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George Washington University
Executive Director of the Center on Education Policy at George Washington University
PROFILE
Maria Ferguson
Guest
FROM Maria Ferguson
To the Point
Is Public Education Too Soft on American Students? " Common Core " is the new public school standards initiative requiring analytical skills with tough math problems and in-depth essays. It was devised by a committee appointed by the National Governors Association, and since 2010 it's been adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia. Full implementation is planned for next year, but in many places it's already under way, with full implementation planned for next year. But an angry backlash has been developing from both Tea Partiers and progressives. Abysmally low scores on rigorous new tests have shocked teachers, parents and their children from New York to Kentucky. Some states want to abandon ship. What's the role of the Obama Administration? What about Bill Gates and other wealthy advocates of education reform?
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To the Point
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?
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
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
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?