right to end their own life. but with room left for interpretation, pressure mounts to implement doctor-assisted death. >> the court made it very clear that physician-assisted dying would only be an option for individuals who are mentally competent and able to make a fully informed voluntary choice. >> ifill: and president obama's initiative to invest in young men of color prompts a question: what about the girls? >> black girls face the same indicators in terms of attendance to school, in terms of interest in school, in terms of reading levels, mathematical levels, it's far more of a racial problem than it is a gender problem. >> woodruff: those are some of the stories we're covering on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. at lincoln financial, we believe that you are the boss of your life. the chief life officer. in charge of providing for loved ones. growing your nest egg. and protecting what matters the most. lincoln financial is committed to helping you take charge of your future. life, income, retirement, group benefits, and advice. lincoln financial. you're in charge. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: the justice department announced today, that for the first time since the 1980 abscam scandal, it is indicting a sitting u.s. senator on federal bribery charges. for more on the action against new jersey democrat robert menendez, we turn to matt apuzzo of the new york times, who's been covering the story. matt, eight counts of bribery 22 cocounts in call. tell us a little bit about what you know from the indictment about what they're charging. >> it's a really big indictment, gwen. i'm actually about two-thirds the way through it and we all knew this was coming but it's a lot broader and a lot deep doper than i think a lot of us who have been following this closely expected. it basically describes senator menendez turning his capitol hill office into a criminal enterprise, basically using his offices and using his staff to go out and solicit gifts, find out what his political patron wanted in return and make sure it got done. describes trading favors political favors for trips on a private jet first-class airfare vacations, a five-star hotel in paris. it's very broad. the indictment runs over 60 pages. it really is an aggressive move by the justice department. >> ifill: tell us about his political patron. >> salomon melgen, a florida eye surgeon, they have been friends since 1990s. by all accounts were friends. they vacationed together they exchanged gifts and that's going to be key to the defense. menendez is arguing that this is a friendship and friends exchange gifts and the justice department said this went well beyond friendship, this was a corrupt bribery scheme. >> ifill: so the justice department is saying they have evidence that there was something given in exchange. >> correct. it's not unusual to charge bribery, but it's certainly easier to charge taking an unlawful gratuity. bribery is like payment for something whereas a gratuity is kind of like a tip, a thank you. they're saying he did favors for gifts and that's a much higher bar from a legal standard and i think that's why you see the totality of the evidence that the justice department is throwing out here. >> ifill: matt apuzzo from the "new york times," thanks for being here. >> always good to be here. >> woodruff: and in the day's other news, it appears one of the f.b.i.'s most wanted terrorists has been killed in the philippines. zulkifli bin hir, known as marwan, was a leader of militants linked to al-qaeda, and blamed for bombings in the philippines. f.b.i. officials say d.n.a. tests show he died in a january police raid in the southern philippines. >> ifill: president obama has signed off on a new way to hit back at foreign hackers: with sanctions. his executive order signed today imposes penalties for stealing trade secrets or damaging computer systems. companies that knowingly profit from such attacks could also be targeted. >> woodruff: the republican governor of arkansas back- tracked today, amid a backlash over a religious freedom bill. it followed a similar furor in indiana that's galvanized gay activists and prompted businesses to demand action. >> i've asked them to change the current law and i've asked them to recall it and change the language on it. that's my request today. >> woodruff: the announcement from governor asa hutchinson came a day after the arkansas house passed the religious objection measure. hutchinson's office earlier said he'd sign it. but he changed course in the face of charges that the bill allows discrimination based on sexual orientation. >> what is important from an arkansas standpoint is that one we get the right balance and secondly, we make sure that we communicate that we're not going to be a state that fails to recognize the diversity of our workplace, our economy and our future. >> woodruff: hutchinson wants the republican- dominated legislature to make the bill look more like the federal religious freedom law which president clinton signed in 1993. the federal law says the government shall not "substantially burden a person's exercise of religion." it does not define "person," but the arkansas bill, and a new law in indiana, do, and they include churches and corporations. in addition, the indiana law bars private discrimination lawsuits against someone claiming a religious exemption. and the arkansas bill sets the legal bar higher for the government to override a religious exemption claim. that makes it different from the 20 other states with a similar law on the books, including the one in indiana. just yesterday, indiana governor mike pence made news when he called for additional legislation to clarify the law he signed only last week. meanwhile, in arkansas, anti- discrimination activists welcomed today's announcement but called for more. >> our work is not finished. we are not at the end of the road until all the citizens of this state are treated equally under the law that should be guaranteed. >> woodruff: retail giant wal- mart, based in arkansas, had urged governor hutchison to veto the bill. it commended his announcement today. similar proposals are pending in more than a dozen states. >> ifill: in yemen today, there were claims and counter-claims after a missile strike killed at least 35 workers at a dairy plant. it happened in the red sea port city of hodaida, as a saudi arabian coalition expanded its air campaign against shiite rebels. the rebels said a warplane fired the missile that hit the factory. the saudis said it was an anti- aircraft missile, fired by the rebels. >> woodruff: the government of iraq has declared victory over islamic state militants who had overrun the city of tikrit. black smoke rose over the city as iraqi forces, along with shiite militias, cleared away the remaining pockets of resistance. isis militants had seized the city last summer. prime minister hayder al-abadi hailed the achievement after a month-long offensive. >> ( translated ): thank god the losses are in small percentage. some talked about the delay of the offensive, it wasn't delayed, but we had preparations to minimize the losses. >> woodruff: u.s. air strikes in the last week helped the iraqis. their next target could be the city of mosul, which isis still holds. >> ifill: nigeria began its first peaceful transition of power today, with the president- elect, declaring his nation has suffered enough. muhammadu buhari spoke in the capital, abuja, and vowed to battle corruption and the islamist militants of boko haram. >> you voted with your heart. your vote affirms that you believe nigeria's future can be better than what it is today. you voted for change and now change has come. >> ifill: meanwhile, supporters of the one-time military dictator celebrated in the streets for a second day. buhari defeated sitting president goodluck jonathan in the election. >> woodruff: back in this country, mcdonald's announced its raising base pay for workers at its company-owned restaurants. starting july 1, new workers earn a dollar more than the local minimum wage. the raise applies to 10% of the 14,000 mcdonald's in the u.s. the rest are run by franchisees, and are not affected by the policy change. >> ifill: there's word that more than 61,000 bridges in the u.s. need repair or rebuilding. a report in "u.s.a. today" cites a new analysis by the american road and transportation builders association. the group says there's been a slight improvement from last year, but it calls for new taxes to support the highway trust fund. the fund has to be renewed by june. >> woodruff: in economic news, car companies in the u.s. posted mixed results for march. hyundai and subaru reported double-digit gains, while sales at gm and ford slipped. stocks also sank again today, mostly on discouraging economic news. the dow jones industrial average dropped 78 points to close below 17,700. the nasdaq fell 20 points and the s&p 500 was down eight. >> ifill: and two deaths of note tonight. misao okawa passed away in japan at the age of 117. she'd been declared the world's oldest person in 2013. the title now goes to an american, gertrude weaver of arkansas, who is 116 years old. and gary dahl, creator of the 1970's bewilderingly popular fad, the "pet rock," has died. he made a fortune selling plain rocks, in a box, for $3.95. gary dahl was 78 years old. >> woodruff: still to come on the newshour: the latest on a possible iran nuclear deal. california grapples with a historic drought. debating the right to die in canada. atlanta educators found guilty in major cheating scandal. do education programs that invest in young men of color leave out young women? and, writer t.c. boyle's latest novel exploring the violent, dark side of the american psyche. >> ifill: the talks between iran and six world powers seemed to bheaded into yet another day. the deadline for a framework agreement expired last night. and no deal was reached today but the u.s. said enough progress has been made to continue the negotiations. major points of disagreement remain, and both the americans and iranians indicated it was up to the other side to bridge the gap. we have been very clear, when i say we, the international community, the united states sitting at that table alongside our german french british, russian counterparts making clear to the iranians they need to make specific commitments and if they're unwilling then, yes, the international community would be in a position to force to consider alternatives to the approach we've demonstrated so far. >> i've said all along the recognition by all parties that they need to exhibit political will and flexibility to move forward. iran has shown its readiness to engage with dignity and it's time for our negotiating partners to seize the moment and use this opportunity which may not be repeated. >> woodruff: joining us again for the latest at the talks is indira lakshmanan at "bloomberg news." you have been watching this day in and day out. when you hear the two statements one from the white house and one from the iranian foreign minister talk about flexibility and will power translate for us. where are they tonight? >> i think you need to examine the statements on two levels. one is the level of reality and what's actually going on in these very, very difficult negotiations. and we know that they are stuck on a couple of issues and particularly research and development for iran's nuclear program as well as relief from united nations sanctions which are not about economic penalties they're about proliferation and military sales so that's a much tougher one for the international community to lift. that's the reality. the other side, you have the public messaging. as you've heard from josh ernst and the iranian foreign minister, each one is saying the other one is the one who needs to make the compromises and they're willing to walk away. what the white house said was interesting, is the remaining talks remember we're going into the second overtime day here and that's because the talks, the white house doesn't want to be seen as the one who walked away. this is a game of brinksmanship. in the end, i think they're going to have to come up with something, but each side is holding out for the best deal they can get, gwen. >> ifill: as we hear these little leaks here and there, seems like the iranians are consistently more optimistic than the americans are. is that gamesmanship? >> i think it is because it's trying to push the americans , in again using the media, saying we're ride to make a deal and sign on the dotted line, it's you who needs to back down from your entrenched positions. we've seen so much of this where we had one european delegation telling us there was an ultimatum last night which the u.s. and iran then denied. we had the french foreign minister leaving, just come back. we had the british foreign minister leaving and he just game back. there's a lot of brinksmanship going on and part of this is a signal to the other side to focus the attention on what they wanted to be, this deadline, to give them three more months woo work out the technical apects. the iran talks have become like the banks war in 2008, too big to fail and they will have to pull out some kind of accord even if it's far of what the obama administration and iranians wanted. >> ifill: 24 hours can make all the difference? >> well, i think we'll see something within the next day, because we got a statement from the state department that john kerry was going to stay at least till thursday, so that gives him the option to stay longer, but i think at this point the people are tired. the negotiators have been up all night long, day after day and i think they want to get this done. so i think what we'll look at is some kind of a declaration without too many details behind that. i don't think you will see detailed codicils that iran has to do this and the other side has to do that. it will be more goals than actual steps and the steeps which will be the hard part are going to be what they have to argue about over every line over the next three months. even if we see an agreement today, it could fall apart in the next three months before the june 30 deadline. >> ifill: we know you will be there to explain the details. indira lakshmanan of bloomberg, thank you. >> woodruff: the long-lasting and severe drought in california led governor jerry brown to order new, and historic, water restrictions today. the mandatory rules are designed to reduce water use by 25% through 2016. the governor made the announcement on a day when winter snowpack is measured in the sierra nevada mountains. today, there was no snow on the ground there and the snowpack is lower than at any time since 1950. hari sreenivasan is in california and joins us from public station kpbs in san diego. >> sreenivasan: in fact, governor brown went to the sierra nevada mountains to make his point today. the restrictions would affect water use in numerous ways, including landscaping and lawns, farming, golf courses and more. the governor joins us now from sacramento. even going back to your state of the state address in 2014, you have been talking about this state of emergency. there has been plenty of scientific data to back up the drowvment what took so long to get the restrictions in place? >> it takes to long because we're a large state, 38 million people, we extend from the oregon bored tore the mexican border. we have hundreds of border agencies. so to move policy from conception and full operation and implementation does take time and is not done by two or five or 50 people in the state capital but rather water districts, water engineers water personnel and citizens all working together. i've taken dozens of measures over the last three to four years and now i think we've really come to a culmination where instead of voluntary, it's 25% is our goal, and it is mandatory and it's unlike what we've had before. we're talking about people taking out their lawns, using all these other different water-saving technologies and things like desal anyization and other ways that californians will have to live differently. >> sreenivasan: encouraging people to decrease watering their lawns seems a drop in the bucket where 80% is used by the agriculture sector. >> the farmers have take an lot of hits. the fields are afoul in many cases, the trees are dying they're not getting the water the federal government promised they're not getting a drop only get a small fraction from the state water project. agriculture is fundamental to california and, yes, they use most to have the water and produce the food and the fiber which we use and export to countries all around the world. we're asking them to give us information, file agriculture water plans, to amend the undergroundwater, to share with other farmers. this is a very comprehensive program that is never been attempted anywhere at anytime in california history. we have a lot to learn. we have to listen to how it rolls forward and out. but i think the farmers are suffering a lot and they are asked to do a lot for this executive order. >> sreenivasan: is it time to zero in on specific industries? we know it costs an enormous amount of water to have a single almond to eat or the frack industry where a lot of people are concerned they're extracting a lot of water in that process as well. is it time for us to zero in on the largest customers or users of water? >> then you're putting government in a role of picking and chewing, almonds instead of wall nuth, tomatoes instead of rice. that is a big brother that outside of war or some absolute unprecedented catastrophe shouldn't even be considered. in terms of well stimulation and how you use water to get oil out of the ground, californians drive 332 billion miles. that's how far they went last year. they're using 18 billion gallons of gasoline and diesel. so if we don't take it out of our ground, we'll take it out of somebody else's. so i think what we have to do is get efficient reduce wherever we can and when we have just an ordinary lawn or something else just for your own pleasure and we don't have the water, that will generate being able to save 1.5 billion, that's as big as the major dams as that people would like to build, and that's $5 billion. we have to change many things we have been comfortable with, all of us, southern california, northern california, farmers, homeowners, apartment dwellers. this is a big transition that i'm initiating with this executive order and we're going to have to work at it to get it right. >> sreenivasan: you mentioned earlier the different water districts that all have to agree to something like. this there are so many disparities between count to count and farmers dig deeper and deeper wells tapping into the groundwater that's depleting at a rapid pace. >> for the first time we'll get information of how much farmers are actually using and how much underground. we never got that information before. now we're making it mandatory. and this is a complicated balance of forces of businesses, of companies of farmers, of families and we're trying our best to lay out a framework, an operational game plan that will reduce wasteland water use, unnecessary water use and give incentives for new technologies both for efficiency and generating new water whether by recycling or desalinzation and all that together is what we're trying to, mandatory and will be enforced. so i think we ought to see how this goes forward and we can adjust up or down when we learn what the results are. >> sreenivasan: briefly, how will the rest of the country feel the impact of what's happening in california? what are the economic consequences of this drought? >> first of all, the price of food may go up because the cost of water is getting much higher. that's one thing. and, in general what's happening in california is one variant of the change in weather and climate. so other places have to look at this and understand we are -- when i say "we," human kind all over the world is putting billions of tons of chemicals, co2 methane and other of the greenhouse gases and that's warming and disrupting the very delicate web of life and balance in the hydrological cycle and in the climate. so we're all going to have to do a lot to adapt to the kind of changed world we're bringing upon ourselves. >> sreenivasan: thank you governor jerry brown of california. thanks so much. >> thank you. >> ifill: four u.s. states-- oregon, washington, montana and vermont-- now have laws allowing doctors to help people die, as do a handful of european nations. but no country has ever launched physician-assisted suicide on the scale now underway in canada. earlier this year, the supreme court there ruled unanimously that all canadians have a constitutional right to have doctors help them die. the court gave the government just one year to regulate medically-assisted death for the entire nation. special correspondent john larson reports from british columbia. >> my pain or discomfort is virtually constant. >> reporter: when medically assisted death was argued before the canadian supreme court, elayne shapray's statement was exhibit a. >> i cannot move, or turn over in bed. in effect, i am a prisoner of my own body. i no longer consider my life worth living, unless i also possess the means to leave it at the time of my choosing. >> reporter: shapray was a nurse, an active mother of two, until multiple sclerosis struck. now 68 years old, she can no longer do much of anything without help, including, and this is why she's exhibit a take her own life. how far away are you from that point where you would no longer be able physically-- to end your own life? >> i can see it from here. >> reporter: the question of whether doctors should be allowed to help people like elaine die was at the center of the canadian supreme court decision. the court ruled: laws making physician assisted death illegal, violated canadians' constitutional rights in cases where an adult "clearly consents to the termination of life" and has a "grievous and irremediable medical condition". the most recent polls show 86% of the canadian general public approve. >> there's no question there's gonna have to be some serious thought about finding the right balance, but it is something whose time has come, it has to be. >> i think people do have the right to decide for themselves about the end of their life, and how-- the quality of that. >> hi, i'm dr. donald low. >> reporter: last year, a famous canadian microbiologist pleaded for a change in the law, just eight days before he died from brain cancer. >> there's a lot of clinician opposition to dying with dignity. i just wish they could live in my body for 24 hours, and i think they would change that opinion. >> reporter: the high court's decision came sooner than he would have imagined. the courts decision left room for interpretation, however. for example, a patient's condition must be, among other things, severe and incurable. but that's not the same as terminal. what if a patient has severe arthritis, would they be eligible? or what if they're disabled, or mentally ill? remember, elayne shapray suffers from m.s., a debilitating but not life ending disease. you're not in the end stage of a terminal illness. >> it's an interminable illness. >> reporter: interminable. >> interminable. how do you weigh that? how do you measure that unless you're sitting in my wheelchair? >> well, it seems clear from what the supreme court has said that you need not be terminally ill to qualify. >> reporter: dr. will johnston, an outspoken opponent of physician assisted death says the court's liberal language, that, the patient may suffer from an "disease or disability," and, that suffering is defined as "intolerable to the individual" leaves the door open for abuse. >> you do not even need to be physically ill. because they specifically stated that psychological suffering would qualify as well. >> so what the court said was that-- the right to assisted dying should be available only in narrow circumstances. >> reporter: grace pastine, of the british columbia civil liberties association, which successfully brought the case to the supreme court, says the specifics of exactly who will be eligible for assisted dying have yet to be determined, but will likely be narrowly defined. >> the court made it very clear that physician-assisted dying would only be an option for individuals who are mentally competent and able to make a fully informed voluntary choice. i think, for example, someone suffering from a severe mental illness would not be able to qualify because they would not be able to meet the consent requirements. >> reporter: the canadian medical association, for years firmly opposed to physician assisted dying, has recently softened. this month its president announced the c.m.a. "supports patients who seek 'medical aid in dying' as well as physicians' choice to participate." still, opponents like johnston hope pain management, palliative care, will be sufficient for most patients and doctors. >> we can do that without turning our 2,400 years of-- of medical, ethical history on its head, without crossing that bright line between attempting to treat the symptoms of the patient and intending to kill the patient. >> but many, many people do not in fact, have that painless death. >> reporter: leslie laforest was diagnosed three years ago with a recurrence of stage four anal cancer, although her cancer is in remission, she knows if it returns her death could be prolonged and painful. >> i have absolutely the strongest will that i will not go through that final chapter, whenever that comes. >> reporter: laforest testified in the case that went to the supreme court that current law would force her to take her life, early, while she could still do it herself, a point the court referenced in its decision. you want to walk down the black list for me? >> one of the scenarios is gassing myself. obviously, carbon monoxide from my car. and then i plan in my mind, it's got to be when my husband's out of town, because it would be horrifying for him, and my daughter at school or away on vacation. then i need to go to home depot and i have to buy some hose. and then i've got to get some duct tape. the problem is, then i start to think, "but wait a second, is there really going to be enough carbon monoxide to actually do the job? or will it be just enough to kind of put me into a coma or make me in a vegetative state where i actually don't die? >> reporter: an important twist on all of this of course is that the clock is ticking. the high court gave the government one year to come up with a new, national law. that's just 12 months, to agree upon something they have been completely unable to agree upon for many years. >> whether or not that will actually happen is, i think, a matter of speculation because, i think there's, you know, a number of us who are worried that the government is going to drag its feet on this. >> reporter: a liberal member of parliament, libby davies has supported right to die issues. she says despite the court's ruling, the current government may delay any new law until after national elections next october. >> which would make it incredibly tight. and if it were a different government that had, you know, a whole bunch of other things on their agenda, it would make it very difficult. >> reporter: difficult because canadian provinces, and territories, similar to our states, administer the country's health care. ideally, they, too would be consulted to craft any new law. is there a sense here that that can get done? >> oh, i think it's entirely possible. i mean, we have provincial federal territorial discussions and policy developments all the time. it's part of the canadian reality, its the way this country works. what is critical and what would make it an obstacle is if the federal government basically, kind of, walks away and says well, you know, we really want nothing to do with this. >> reporter: if no federal law is passed, current provincial laws in accordance with the court's decision will have to suffice, at least until something is sorted out. >> there's not a lot left. >> here's your medicine elayne. >> reporter: when the case went to the supreme court, lawyers requested elayne shapry be given special consideration, a waiver, that would allow a doctor to end elayne's life while the government writes a new law. the court turned her down meaning elayne will have to wait a full year before a doctor could legally end her life. >> reporter: you feel like you have a year? >> i think i'd rather not answer that question. >> reporter: for newshour, john larson in vancouver british columbia. >> woodruff: a jury in atlanta has convicted 11 former public school teachers, principals and administrators on racketeering charges tied to cheating on standardized tests. the convictions came on the eighth day of jury deliberations after a six-month long trial that detailed systematic cheating in more than 40 schools, involving more than 170 educators and administrators. 35 people were indicted. and prior to the trial, more than 20 pleaded to lesser charges. fulton county district attorney paul howard spoke afterward about the impact he hoped the trial will have. our intent in this case is simply to get our community to stop and take a look at our educational system. that's what we wanted. we wanted people to look at the educational system that their children attended every day after they make the assessment to look to see what we had to do as a community to move forward. >> woodruff: signs of widespread sheeting in atlanta schools were first uncovered in 2008 by an "atlanta journal-constitution" investigation. kevinkevin riley is the editor and joins me now. welcome to the program. explain to us again what the charges were. how did cheating on a school test become something people may go to prison for? >> in the end, we have to remember there were bonuses and financial incentives tied to performance of students on the test scores. so in the end teachers, administrators principals and administrators have to attest to the validity to have the test and that's how the prosecutor pursued racketeering charges because his case was based on illegal activities in the guise of legitimate enterprise. >> woodruff: we named some of the positions. who were the people being charged and what exactly did they do? >> they really were in a wide range from the school's principals, administrators teachers, but in the end the most compelling and disturbing part of what we learned through all this was teachers were actually altering students' answers on tests, giving students the clues to the answers. i think that was really the part that everyone found most disturbing, that educators would go that far to literally cheat and change answers in order to reach goals they had been given. >> woodruff: what portion of the entire atlanta school system was involved? what does 44 schools represent? >> it was never a majority of the schools burks at one point the state's investigation named dozens of schools and almost 200 educators. so it was not a small thing, but there were still many, many more schools that legitimately gave the test recorded the results and dealt with students who were struggling to achieve those results. >> woodruff: there was very strong language used not only by the attorney the prosecutor, but others in describing what the former superintendent of schools, she passed away earlier this year beverly hall, what she had done but sounds as if it was very much a systematic effort to change these results. >> well, one of the most troubling things about what happened is that we never heard from beverly hall, the superintendent, and the central figure in this entire scandal. she was never under oath, never faced trial because of her illness. and she was adamant that these things went on without her knowledge and that she did not create a situation where they would be allowed to go on. that in the end, many people felt that she was the main person behind what turned out to be a very sad conspiracy thatto cheat on tests. >> woodruff: so kevin riley, what's the effect been on the atlanta school system of all this? >> well, there have been a lot of changes in the system and a new superintendent and i think renewed focus by the community on the system, and i think if there is a lesson, an important thing to remember about the scandal, it's this -- educating children in an urban school district is a big challenge. it's a challenge in atlanta, it's a challenge across the opportunity, and if a community is going to commit to that, it has to understand that the answers are not simple. atlanta understands that now. i think there are many of us who hope atlanta will lead the way in finding new and better ways to educate urban school children. >> woodruff: and what about the community's, the citizens' reaction, the people who live there? >> it's been very hard on the city. when the city is on the national news, you hope it's for a good reason. atlanta has made news in this case and will be known where probably the worst cheating scandal recorded ever happened. in the end, i think it will give all of us a new focus on the importance of education and atlanta always bounces back. >> woodruff: so the 11 found guilty, potential sentencing, they could spend years in prison? >> right. i mean, i think one of the things to note about how the convictions came down is they were convicted of racketeering which is a very serious charge. usually, when you hear that kind of charge, it involves, you know, organized crime and career criminals and the jury convicted them on those counts and those sentences can be pretty stiff. >> woodruff: what would you say the national impact has been? you have been involved in journalism for some time. do you think the country has seen, learned something from this? >> i think this scandal has called into question the wisdom of so much emphasis on standardized tests. i think that that, again, will be the lesson from atlanta which is, you know it's a big job to educate kids. of course, we want to measure their progress. just testing and testing and testing and putting teachers under enormous pressure, that's not the answer. that has got to be something we think about and figure out a better way to do. >> woodruff: it certainly feeds into a bigger debate about the wisdom of testing. kevin riley, writer and editor of the "atlanta journal-constitution." thanks for talking with us. >> thanks for having me. >> ifill: for educators across the nation, few problems have been as persistent as the academic disparity between boys of color and their white peers. last year, president obama launched an initiative, in part to reverse the trend. but as even as the "my brother's keeper initiative" takes shape, nagging questions remain about who is being left out. the newshour's april brown reports for our american graduate series. we will invest $20 million over the next three years to support the empowering males of color initiative. >> the plan includes the creation of an all-boys public school in one of the city's poorest neighborhoods. >> this is a symbol of man. one of many recent efforts around the country supporting the brothers initiative president obama announced more than a year ago. >> as a black student you are far less likely than a white student to be able to read proficiently by fourth raid. by high school you're far more likely to have been suspended or expelled. >> my brother's people received more >> rerter: my brother's keeper received more than $300 million in pledges from foundations and private businesses to support literacy, jobs programs and criminal justice reforms for boys of color. but the growing emphasis on supporting minority males is being called into question-- not for who is being helped, but rather who is being left out: young women of color. >> there is a crisis about what boys of color are facing. there is a conversation about girls of color. >> kimberly is a professor of law at u.c.l.a. columbia and author of "black girls matter," examining the lives of girls of color in boston and new york city schools. >> we found that black girls >> we found that black girls were 11 times more likely to be subject to discipline in boston 10 times more likely to be subject to discipline in new york, and that's a greater racial disparity between girls than there is between boys. >> reporter: and she says the problems often extend into the classroom. >> black girls face the same indicators in terms of attendance to school, in terms of interest in school, in terms of reading levels, mathematical levels, it's far more of a racial problem than it is a gender problem. >> reporter: the american civil liberties union shares some of her concerns. the organization is questioning the legality of washington, d.c.'s plan to create a public school exclusively for black and latino males, because it may violate the equal protection clause of the constitution and title nine of the civil rights act. >> by helping young boys and young men of color we're not excluding helping girls and young women of color. >> reporter: broderick johnson is an assistant to president obama and chair of the "my brother's keeper" task force. he says the needs of minority girls are being addressed, with the white house council on women and girls created in 2009, and first lady michelle obama's continuing efforts to develop new programs. >> we don't want to leave anybody behind, but we especially want to make sure that boys and young men of color understand that there is hope for them, that their success is tied to the success of this country and that when they are better and they are and that when they are better and they are functioning better that the girls in their lives, the women their mothers, are all in a better place as well. >> reporter: for african- american men and boys, the problems are stark: they are twice as likely to be held back in elementary school, only half as likely to graduate from college compared to their white peers, and if current trends hold, an estimated one in three black males born today can expect to spend some time in prison. >> i would say to you with no apology that the disparities that affect boys and young men of color are profound. they have been profound for generations and we need to break that cycle. >> reporter: baltimore's cherry hill neighborhood is an area that struggles with high levels of violence and low graduation rates, but there's an effort underway to break the cycle. >> i came from this community so i understand that there are many obstacles that these kids face but i also know that there is potential in these kids. >> reporter: howard johnson is an engineer by day, and he spends many of his nights as a mentor at higher achievement, an after school and summer academic program founded in 1975 that is now working with the my brother's keeper initiative. higher achievement offers tutoring, and a culture of high expectations for middle school students like darryl brown and ricardo jones. >> since higher achievement came >> in past report cards, i have straight as. >> now for every man woman and child -- >> it started in washington, d.c. and has expanded to richmond, virginia, baltimore and pittsburgh. the program has served young women of color for decades. >> i thought school was the worst thing ever. >> reporter: eighth grader jordin mcfaddin says higher achievement has helped her raise her grade point average to a 3.0, and become more confident. >> i learned to talk out loud because at first i used to be quiet and used to stay to myself and didn't interact with a lot but when i came to higher achievement they taught me that it's ok you've just got to warm up to it. >> reporter: mcfaddin now plans to pursue a music career after graduating from howard university. kimberle williams crenshaw believes it will be difficult to make significant progress reducing the achievement gap in minority communities until there are more efforts to support all children of color. >> we have to realize traditional interventions included everybody from integration to the right to vote to employment, protection and so the interventions need to be addressed to men as well as women, boys as well as girls. >> reporter: and higher achievement plans to continue that work with a new $12 million immigration grant from the department of education. for the pbs "newshour", i'm april brown in baltimore, maryland. >> woodruff: now, we turn to books, and to the latest addition on the "newshour bookshelf." t.c. boyle has just published his 15th novel. in "the harder they come" he explores the violence and darker corners of the american dream. recently, he sat down with jeffrey brown at "busboys and poets," a restaurant and bookstore chain in the washington, d.c. area. >> hi, jeffery. glad to be here. >> brown: this novel i've read is based on real events. what pulled you in? what has to happen for you to say, i'm going to write this story? >> it's a story about american violence, particularly american gun violence, the lone shooter. so like everybody else in the country, i'm disturbed by why this happens, where it's happening. so i found a news store out of northern california in which a lone shooter who happened to be schizophrenic and supplied with automatic weapons by a generous society killed two people in the woods. >> brown: so there's the story that you have and you build up that, but then there's a quote at the beginning by d.h. lawrence, the essential american soul is hard, isolat stoic and a killer. it has never melted. the american soul, you're also somehow exploring that? >> i needed someplace to build the book. i have a ready-made story of the killer. i'm changing the names, but using the locale and the police report and so on. but what does it mean? you don't know what it means unless you put it in context. so the title "the harder they come" and this quote from lawrence provides a template for me to then paint around. my stories' novels are all organic. just starts, i see something and i follow it. so this was important to have this quote, is that true? is it true? has it melted? are we really like that? that's the proposition i want to find out about. >> and you're exploring it as fiction? >> right. as an artist, i don't have an agenda, i'm exploring something and inviting you tokes ploar it with me. that's the difference between fiction and essay. >> brown: you have characters here who are part of fringe groups in the hills, against the government, anti-authoritarian, that exists in our world. do you research it? do you look into it or do you start with something and then just imagine your way through it? >> i take choice b. i've never come from journalistic tradition, i've only simply been an artist. i just write fiction. it's kind of a miracle for me because i don't know what it would be. i dream it up. it's so very exciting. >> brown: and what is it that interests you about this underbelly or this violence you see in our culture today? >> again, i read the newspaper every day and i worry about everything. i've written a lot about the environment and environmental degreedegradation, global warming. i just wonder what's happening to our society, how is it dissolving? what's wrong with compassion? what's wrong with negotiation. seems to be like in some of the hollywood movies where there's an exclusively good guy and bad guy. the bad guy does something terrible to the good guy's family and the good guy comes back, wipes them all out and they all cheer. i think it's really more complex than that and i write a novel to find out. >> brown: you're also a professor of literature. do you see a lot of writing about this kind of stuff, you know i mean, the hard stuff of american life? do you wish there were more? >> no, i don't wish there were more and i also don't see a lot a lot of it. every writer chooses his or her own territory and does what they're going to do. so i don't have a wish to see one kind of writing or another. i just want to see good writing. but, yes, i am very socially engaged and i do write about such things often and have all my career because that's what interests me. >> brown: i read you grew up in a working class neighborhood without a lot of books around. >> no books. my father was raised in an orphanage and my mother was the salute attorney of her high school class but it was the depression and she lived in a family of poverty and could gotten to college. so they both encouraged me to become educated. we had a wonderful public school system. i went to the state university of new york and for graduate state university in iowa and iowa city. so i am a product of moving up through education and one reason why i continue to teach and believe in especially a liberal arts education so that you can have time to find out who you are and what you are. i didn't even know that one could be a writer until i was an undergrad. >> brown: really? that's when books and literature came into your life. >> exactly. >> brown: the idea of writing. i started out as a music major, flunked my audition. i said, what am i going to do? i was in a liberal arts college, i loved history and said i was a history major. but we took a course and read stories by o'connor and i said i'm a double major, history and english. junior year i launched a career of writing and here i am. i loved the idea of allowing one person to grow and discover what he or she can do in life. >> brown: what other writers turned you on besides flannery o'connor. >> hemingway. shortly thereafter when i started to write myself, it was the whole wave of the absurdist play writes and john barth and robert coover, people who had a large canvass and sensibility and highly literate. i love that sort of stuff and still do. >> brown: you're a fairly prolific novelist. >> i'm still extremely young as you can see. this is my 25th book. >> brown: yeah. so i figure i'll write another 25 more and we'll see what happens after that. this one, "the harder they come." t.c. boyle, thanks so much. >> you're welcome. thanks, jeffery. it was a lot of fun. >> ifill: again, the major developments of the day: new jersey senator bob menendez was indicted on federal corruption charges. a source familiar with his plans told the newshour he will step down as ranking democrat on the foreign relations committee, but not resign from the senate. and the iran nuclear talks kept going in lausanne, switzerland with the deadline extended for a second day. tune in later this evening. on charlie rose, fareed zakaria's defense of a liberal education and evan osnos on and that's the newshour for tonight. on thursday, a story for chocolate lovers on the fight over what cadbury candies can be sold in the u.s. i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. we'll see you on-line, and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us here at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> lincoln financial-- committed to helping you take charge of your life and become you're own chief life officer. ♪ >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org this is "nightly busines sue herera. big miss. job growth in the private sector slows sharply last month and afte of weak data should investors be concerned? close the spigot as the drought worsens. unprecedented, statewide water restrictions and the impact on business could be big. hefty tolls. thousands of bridges are in need of repair but where's the money to fix them? all that and more tonight on "nightly business report" for wednesday, april 1st. >> good evening, everyone and welcome. we told you it could happen and today, it did. business slowed its pace of hiring in march. today's weak report from the private payroll processer, adp, has man

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