WEBVTT - Episode 4: Who's Thinking of the Students? An Interview with Sec. Betsy DeVos 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:02.600 Up next, The Truth with Lisa Booth. Part of the 0:00:02.600 --> 0:00:07.960 game which teachers unions care about their pocketbooks, politicians care 0:00:07.960 --> 0:00:10.480 about their agendas. But who's looking out for the best 0:00:10.520 --> 0:00:13.640 interests of you know, the students. Too few people in 0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:16.479 positions of power seem to be asking that question. So 0:00:16.560 --> 0:00:19.240 today I found out why this is the Truth with 0:00:19.320 --> 0:00:26.960 Lisa Booth. Welcome back to the Truth with Lisa Booth. 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:29.440 I've got an amazing show for you guys. This week. 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:33.519 My guest has taken on the teachers unions, which of 0:00:33.560 --> 0:00:35.559 course meant that she was one of the most attacked 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:39.440 members of President Trump's cabinet. She is former Secretary of 0:00:39.560 --> 0:00:42.639 Education Betsy Divas, who worked for the Trump administration from 0:00:42.640 --> 0:00:46.240 two thousand seventeen to January of this year. Secretary Divas 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:50.280 has been deeply involved in education policy for decades, working 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:53.720 tirelessly as a passionate advocate of school choice. As she 0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:57.520 described in two thousand thirteen interview, quote, what we're trying 0:00:57.560 --> 0:01:00.360 to do is tear down the mindset that assigns students 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:02.200 to a school based solely on the zip code of 0:01:02.240 --> 0:01:05.680 their families home. We advocate instead for as much freedom 0:01:05.720 --> 0:01:09.160 as possible. Secretary Divace is the former chair of both 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:13.080 the American Federation for Children and also the Philanthropy Roundtable 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:16.080 Board of Directors. She also served on a number of 0:01:16.160 --> 0:01:19.880 other local and national boards, including Art Prize, the American 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:24.080 Enterprise Institute, the Foundation for Excellence and Education, and Divoce 0:01:24.200 --> 0:01:27.160 Institute for Arts Management at the University of Maryland. She 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:30.319 also served as the chair of the Michigan Republican Party 0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:33.760 from nineteen ninety six to two thousand and from two 0:01:33.760 --> 0:01:36.400 thousand three to two thousand five. I want to bring 0:01:36.440 --> 0:01:39.200 on Secretary Divorce to have a wide ranging and in 0:01:39.280 --> 0:01:42.959 depth conversation about the state of America's education system today, 0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:47.440 especially as her schools continue to face unprecedented challenges during COVID, 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:52.360 school choice, Title nine reforms, teachers unions, and even critical 0:01:52.440 --> 0:01:55.000 race theory. I promise we're going to cover it all today, 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:57.160 and with that, I want to welcome to the show 0:01:57.440 --> 0:02:00.840 the former Secretary of Education, Betsy Divas. I'm so excited 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:04.600 to have this conversation because a lot of you know, conservatives, 0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:08.560 we talk about things like school choice, but sometimes there's 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:10.240 a lot of nuance into in it, and so I 0:02:10.280 --> 0:02:12.480 really just want to break it all down with you. 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:14.720 But before we get started on that, this is really 0:02:14.760 --> 0:02:18.040 even before you served as Secretary of Education. This has 0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:20.960 really been a passion of yours. You've served on boards, 0:02:20.960 --> 0:02:22.760 You've invested a lot of money, a lot of time 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:26.960 on this issue. Why why does school choice means so 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:29.400 much to you? Well, Lasi, you're right. I mean, for 0:02:29.600 --> 0:02:33.840 more than three decades, I've been working on and advocating 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:38.919 for families, for parents to have the ability to make 0:02:39.000 --> 0:02:42.360 decisions and control where their kids and how their kids 0:02:42.360 --> 0:02:46.880 go to school and learn. And um. It started frankly, 0:02:46.919 --> 0:02:50.720 when my oldest son, who just turned thirty nine, was 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:55.040 starting kindergarten, and I began to get involved at a 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:59.440 a small urban Christian school in my hometown of Grand Rapids. 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:02.680 The more I volunteered, the more I realized there were 0:03:02.800 --> 0:03:07.079 families there that loved having their kids there, but many 0:03:07.160 --> 0:03:10.000 families who wish they could have their kids there. For 0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:13.880 probably know, probably ten to twenty as many families tend 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:16.560 to tend to twenty times more families that would have 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:18.720 loved to have their children in that kind of a 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:22.840 school but simply can't afford it. Couldn't afford it. And 0:03:22.919 --> 0:03:29.160 so what began as a volunteer activity. Soon um really 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:33.600 grew into an issue of fairness and justice from my perspective, 0:03:34.320 --> 0:03:37.520 and having been involved in a lot of partisan politics 0:03:37.600 --> 0:03:41.480 at the same time, I realized ultimately that the only 0:03:41.520 --> 0:03:46.160 way to bring these kinds of opportunities to families was 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:49.240 really to change public policy, and you had to do 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:52.800 that with a political element involved. Well. And that's why 0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:56.120 I've never understood about some of the attacks against you 0:03:56.320 --> 0:03:59.720 from the left, because look, you're you're wealthy. That's great, 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:02.200 i I'm working on it. You know, there's nothing wrong 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:04.840 with being wealthy in America. But if you're wealthy, you 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:07.480 can you can you have school choice, right, You have 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:10.440 the opportunity to to send your kids to private schools. 0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:13.320 You have the opportunity to move to a better zip codes, 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:15.560 your kid is in a better school district, and to 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:18.200 get a better education. It's really the fight for the 0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:21.560 people who don't have those same resources, who don't have 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:24.760 that same income level. That's why I've really never understood 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:28.320 those attacks against you, because it's not for wealthy individuals. 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:31.520 This is a fight for people who can't afford the 0:04:31.560 --> 0:04:35.239 same access who deserve it. No, that's exactly right, And 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:39.440 you know the media has been complicit in obfus skating 0:04:39.680 --> 0:04:44.279 the issue for many, many years because the politicians who 0:04:44.320 --> 0:04:49.400 sit and and are loyal to the teachers union, um, 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:52.960 you know, they're the ones that also have made choices themselves. 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:58.200 And they're total hypocrites when it comes to denying families 0:04:58.320 --> 0:05:01.719 who they profess to want to help. Um, they're just 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:06.000 total hypocrites when they're sending their children to private schools, 0:05:06.040 --> 0:05:09.760 whether they're faith based or otherwise. And uh, and denying 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:13.080 that same opportunity to families that can't afford to to 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:16.240 write the tuition checks. Well, and and so before we 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:17.719 get in, I do want to talk to you about 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:20.280 the teachers unions and really dig in to that a 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:22.599 little bit further. But so my understanding is when you 0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:25.680 look at school choice more broadly, it falls under two buckets. 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:28.920 You have private school choice and then you have public 0:05:28.960 --> 0:05:31.760 school choice. Can you kind of break down those two 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:35.800 buckets for the people listening? Sure, So a lot of 0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:38.880 people get really confused when we talk about school choice, 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:42.000 and some of them think that school choice simply means 0:05:42.400 --> 0:05:45.719 charter schools or the ability to go to a charter school. 0:05:46.600 --> 0:05:51.880 Let's be really really clear. Charter schools are public schools 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:57.800 that are funded with public money's public tax dollars and UM. 0:05:57.839 --> 0:06:01.480 The difference for charter schools is that they are independently 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:06.520 operated from others in their you know, in their region 0:06:06.680 --> 0:06:10.560 or in their district or their system. And UH that 0:06:10.760 --> 0:06:15.000 is that has been a real storn in the eyes 0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:18.920 of those who want to protect the system and to 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:23.240 keep all of the power and control and resources for themselves. 0:06:23.240 --> 0:06:27.400 So the teachers unions have continued to fight against charters 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:31.680 because it represents a lack of ability for them to 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:36.640 control the other part of school choice. There are many 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:41.440 different mechanisms for it. But when public funds, when tax 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:47.080 payer funds flow to UH private schools, whether they're faith 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:52.440 based schools or virtual schools, or whether they're buying a 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:58.119 course from a university or UM you know, some other 0:06:58.520 --> 0:07:04.440 mechanism that can be done through UH a tax credit 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:07.279 at a state level. It could be done through a 0:07:07.360 --> 0:07:12.440 direct vulture amount. It can be done through an education 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:19.360 savings accounts where money's are are attributed or you know, 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:23.680 given to a family to then buy different education resources 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:29.400 and customize education. UH. There's there's different mechanisms to choose 0:07:30.000 --> 0:07:35.239 non public or private providers of education as well, and 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:39.240 it's been I think it's been really difficult for a 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:42.840 lot of people to envision what this could look like 0:07:43.280 --> 0:07:46.680 for themselves or that you know, their children or grandchildren 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:52.640 until really recently, in this last year, when school shut down, 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:59.200 many didn't reopen, and families began looking for alternative ways 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:03.160 for their child learn to continue learning. And suddenly I 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:06.120 think many eyes that you know, many parents eyes have 0:08:06.200 --> 0:08:11.440 been opened across the country around what what school choice 0:08:11.720 --> 0:08:16.720 could mean or could be for their children. And we've seen, 0:08:16.880 --> 0:08:20.440 you know, states take additional actions. I believe it's West 0:08:20.520 --> 0:08:23.280 Virginia and Kentucky. You know, they've signed a new new 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:27.280 school choice expansions this year. How much more, you know, 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:29.560 how many more states or what kind of engagement do 0:08:29.600 --> 0:08:32.640 you think we're going to see from parents who quite frankly, 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:35.840 are just fed up with schools being closed and feeling 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:38.760 like their kids aren't getting educated yet. You know, a 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:41.440 lot of these public schools have surpluses or have certainly 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:44.240 have enough money to open well exactly. And one of 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:48.520 the things that I have been very proud of what 0:08:48.520 --> 0:08:51.120 what our team did while we were at the Department 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:55.559 of Education was to really bring the whole issue and 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:59.880 notion of school choice to the foreground. We really live 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:04.680 prairie fire under the notion of money following the student 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:08.679 instead of money going to a building or a system. 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:14.440 And when the shutdowns occurred last spring, um, you know, 0:09:15.520 --> 0:09:18.600 we are now in a place where many states are 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:24.320 considering legislation to either expand programs that they already have 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:28.800 or in many cases, states are introducing programs where they 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:31.840 haven't even thought of entertaining them before. And you mentioned 0:09:31.880 --> 0:09:36.920 West Virginia. They just passed what is nearly a universal 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:40.400 for for every student in West Virginia, the possibility to 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:45.200 access one of these education savings accounts, So students there 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:50.000 could buy tutoring services or they could buy classes online 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:53.320 for um, you know, if their school is open and 0:09:53.360 --> 0:09:56.560 they're attending but their school doesn't offer something they want, 0:09:57.200 --> 0:10:01.280 or if their school isn't open and isn't doing, um 0:10:01.400 --> 0:10:05.040 what it is there to do, the parents can take 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:09.000 that education savings account and take and put their children 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:11.679 in a school that is going to meet their needs. 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:15.079 So West Virginia just you know, came along and joined 0:10:15.080 --> 0:10:20.840 the crowd on on school choice. Kentucky very recently as well. UM, 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:25.720 and this is another really interesting phenomenon because the governor 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:30.360 there um the legislature passed the tax credit legislation to 0:10:30.559 --> 0:10:35.400 establish a tax credit. The governor vetoed it in spite 0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:38.280 of the fact that he himself sends his own children 0:10:38.320 --> 0:10:42.400 to a private school and h then then then the 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:47.760 legislature overrode his depo to establish the program. So it's uh, 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:51.480 you know, it's it's a win for the kids in Kentucky, UM, 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:56.800 Florida and Arizona and Indiana are considering historic expansions of 0:10:56.920 --> 0:11:01.400 programs that they've had. South Dakota has expanded their tax 0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:07.120 credit program. Oklahoma just pass legislation to have money followed 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:11.440 the students within any public school system while between systems. 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:17.720 So the whole issue of empowering families to make these 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:23.240 choices has really caught fire. And um the shutdowns from 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:26.240 the pandemic and the ways that the teachers unions have 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:31.080 responded or not responded have really precipitated a lot of 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:35.880 this move and frankly continue to to build the uh, 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:39.040 the resolve of families to do what they need to 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:41.760 do for their kids. Well, and it seems to be 0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:43.920 the case, I believe did you say it was the 0:11:44.000 --> 0:11:48.720 governor's child goes to private school, Governor Bushier's children go 0:11:48.840 --> 0:11:51.120 to private school. Well, and that seems to be the 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:53.640 case with so many of these politicians. I mean, I 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:56.920 remember Governor Newsome got flat because he was sending his 0:11:57.000 --> 0:12:00.840 kids back to private school and Sacramento and public schools 0:12:01.200 --> 0:12:04.440 were shut down, so those students weren't afforded the same opportunity. 0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:08.199 Or there was a union leader in Berkeley, California opposing 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:12.560 opening schools. However he was sending his kid to a 0:12:12.600 --> 0:12:15.079 private school. So why do so many of these politicians, 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:18.200 primarily on the left, they want that great education for 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:21.720 their kids, but they're denying it for other children. Well, 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:24.800 I think too many of them are frankly totally beholden 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:28.440 to the teachers union because the perception, at least I 0:12:28.480 --> 0:12:31.440 think what they believe is that you can't cross the 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:33.920 teachers Union or you're going to get punished in your 0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:37.520 next primary or your next you know, your next race 0:12:37.640 --> 0:12:42.120 for for reelection and um. And this is the This 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:48.520 is simply untenable and and tragic for millions of kids 0:12:48.559 --> 0:12:53.080 across the country who for months have been either denied 0:12:53.240 --> 0:12:58.520 a full on robots education or you know, or been 0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:02.360 treated to something that is so meager and so inadequate 0:13:02.880 --> 0:13:05.720 that the implications are going to be felt for decades, 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:11.360 if not their entire lifetime. And so um. I think again, 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:16.240 the demand is continuing to grow, and I firmly believe 0:13:16.400 --> 0:13:19.439 that more and more politicians are going to realize they 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:22.920 cannot be on the wrong side of this issue any longer. 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:28.880 But you've got people like the president of the American 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:33.600 Federation of Teachers, Randy Weygardan, who recently said an interview, Look, 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:38.520 kids are resilient and they will recover. Is that true. Well, 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:41.720 we don't have h we don't have any good measures 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:45.480 of how much is going to be lost, particularly on 0:13:45.600 --> 0:13:48.040 the part of the kids who are the most vulnerable. 0:13:48.320 --> 0:13:51.440 I mean, the kids whose families have been able to 0:13:51.480 --> 0:13:55.160 figure out an alternative or go and pay for an alternative. 0:13:55.600 --> 0:13:59.400 Those kids are ultimately probably going to be okay. But 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:03.040 it's just heartbreaking to hear some of the stories of 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:06.840 kids who's uh, you know, who are who are attempting 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:09.480 to sit in front of a computer screen for an 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:12.520 hour or maybe two a day, for whom it simply 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:16.920 doesn't work and uh and and for whom the instruction 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:20.200 is a fraction of what they would get if they 0:14:20.200 --> 0:14:24.200 were actually in class in person and not having that 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:28.040 one on one or that direct human contact. We don't 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:31.200 know what the long term implications are going to be, 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:34.600 but we know from the short term that it's going 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:38.000 to be devastating for millions of kids. And I think 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:41.120 about the story I heard of a young man, an 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:44.960 athlete in New Mexico who um, you know, home in 0:14:45.080 --> 0:14:50.600 isolation for months on end, who kept, you know, wanting 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:53.080 to be back in school, wanting to play on his 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:58.000 sporting teams or his his sports teams, and um and 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:02.000 who ultimately, uh took his life because he had he 0:15:02.080 --> 0:15:06.080 ultimately ran out of hope. And there's more than one 0:15:06.160 --> 0:15:10.160 story like that, and it's just simply tragic. And uh, 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:14.880 the longer that the teachers unions continued to put up roadblocks, 0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:17.840 the more tragic stories we're going to hear like that 0:15:17.920 --> 0:15:21.520 young man. Well, and I saw one children's hospital out 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:24.160 of San Francisco said that they had they had seen 0:15:24.280 --> 0:15:27.000 a sixty six percent increase in the number of suicide 0:15:27.120 --> 0:15:30.680 suicidal children and the emergency room. So certainly when you 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:33.320 hear statistics like that, and the story that you just mentioned. 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:37.400 You know, it's it's really sad, and it really gets 0:15:37.400 --> 0:15:41.360 to the question of why some of these schools haven't 0:15:41.400 --> 0:15:44.800 been reopened. There's this study that was done by I 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:48.440 hope I'm not butchering their names, mccrey, D'Angelis and UH 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:56.360 Christo's macreadys, and essentially the research found that UH schools 0:15:56.400 --> 0:15:59.680 closures had more to do with union influence rather than 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:02.760 sientific concerns about COVID. And they actually looked at twelve 0:16:02.800 --> 0:16:07.960 thousand school districts nationwide in their research. So why are 0:16:08.040 --> 0:16:11.760 these teachers unions so opposed to reopening? Well, I see, 0:16:11.800 --> 0:16:15.160 I think they they saw and see an opportunity to 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:20.400 get more control, more resources. And I go back to 0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:24.320 last spring, when it was clear from all of the 0:16:24.400 --> 0:16:28.160 data that was coming in really around the world. You know, 0:16:28.320 --> 0:16:32.840 European children went back to school already last spring, and 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:38.640 when President Trump and I began calling for schools to reopen, uh, 0:16:38.760 --> 0:16:41.680 you know, you would have thought, um that we were 0:16:41.800 --> 0:16:46.359 asking for an impossibility based on what we were experiencing. 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:49.760 But the reality was that kids were safely going back 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:53.040 to school all over the world and it was nothing 0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:57.880 but the union in in you know, in transigence and 0:16:58.080 --> 0:17:04.359 frankly flexing muscle and power and uh and and control 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:10.080 to ultimately deny the most vulnerable kids, uh their opportunity 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:13.440 to continue to learn. And they're doing it yet today. 0:17:13.680 --> 0:17:17.479 I mean the fact that teachers in Fairfax County, right 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:21.359 outside of d c UM, you know, kept moving the 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:24.080 goal has kept moving the goalposts. Well, we have to 0:17:24.119 --> 0:17:26.800 wait until the teachers are vaccinated. While now the teachers 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:30.000 are vaccinated, and now it's something else not opening in 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:34.840 person again. Uh. You know the schools in California where 0:17:34.880 --> 0:17:36.960 more than a fifth of the teachers have said they 0:17:37.000 --> 0:17:41.080 don't intend to return to school as required this month. Uh. 0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:46.240 It is in primarily in these large urban districts where 0:17:46.240 --> 0:17:50.360 the teachers unions are the most powerful, and we're frankly 0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:54.080 where the kids are most in need of being in school, 0:17:54.600 --> 0:17:58.640 in in class a hundred percent of the time, where 0:17:58.680 --> 0:18:01.120 they're the ones who are getting hurt in the process. 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:04.000 And and frankly, they're the ones that I have continued 0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:09.520 to fight for for more than thirty five years. Now, Well, 0:18:09.600 --> 0:18:11.640 you're right, because that that's what's sad about this because 0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:13.920 a lot of families with wealth, you know, they're creating 0:18:14.400 --> 0:18:17.119 pod type education for their kids. They're right, they're pulling 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:19.800 their kids at a public school sending them to private schools. 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:22.760 They have options, and you know, sadly, it's a lot 0:18:22.760 --> 0:18:25.840 of families that don't have that same income level who 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:28.080 don't have those options. So, you know a lot of 0:18:28.600 --> 0:18:31.600 kids are falling behind who just don't have that education 0:18:31.680 --> 0:18:34.840 or don't have that financial income, uh to to to 0:18:34.880 --> 0:18:37.880 get the right kind of education right now. Exactly. Yeah. 0:18:37.920 --> 0:18:41.600 I think it was in Tennessee that recently did a 0:18:41.680 --> 0:18:46.280 study and they estimated that outboards with learning loss and 0:18:46.359 --> 0:18:51.600 reading and math um for kids who haven't been in school. Uh. Well, 0:18:51.920 --> 0:18:55.840 you you know, you can't expect that kids are going 0:18:55.880 --> 0:19:00.119 to regain that learning loss by going back to the 0:19:00.200 --> 0:19:04.600 same situation, the same type of classrooms, the same uh 0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:08.880 you know, the same construct that they left before. There 0:19:08.880 --> 0:19:11.760 are ways for them to make up learning losses, but 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:15.360 it's not going to be returning to the same system 0:19:15.560 --> 0:19:19.000 and in the same way of doing things, because they've 0:19:19.200 --> 0:19:22.400 demonstrated time and time again they cannot get it done. 0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:28.119 So teachers unions obviously have a stranglehold over the left 0:19:28.160 --> 0:19:31.400 and liberal politicians. You know how exactly do they work. 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:34.119 How do they obtain that kind of power. Well, they've 0:19:34.440 --> 0:19:39.000 they've been very strategic about it. And remember the Department 0:19:39.000 --> 0:19:44.320 of Education was stood up in ninety nine at the 0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:48.960 end of the President Carter's term UM as a payoff 0:19:49.040 --> 0:19:54.000 to the teachers union and by uh, you know, establishing 0:19:54.040 --> 0:19:57.879 the federal Department of Education the ability to try to 0:19:58.040 --> 0:20:04.240 centralize and control education even though states ultimately have have 0:20:04.440 --> 0:20:06.879 that right and have that power on the state by 0:20:06.960 --> 0:20:11.920 state basis. UM, they have continued to solidify and and 0:20:12.080 --> 0:20:19.240 uh and you know, and gather that control um administration 0:20:19.280 --> 0:20:23.800 after administration. We saw it during the Obama administration. I'm 0:20:24.359 --> 0:20:28.440 fearful about what the Widen administration is going to do. UM. 0:20:28.480 --> 0:20:32.720 We're seeing them, you know, grant waivers to state UM 0:20:32.760 --> 0:20:38.960 to basically uh skirts their accountability requirements. My own home 0:20:39.000 --> 0:20:43.560 state of Michigan, they have they've given Michigan waiver authority 0:20:43.680 --> 0:20:48.159 to not identify the lowest five per cent of school 0:20:48.480 --> 0:20:52.359 schools as a you know, on a performance metric. And 0:20:53.119 --> 0:20:57.119 and they're holding back billions of dollars from the the 0:20:57.400 --> 0:21:02.200 CARES and and American Recovery Acts in order to control 0:21:02.600 --> 0:21:06.440 what happens at the state and local level from Washington, 0:21:06.560 --> 0:21:12.679 d C. And so they continued, UM, they continued, you know, 0:21:13.080 --> 0:21:16.720 gathering of powers and focus of power at the federal level, 0:21:17.440 --> 0:21:21.520 UM at the extent of state and local districts is 0:21:22.320 --> 0:21:26.560 uh I think points to their their long term strategy 0:21:26.720 --> 0:21:30.159 and has continued to pay offs and and frankly, in 0:21:30.160 --> 0:21:35.200 too many cases, federally elected Republicans have been UM either 0:21:35.320 --> 0:21:39.399 asleep or complicit in in helping to solidify that power. 0:21:39.920 --> 0:21:43.919 And I think parents, I know parents are are having 0:21:43.960 --> 0:21:47.560 their eyes opened, and they're awakening to the fact that 0:21:48.160 --> 0:21:53.280 they have got to reclaim and reassert that control and 0:21:53.320 --> 0:21:56.760 that ability to decide their kids futures and their education. 0:21:57.080 --> 0:21:59.920 You know, many of them sitting behind their kids watching 0:22:00.119 --> 0:22:04.080 what they've been learning remotely, UM, They're they're aware what 0:22:04.200 --> 0:22:06.920 their kids are or aren't learning. Many of them are 0:22:06.960 --> 0:22:10.399 concerned about the content and the quality of what they're learning. 0:22:10.800 --> 0:22:14.800 So I think, I think again, this the whole uh 0:22:15.080 --> 0:22:20.320 COVID issue has really helped to UM point out why 0:22:20.359 --> 0:22:23.719 a nationalized school system does not work and why we 0:22:23.760 --> 0:22:27.360 have to do a tremendous pivot from where we've been 0:22:28.000 --> 0:22:31.840 and really put power back into the hands of families 0:22:32.240 --> 0:22:36.480 and have funds follow the students to the the education 0:22:36.800 --> 0:22:39.959 location of their choice. Well, and it's a political winner too. 0:22:40.000 --> 0:22:42.400 I mean you look at polling. The majority of Americans 0:22:42.440 --> 0:22:47.479 support school choice, independence democrats, majority of minority parents support 0:22:47.560 --> 0:22:49.879 school choice. So it is a political winner. And I 0:22:49.880 --> 0:22:52.600 think at the heart even some on the left support 0:22:52.640 --> 0:22:54.719 I mean you look at someone like Senator Corey Booker. 0:22:55.200 --> 0:22:58.040 He used to be a big pronent proponent of school choice. 0:22:58.480 --> 0:23:01.360 He went to an event you held in Michigan debating 0:23:01.400 --> 0:23:04.240 in favor of school choice. He has served on pro 0:23:04.320 --> 0:23:07.840 voucher boards with you, He has backed vouchers charter schools. 0:23:08.440 --> 0:23:11.400 But then he gave a dramatic speech in two seventeen 0:23:11.480 --> 0:23:15.600 actually opposing your nomination. Why did he do such a 0:23:15.640 --> 0:23:19.040 flip flop on such an important issue because he fancied 0:23:19.119 --> 0:23:21.679 himself president and he didn't want to get on the 0:23:21.720 --> 0:23:24.359 wrong side of the teacher union. I mean, that's the 0:23:24.400 --> 0:23:27.040 bottom line, and that's sad because it's the you know, 0:23:27.080 --> 0:23:30.400 the kids who inevitably lose in the end, and that's 0:23:30.400 --> 0:23:34.560 what that's what really bothers me about why Republicans and 0:23:34.600 --> 0:23:36.800 why we just I mean, this should be this is 0:23:37.119 --> 0:23:39.199 you know, a civil rights movement and a sense a 0:23:39.280 --> 0:23:42.639 human rights issue in the sense of why should kids 0:23:42.920 --> 0:23:46.000 why should there zip code determine the kind of education 0:23:46.040 --> 0:23:48.879 to get? We know, education is so important on what 0:23:48.960 --> 0:23:50.399 kind of person you're going to be in the future, 0:23:50.440 --> 0:23:52.240 the opportunities that are you can be presented you in 0:23:52.280 --> 0:23:55.560 the future, and it's it's disturbing that there's not more support. 0:23:55.600 --> 0:23:58.160 I mean this, I mean this should be the fight. Yes, 0:23:58.840 --> 0:24:02.600 absolutely agreed, And I think, um, I think one of 0:24:02.640 --> 0:24:06.720 the challenges for some Republicans, and it's I think it's 0:24:06.760 --> 0:24:12.800 particularly those that represent rural areas, is they don't really 0:24:12.880 --> 0:24:16.920 see what's in it for their constituents because they don't 0:24:17.000 --> 0:24:20.600 see a you know, second school being built next to 0:24:20.640 --> 0:24:24.760 that little rural you k through twelve school there aren't 0:24:24.880 --> 0:24:28.800 enough kids perhaps or whatever. And I challenge them and say, 0:24:28.920 --> 0:24:31.840 that isn't the extent of what school choice looks like. 0:24:32.240 --> 0:24:36.520 School choice looks like a lot of different forms. If 0:24:36.560 --> 0:24:39.399 there's a handful of kids in that small rural school 0:24:39.680 --> 0:24:44.320 who learn differently, there's no reason that with school choice 0:24:44.800 --> 0:24:48.320 they couldn't take the funds meant for them and have 0:24:49.080 --> 0:24:53.440 informed a separate, little micro school that might exist right 0:24:53.480 --> 0:24:57.520 within that same school building, or a student in uh, 0:24:57.560 --> 0:25:00.359 you know, their junior or senior year to making a 0:25:00.440 --> 0:25:05.440 class online from a provider, a high quality provider anywhere 0:25:05.440 --> 0:25:08.960 in the world, but buying that because they've made the 0:25:09.040 --> 0:25:13.560 choice to do that. There's no limit to the creativity 0:25:13.680 --> 0:25:19.120 that can be exercised when you empower families to make 0:25:19.200 --> 0:25:22.560 those choices and to express the needs for their kids, 0:25:23.040 --> 0:25:25.879 um to become everything they're meant to be. What it 0:25:25.920 --> 0:25:28.440 really just comes down to freedom and opportunity, which are 0:25:28.440 --> 0:25:31.320 two things Republicans purport to be for. So you know, 0:25:31.400 --> 0:25:33.639 I it should be the fight and we've seen to. 0:25:33.720 --> 0:25:36.560 I mean even if you look at Governor Ron de Santis, 0:25:36.640 --> 0:25:38.960 I mean there is research and evidence pointing back to 0:25:39.000 --> 0:25:42.280 the two eighteen gubnatorial race that that is important why 0:25:42.320 --> 0:25:44.680 he won the race against Andrew Gillum, which was his 0:25:44.720 --> 0:25:48.639