> thank you for that kind introduction. in the beginning of our program, i asked you to acknowledge the leadership of our school districts. the folks that really impact the lives of these young students on our stage are our teachers. if you are a retired or current teacher, please stand so we can acknowledge the great work you've done. [applause] thank you for being here today. i would like to provide some context for our conversation today by sharing some information about college affordability, financial aid and our early childhood education teacher training program. ,ith respect to financial aid despite the relative wealth of marin county, 50% of our 7500 students received financial aid. average annual award per student is just under $5,600. this includes a combination of fee waivers, grants, loans and scholarships. on the bright side, we anticipate awarding over $150,000 in scholarships. national center for educational statistics, the number of students that attend the college -- community college and receive financial aid rose to over 74% in 2010. another troubling statistic provided by the national center retains to the rise in default rates. nationwide. as projected, this rate will increase in the coming years. one question to consider, a community college student still borrows less than their counterpart at four-year universities. where they increasingly defaulting at such higher rates? many community college students transfer in from other institutions where they have already accumulated a large amount of debt. they are starting out with their heads underwater. averagewith this, the -- to help put this in context, the average age of our students are put before. they have previously earned a bachelor degree or higher. one of the major factors contributing to student default rates has been the poor economy. many students had no other choice but to borrow and borrow more. -- reliednts lined up upon loans to supplement lost incomes and most needed reply at -- relied upon loans to cover other expenses. there is no way to get out from underneath the student loan. unlike every other day -- unlike every other debt, it cannot be forgiven or included in bankruptcy. the interest on a student loan continues to grow whether a student is in default or not. that mountain keeps getting bigger. while the overall amount of debt student seeking is the greatest concern, financial planning or a lack thereof is also a significant factor in problem. are placingcolleges increased emphasis on financial literacy and early financial aid counseling. with regard to early childhood education, for more than four californiae party -- committee colleges have been the primary hiring system for early childhood teacher preparation. more than 100,000 california community college students are enrolled in early childhood education programs. parentsn 10,000 student are serving county centers. there are among the top or an old in california can colleges and community college -- community colleges. our campuses,h of our california state preschool provides a subsidized preschool --low income student families from around the county. the classrooms are early childhood education lab schools that provide model learning environments that demonstrate best practices that are taught eceour easy -- in our courses. i thank you for the opportunity to talk about about college affordability and the early childhood education curriculum. [applause] >> very hopeful to hear there are $150,000 in scholarship money for students here at the college of marin. that is awesome. now, i would like to introduce you to dr. michael -- the highlytendent for the diverse district in the bay area. he has worked as a classroom teacher, assistant principal, elementary school principal, middle school principal and assistant superintendent. in 2005, he was named sonoma county superintendent of the year. ince his appointment here 2007, he has led district and community initiatives to create and ensure equity based educational opportunities. continues to report gains in student achievement in his district. under his tenure, the district now receives over $1.5 million in annual grant funding to support closing the achievement gap. ensuring a quality education for every child. he has built new partnerships s withllaboration nonprofit organizations. it is engaged in a multiyear collaboration with the national equity project to create an equity based, culturally proficient learning organization. [applause] >> thank you. i'm the superintendent, which is just north of here. if we are to school districts -- two school districts. board and a common administration. operate 13 schools with nearly 7000 students. our student enrollment has consistently grown over the last several years. we have added 1200 of the students in the last five years and we are projected to grow by another 3000 in the next several years. our district is the most diverse district and all of print county -- marin county. 60% of our student are latino. 60% of our student participate in the free and reduced lunch program. the new statef local patrol accountability plan -- here we arets iddle of marin county. it's hard to believe the demographics of a school district in marin or our demographics. thursday is the first day of school. about 50% of our entering class ,f kindergartners, 650 of them will happen to preschool. to preschool. we don't know if it's a quality preschool. the other 50% have not. notthose children who have attended preschool, they have been exposed to 350,000 less words. they enter school with noticeable delays. many unable to access the kindergarten curriculum come particularly that of the common core which we are implementing, which is a college career readiness curriculum that does begin in kindergarten. our staff is committed to doing whatever it takes to move these children forward. it is a herculean effort, but our staff arrives every single day with the intent of having those students be college and career ready. we also support families who are uncertain how to support their own children getting onto the pathway for college. it really does begin early. it doesn't begin in your ninth grade year in high school. we know from our experience is that these early childhood years giveaway for college. -- fewnext few years days, i will go to every askergarten class and who's going to college and every student will raise their hand. they note something to aspire to. they know it is something good. the time they reach second grade, i will do a follow-up question and ask them what they're going to do after they finish college. i get answers like a veterinarian, droctor. this year, a second grader told me i have a backup plan. her first choice was veterinarian. her backup plan is to be a singer. i told her to keep going. [laughter] regardless of the college or career pathways that our children choose, entering kindergarten ready to learn sets the stage for college and career readiness. the importance of a preschool cannot be understated. mustc school districts work in partnership with our 0-5 partners. those that serve the children from 0-5. they help us get the children ready to start school. at the same time, we must engage in entire school community helping to collaborate and work with us so that all students are more ready to learn. we must create welcoming sc hool environments where every family feels welcome. have them be partners in kindergarten through the time their children leave for college. 70% of our high school graduates begin college immediately after graduation. 60% of those go back for a second year. d, only six-year perio 30% graduate with a bachelor's degree. we don't know exactly what the reason is. we know it's not the recession. we know it's not switching costs. -- not tuition costs. we are just above the state and national average and we know we can do better. if we align all of our resources, fiscal and human, we can come together as one community that guarantees that we develop an educated community. , the regionalict partners, the state and federal governments, coming to gather dust together to ensure we graduate the next generation of college graduates. [phone rings] they are calling in because they are ready. with that, thank you very much. [laughter] [applause] much foryou very setting the bar really high for our youngest ones. let's get them through college. all four years and beyond that. the day after tomorrow, you will have a bunch of shiny new pennies. what a joy. it is now my honor to bring to the podium, the democratic leader of the u.s. house of representatives for the 113th congress, congresswoman nancy pelosi. [applause] from 2007-2011, mrs. pelosi served as speaker of the house. the first woman to do so in american history. [applause] in october of 2013, she was inducted into the national woman's hall of fame at a ceremony in seneca falls, the birthplace of the american women's rights movement. or 27 years, leader pelosi has represented san francisco, the 12th district in the congress. she has led the house democrats for a decade. previously served as the house democratic whip. i learned a lot about that on house of cards. [laughter] she is tough. the leadership of ms. pelosi, the 111th congress was heralded as one of the most productive congresses in history by congressional scholar norman ornstein. of spearheaded passage legislation in the house that establishes a patient bill of rights and will provide insurance for tens of millions americans while lowering health care costs over the long-term. she led the commerce in passing student aid which expands educational opportunities and reforms the financial aid system to save billions of taxpayer dollars. she comes from a strong family tradition of public service out of baltimore, maryland. she is married to paul pelosi and is the mother of five and the grandmother of nine. ladies and gentlemen, the leader of the house. [applause] >> thank you all very much. good afternoon. i'm very eager to hear your questions. that's why i'm moving us along. it's an honor to be here with each and every one of you. thank you all very much for sending jared huffman to congress. with president cowen, congratulations on the recognition you have received in the great leadership you are providing. what a thrill to be going to all of those kindergartens and talking to those children. how lovely. of the day,vips telling us your story. you are the teacher and we learn from you here at dana, good luck to you and everything you are pursuing. -- in everything you are pursuing. i am honored to be here. itas mentioned earlier -- was mentioned earlier that robin williams attended this school. thank you for contributing to his magic. --as reading, when mozart people would call him a genius, but a genius is someone that we watched what they did, we could learn how they do it if we worked very hard and we were very smart. but mozart was not just a genius. he was a magician because he had ever repeated examples of excellence. that is how i think of robin williams. more than a genius. a magician who could constantly be entrepreneurial with resch on the new ways. hims impossible to be like because he was the only one. thank you for contributing to his magic, which contributed to the joy of our country. [applause] in acknowledging your great member of congress come i want to acknowledge his predecessor who was a champion for education in the congress. she had opportunities to lead the education committee and go to appropriations and other coveted positions and she said, i'm not leaving the children. her legacy is a great one, working with george miller from across the bay. she is so happy that jared his ownis following path and carrying the banner of public education in such a strong way. officially.nd everything to do with children and their future, whether it's the air they breathe in protecting the environment or in terms ofities establishing the priorities that are right for our country, who better than jared huffman with his values and his understanding? one of the leaders in congress already, only they're a matter of months, not years yet. a recognized leader in providing -- preserving our planet and doing all of it for our children's future. [applause] he went through a long list of pieces of legislation that we could pass. they have bipartisan support. immigration, gun violence reduction, voting rights, a long list. aressociate myself -- these bipartisan pieces of legislation that have the votes to pass which are not passing. we have to take the message out to the public to say, let's have this drumbeat across america to say that we should be bipartisan and get the job done. public sentiment is everything. to the extent that you help us get this message across about education and jump starting the middle class rather than --lling the middle class that's why today is so important for us. it's something we will report back to our colleagues. it is through jobs and growth. by taxed manufacturing credits to keep jobs here. it's about the heart of the matter. when women succeed, america succeeds. raising the minimum wage. paid sick leave. a big issue for women and men in our country. and the issue of quality affordable childcare. children learning, parents earning. which segues into our education piece. it's part of the women's peace and keeping america number one piece. it is part of lifetime learning. let's establish a couple of things. when we have this debate, on the budget committee, they say, we can do that, it will increase the debt. there is nothing that we can do in public policy that brings more money to the treasury and therefore reduces the deficit more than investing in public education. [applause] whether it's earliest childhood education hey-12, her education, all of it reduces the deficit. we have to cut pell grants because we can't increase the amount for pell grants because it will increase the deficit -- we cannot get rid of these higher interest rates because that helps reduce the deficit. that is totally wrong. it is not smart. it is fundamental to our democracy and fundamental to our middle class and those who aspire to it. today, are doing investing in education to keep america number one -- it's not just about individuals. it's helping people reach their aspirations. it a veterinarian or a singer. it's just about keeping our economy number one. we think an important part of that is increasing the -- unleashing the power of women in the economy. with some of the things we talked about, early childhood education and the rest. you can't unleash the power of women unless we have education. that is the key to everything. i'm very proud and i accept the kind words of dana on behalf of my colleagues in the congress, the democratic side who made that possible. studentsy, we hope the can afford higher education with increasing the pell grant. the fight we are having right now is, it was 4000. we rose at 25550 -- we rose it to 5550. her colleagues want to freeze the amount for 10 years. that doesn't make sense. values debates. the education of the american people. assisting graduates pay back their loans. this is essential. refinancing at a lower interest rate. we had the bill to do it. we had the bill before. we want to do it again. investing in educational -- whether it's the g.i. bill for the 21st century, returning veterans coming back and going to school, many at community colleges -- what i have learned as i visit the community colleges across the country, they are the bridge that take into a or another institution of higher learning. veterans in schools, some of them very young, some of them not so young, all of them a valuable asset to the classroom. that is what the kids tell me. whether it's historically by colleges, minority serving institutions that are hispanic or the rest. earlier,ntioned helping kids shop for the best deal for them. it's really important to have that happen. transition to employment. this is central. displaced who are with kids, were making it through high school, transitioning to munich i'll just, this is the most important job in the world -- transitioning to community colleges, this is the most important job in the world. people brag about their child graduating from here or there. they are the success stories. these are victories -- these are our victories. these kids supporting their own families. challenges they have. imagine the optimism they have about the future. we are very excited. this all begins at a very young age. , from 0-5.ed it is always really important. we have had a fence around the country. we have the middle-class jumpstart. jobs, education, women succeed. this is our education week. these events are programmed across the country. early on, we asked women, what would help you the most to unleash your power in the workplace and have the balance between home and work? we would listen to stories. one story i'm close with because it goes to the young children, a woman came and she was going to tell her story. when she got up, she said, i am a mother of five come english as a second language, single mom, you name it. she had every challenge. she said, i just got a promotion at work. i went to community college. i was nervous speaking in front of all of these women. i said to my kids to my will you -- in to mommy's speech said to my kids, will you listen to my mommy's speech? speech and said, does anybody have any comments or questions? the four-year-old raised her and and said, who gave you permission to use my name in your speech? [laughter] you go, girl. imagine the confidence and the self-esteem. it's about knowledge and vocabulary and socialization. that makes a much person have the confidence to go forward. thank all of you for what you do. as teachers stood up, i thought, how indebted we are to all of and the trustees for what you do. it's about the middle-class class, the backbone of our democracy. nothing supports a democracy more than informed population. thank you for your patriotism. [applause] >> thank you for your leadership, nancy pelosi. recognizing that investing in our students is what makes america great. this is a great nation. i have a bunch of questions. they are not mine, for once. i'm retired from that. thank you for your questions. here are some more. i'll get my phone and a timer. they just keep coming. --ill start with a question how much time do we have for this round? someone want to let me know? thank you. the leader says we can go longer. [laughter] we want to honor everyone's time. when nancy pelosi says we can go longer, we will go longer. [laughter] [applause] sharpen your pencils. we are going to start with a question from maha. how will you plan to help the families that don't qualify for public assistance? parent insingle school picked her to decide book?n food or a $300 who wants to take that? the reason i asserted myself in terms of the time is because i was a little late getting here. that is why our jumpstart has a oneness to it. what we really have to do is give everyone in america a raise. to do is give everyone in america a raise. we have to increase the minimum wage. you may not make the minimum wage, but lifting the minimum wage -- we did it in the first 100 hours when we had the house, and now it is time to do it again. that was 2007. it is time to do it again. we must raise the minimum wage. if you raise the minimum wage, you take 4 million women off food stamps. you lift maybe 6 million people out of poverty. that is still not a lot of money when we are talking $10.10, but it is a big jump from where we are now. we have to have -- and we have several pieces of the early childhood education. this is about children learning, parents earning. this is not children watching tv or something. it is about them learning. let me tell you this other story. this sounds ugly. this woman was a bust reiber. she had the same thing. -- she said, is am not going to tell my story. i am going to tell you what i see as a school bus driver. my boss pulls up to the curb -- curb. pulls up to the she will be crying. and i know what is going to happen. she is going to put a sick child on the bus, because she has no choice. she does not make enough money to say i will take a day off and be docked to be paid. she has now one day of paid sick leave -- not one day. there are millions of people in the country in this category. mostly women. not one day of paid sick leave, and absolutely no way to pay for child care. she has no option but to put a sick child on the bus, which is not good for that child or anyone else on the bus. if it is a cold, the stomach, you can just imagine. how can it be -- you talk about marin county being this wealthy county and still and all you the -- how can this be greatest country that ever existed on the face of the earth with all of the enlightenment that we have that we would have a situation where a mom has to put a sick joke on the bus because she has -- a sick child on the bus because she has absolutely no recourse. money means a lot. let's face it. more money in the pocket of that mom. on the childcare, we have several things. the president has universal pre-k. that is prekindergarten, but we have to go down lower. we have to have increased tax forits and the rest families to take advantage, whether at the federal level or the state level. -- what we worked on when lennon was there and gerrit worked on at the state california has led the way. to have paid sick leave. especially maternity leave in california. california has led the way, thank you, jared huffman. -- hoffman. president clinton signed the bill. of four tens of millions families, they have no paid -- they just cannot afford it. california has led the way. it is the 10-year anniversary of that initiative in california leading the way. all of these things that are pieces of something that we know , the economic stability of the family, whether it is relating to health, wages, childcare, lift these is, to families up, in this case, a woman so she can unleash her power in the workplace. its is not just a title -- is a good title. it tests favorably. but it is an absolute fact. when women exceed, america succeeds. so, this is about that woman, her family, and the greatness of our country so we're not a country that has to hold our head down and say, put the sick child on the bus. that is the trickle-down we have in mind for you. thank you. [applause] >> just briefly, as a there are a variety of programs. two programs in particular i can the gop sould be at program or single stop. i encourage the student to stop by student services. and actually the single step court later in the back row, she may be will to help you as an individual with the question. >> i also say in the ide a inegory, he is our hero congress. jared huffman is really leading the way. thank you. --the next question i have she mentioned that she had $15,000 in debt at the age of 22 and is working to pay it off, and my first question is, are you worried about that kind of layout? and the questions in the audience for the panel as well -- student loans. what can you do to help former students whose loans have fallen into default due to the poor economy during this economic downturn? increasingy about that amount? >> of course. sometimes i have nightmares about it, which i shouldn't. it is something where i am trying to put a dollar in the piggy bank every day just to make sure i can at least put $50 towards that or tour the interest that is accumulating, but it is definitely something that is worrying me and i hope to get through it as soon as i can. >> thank you. want to say that loan forgiveness is one part of how we need to respond to this staggering student debt issue. she is facing a worrisome amount of debt. if you want to go through college to med school, become a primary care physician, we desperately need more primary care physicians now. the amount of debt that is involved -- so we're going to have to look at the types of public service work we want people to do. we want teachers to be able to afford to have a good standard of living and not be crippled with student debt. we want a lot more doctors. are a lot more places where we need to look at debt forgiveness as a tool to help people through this. through the middle class jumpstart -- the tierney bill in the house and elizabeth warren in the senate -- this is a bill that will enable kids to refinance their loans. the interest is the killer, especially cumulatively. ed mentioned that particular bill. if we get past that -- and if this is any source of encouragement to you -- across the country this is a big issue. school ands leave it pursue higher education even or any get married -- optimistic entrepreneurial thing you might do, you are constrained by debt. and the parents of these children trying to help their kids and then trying to help their parents, in an atmosphere the governortates is not accepted medicaid. loans at one end, parents of the other, great risk. we can do something about it. we can do something about it. for me, there is something bubbling here. i was told and taught to invest in myself. so, i encourage student loans as well, but is there not a greater question here, because i think the investment is not necessarily a bad thing. it is when students graduate and they come out into an economy that has no jobs for them -- you know, what do we do with that? out andge is the way once you get out than the jobs to not exist -- do not exist, where's the responsibility for growing that? >> the three legs of the stool , invest ind growth education, when women succeed, america succeeds. on the jobs these, there is somehing we can and in cases have done. when the president became president, we passed the recovery act, which created and saved 3.5 million jobs now. again not enough. we need to do more. but there has been obstruction as to doing more on his agenda and that is something we have to debate in the selection. but two very specific things we say our right now under the current regime in the congress, if you send jobs overseas, you get a tax break for it and by the way you can deduct for sending those jobs overseas and your taxes. right? ridiculous, our initiative says, no, reverse that. give a tax break to a company that is keeping jobs in america. [applause] b, build the infrastructure of america. nontraditional jobs -- we have a trillion dollars of debt. have mass transit and water projects and rich construction for the future. these are jobs that are needed immediately to build the infrastructure. build america for bonds, paid for by closing tax loopholes for special interests, like subsidies for big oil. none of this increases the deficit. and we have one other one in there that you may be interested incomeuse it addresses inequality, the disparity in income, and it says if you are a company and you want to pay a ceo more than $1 million a year, you can do so, but the a taxpayer is not going to subsidize it. you're not getting a tax eduction for that. and if you want to, you can qualify for something more by giving a raise to your employees who have made the success of your company possible. [applause] so, you are absolutely right, dana. we have a moral imperative to create jobs. good jobs. well-paying jobs, too. that is why lifting the minimum wage not only helps those families, but if you make money, you will spend it right away on necessities. you will inject demand into the economy creating other jobs. minimum wage is a big stimulus to the economy in addition to be assistance to those families. >> common sense governance. wow! that is awesome. [laughter] pelosi, you mentioned the pell grants and your colleagues, you call them, we will call them republicans, want to freeze the pell grants for 10 years. what are the prospects of direct thing the pell grants away from poor performing colleges to public universities, including community colleges. -- colleges? [applause] >> [indiscernible] >> she is really good. i like hearing her. not have known, but when we passed the affordable care act, which addresses the financial security of american families, when we passed that, at the exact same time there was one bill that had two revisions. one was affordable care act. the other was the higher education bill. three parts -- at least three parts. one of them was the heaviest investment we could make in community colleges, recognizing the important role commute ecology is -- community colleges play in our economy. the second piece was pell grants , to increase the overall number 4000ll as the amount from to over 5000. at that time we were cutting in half the interest in the federal stafford college loans. now we want to take it down even to the market, where the interest rates are. the pell grant was really an important part of that and wherever it is used, whether it is a community college, a for-profit college or not, we have to make sure that those colleges are used very well and we subject all elements of users of pell grants to that scrutiny. in some cases you see before profits abusee for- that. first of all is about the education of that person and taxpayer dollars we do not want to be squandered. the spell grants story -- i want to tell you a story. promise you will not tell anybody. [laughter] havingears ago we were this debate right about now in washington on the budget. we had to have about $200 billion worth of cuts so we could agree on where we go from here. president obama was agreeing to -- and they kept walking away. they would put it out there, they would walk away. that is neither here nor there. i said to them, we could save $38 billion if we cut the subsidies to big oil. big oil gets 38 billion dollars in subsidies. as an incentive to drill for a period of time in which they $1 trillion. they do not need the 38 billion dollar incentive. i said to republicans, let's that iss $38 billion -- a good chunk toward our $200 billion. they said almost with one voice, the leadership, why would we do that? why would we do that, when you can save the same amount of money by cutting $38 billion out of pell grants? challenge that jared huffman has on the budget committee. [laughter] certainly agree with everything that was just said and we certainly have that accountability role we need to grants. pell i think we need to do much more for these largely private institutions that have figured out a business model that depends on bringing folks through their system, racking up lots of debt to pay their tuition and terming -- turning them loose without much success. president obama, i believe, deserves a lot of credit for proposing meaningful ways to address this. including something that is a little controversial, i suppose, but including ranking systems way to inform students how they did the brochures, many folks after getting the grants and their loans found jobs? and we can make more informed choices for our students as well. [applause] the just wanted to bring importance of pell grants home at the college of marin. our age is pell grants, over half of what we administrate and financial aid here. county,in marin according to the uc accord, we have one of the largest education at witty gaps in the state. to what extent do you believe -- to what extent do you believe this is a function of racism, funding, or poor leadership? what you think is the best way to close this cap? -- gap? >> i guess my name is on that question. i think probably a combination of all three things. in this community there are people who don't recognize people who are different contribute something different to the society. we found at davidson middle that when we put students together, all students together in heterogeneous groups -- all ability levels, all ethnicities, school, thet in the .est scores rose what we found was, when you put studentsf diverse together, all scores rose. it was all about recognizing that we bring something to the .able recognizing how to be allies of people who are not like ourselves. i think there are issues around race and ethnicity, but poverty is a much larger piece. it is poverty that is, what we detrimentalthe most to children's education. and i think the leadership in the community is continuing to .ry to bring people together i am not going to talk to you right now and i will let you know when i am. i think that goes on in society as well. >> talking about modeling behavior. with someone else like to join in? thank you very much, mike. this question from ellis reed, i think, is vital. i am going to add to it. stand -- -- curtis ferguson is in its ninth day of disarray. michael brown was going to start college. do we need to teach young men of color how to walk in this world safely? ourwe have a crisis on border with mexico and young students here that are fearful of progressing academically because they are not americans -- american citizens. how do we do this thing that we need to do? >> i am complement that many of theseculty are having conversations with our students. we have an obligation to bring a community together like we are today, to have forms and conversations to better can'ttand how we ultimately have a positive impact on our students so they are more informed and better aware, better equipped to deal with the society we are preparing them for. >> i would just say i hope our response to these situations is not that we need to teach young black men how to walk down the street. that is not the response that is needed. clearly it is a wake-up call that tells us we are nowhere close to a post-racial america. we have an ongoing challenge of teaching police and others how of workingter job with communities, responding to specific circumstances, and there's just a lot of racism and racial tensions still left in ins country -- not just ferguson, missouri, but washington, d.c., too. i will tell you, the politics we see, the vitriolic, personal animus we have seen presented to this president of the united states is unlike anything any of us could have imagined when he was sworn in in january 2 thousand nine. we have a lot of work to do. [applause] set but thank you. -- >> thank you. on the subject of the border, they have spoken so beautifully about ferguson. i guess one of my biggest problems with ferguson -- i have been on the phone with my there,ue from their, -- is african-american. he has a long tradition of civil rights. they were giving us their account of what was happening there. but it was also something they did not want the outside to exploit. they wanted to find justice. they wanted to find justice. they were saying people are coming here, agitators, anarchists and the rest. throwing molotov cocktails. that is not what is coming out of our community. here. make our own piece as far as the police are concerned, whatever the circumstances were, they were unfortunate. leave michael brown there for four hours, a human being on attended, is something -- i just don't even understand that. go to the border. that is why i was late. because i was on the phone on the subject of ferguson. it is a very big deal. the president spoke once again today very beautifully on the subject. but on the subject of the border and dreamers, not many of whom school, the last two bills we have in the congress of the united states nor the comprehensive immigration reform that passed the senate in a bipartisan way, but instead passed two really destructive pieces of legislation. we extended a hand of friendship to the speaker to say, let's find a path, a compromise. so, they went further to the right. do not take my word for it. the national catholic conference said the legislation they pass to that day on the floor dishonored america. that is about the legislation was. overturning the president's initiatives on the dream act, putting up barriers to the president doing anything -- they had a bill that was terrible. can haveare way and we a compromise. instead they went the other way and they dishonored america. i am not painting everyone with the same brush, but the fact is the way it is happening in washington, d.c. is not away any republican i know would take pride in. this is really something -- how can they talk about all of their religious fervor and how they respect the dignity and worth of every person, the spark of divinity that exists in everyone of us, including themselves hopefully, and treat people in a way that is almost subhuman? it is really a remarkable thing. what my colleague was saying about respecting other peoples views is so important. we talk about women. mix.eauty is in the that is where you get the best results and the most legitimate results. so in terms of ferguson or in terms of the border, if we just all remember what we possess, and that is every person has value, perhaps we would come out with a better result, but we have plenty of work to do in that regard. i hasten to add, republicans and democrats in the senate passed a bill -- a good bill. not great, but -- [laughter] a better bill. it dishonors america. >> thank you. thank you very much. we have a lot of work to do. obviously our representatives in the house and senate need your help. our leaders have come before you today. they are your leaders as well in your communities and neighborhoods. we need to pass legislation that ,oves forward the middle class that gives honor to all people who live in this country. thank you so much for coming. your questions will all be answered. if you have more, they have offered that. i am not making it up here it if -- i am not more making it up. if you have any more, please distribute them to congressman hoffman -- hoffman's staff. thank you. we wish you the best. lance reyes. he is a cal bear. [applause] president. college of marin. thank you. representative jared huffman. [applause] our very empathetic and compassionate leader nancy pelosi. thank you so much. [applause] >> and our moderator dana king. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] today areemocrats considering a schedule for nominating their 2016 presidential candidate. of the proposed calendar would begin with the iowa caucuses february by new, followed hampshire and north carolina. it is supposed to be an incentive for states to all the primary contest between art -- march and june. they are expected to vote on this later this afternoon. "newsmakers," india governor mike pence talks about politics and state issues. in 2012.ected watch the interview sunday at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on c-span. &a," charlie"q wrangle talks about more than 40 years in the house of representatives and his life before public office. watch the interview on c-span.

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