00:00It's back to school season. A lot of our students are headed back to school, headed
00:05back to college, and we're seeing a lot going on with education and the current
00:11administration right now and the way that things are moving. What are some
00:15words I guess that you can give to families, to parents sending their
00:18children back to school and things that they want to look out for and be aware
00:23of as parents and some changes that they might see in the school system or
00:27things that might even trickle down to the younger children or even trickle all
00:31the way up to the college level student now that they're back on campus and
00:35school is back in session. Well, I think that parents need to understand the whole
00:40objective of providing quality education to everybody changes from administration
00:47to administration. This administration under Donald Trump is more committed
00:53toward a privatized education kind of ideology. The Secretary of Education, Betsy
01:02DeVos, was a big proponent of charter schools and voucher programs. Anytime you
01:11have privatized education vouchers, that means that you're going to educate a
01:15select few because there's not enough vouchers for everybody and there's not
01:19enough charter space. So then what happens to the other? We ought to be
01:23committed to everybody because one of the reasons that I fought and I worked hand in
01:31hand with President Obama's administration on education, one of the first things that we
01:37did is he had me and Newt Gingrich, who was my political opposite, go on the
01:41education tour to see how we deal with public education in charter schools. And one of the
01:47reasons that I was saying to Newt Gingrich that I'm for making sure we put money, public
01:54money for all schools, not just charters, is because I'd have been one of the other. I
01:59wouldn't have been one of the special kids to make a voucher or special kids to make
02:04it to a charter school. And I did all right. So how do you know who you are cutting out?
02:10Absolutely. So we need to be involved in making sure that we do that. How do we get involved
02:15to answer your specific question? We need to be involved in our local school districts. We
02:21need to go to PTA meetings. No, you know, my mother, my father was a businessman, left when
02:27I was nine. My mother had to raise my sister and I when he abandoned us on welfare and food
02:32stand. But she was never so broke she didn't make PTA meetings. She was never so broke she didn't
02:37go to open school week and go see my teachers if there was ever a problem. I don't remember
02:43ever. I used to be petrified over school because my mother was going. It didn't matter. She was a
02:49domestic worker or she was coming. We have no excuse not to be involved in our kids education
02:56and in the meetings around these local school districts because there's nothing more important
03:02than education of your children.
03:04Now, when they're taking those steps, they're starting up those conversations with their
03:08teachers, even with their local elected officials. What are some things specifically that people
03:13should be addressing and should be kind of getting their officials, whether it's the local elected
03:17officials or the principals of their children's schools, or even if you're in college, you know,
03:21the administration there on your college campus. What are some things specifically, maybe three
03:26things that they can take?
03:27I would deal with the quality of education. What is available to my child in terms of the curriculum,
03:34whether they're getting a balanced and quality education. You review the curriculum and the
03:40resources around it. Second, the quality of teachers in the schools. One of the things that we have found
03:47is some of the more experienced teachers are routed out of our communities if you're dealing at a
03:53secondary and a high school level. College is according to whether it is a private university
04:00or public, but know who's the instructors. And thirdly is, are they teaching something that relates
04:09to us? Can you, is it culturally identifying with us? Is it something that deals with our history?
04:16But you want basic quality stuff as well as that. And because if you just have one without the other,
04:24then you're not going to be able to compete in this world. Education is to enlighten you and prepare
04:30you to go out in the world and be able to compete and make it. And, uh, and I think again, that we've got to
04:36make sure that all the resources and everything's available to them and young students need to ask themselves
04:42every day. What is it I'm going to school for? Because you might be the biggest star on campus,
04:47but out in the big world, can you really compete for that job, that position, that business,
04:53whatever it is that you choose to do in life.
04:55For sure.
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