National Education Association
PROFILE
Lily Eskelsen Garcia
Guest
FROM Lily Eskelsen Garcia
To the Point
The Most Noble Profession of Teaching Is Now the Most Embattled America's "failing education system" has become a cliché of contemporary journalism — and it's most often blamed on the teachers. Union rules are said to protect the worst, while low salaries, crowded classrooms and unequal resources make it hard to retain the best. Disputes about standardized testing and the Common Core Curriculum have teachers caught in the middle. Teaching was once seen as a noble profession. We hear how that view has changed over time. (This discussion originally aired on September 2, 2014.)
To the Point
The Most Noble Profession of Teaching is Now the Most Embattled No institution is more important to the US economy—or America’s role in the world—than public education. But no profession is more of a battlefield than public school teaching. As another school year begins, are reforms desperately needed? Are teachers getting a bad rap? Public school teachers are on the firing line—not just in the classroom, but in public controversies about tenure and other job protections, standardized tests and, of course, the Common Core curriculum.
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To the Point
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.
To the Point
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
To the Point
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
To the Point
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?