America's primary and secondary education lags behind that of other advanced countries. In this panel discussion, hosted by the New Republic, experts argue that improving the quality of education would generate enough economic growth to pay for the entire education system itself. They suggest catching up will require cooperation, national standards, better incentives for teachers, and accountability.
Teach For America places thousands of energetic and committed college graduates as teachers in under-resourced schools for their first jobs. In this audio lecture recorded at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Wendy Kopp shares why and how she started Teach for America in 1980, and its progress in raising the bar for under-achieving children. She also discusses how the organization rode out its "dark years," when enthusiasm and corporate support for the effort began to wane.
Ken Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, gives a thoughtful perspective on the "State of Human Rights" in the 70 countries where they work. In this audio lecture, he argues the biggest issue in human rights is the lack of leadership from governments that can exert a positive influence. He takes a critical look at the role of the United States and the European Union, in particular.
It’s time to reform how we grow food and what we have for dinner, says Bruce Boyd, principal and managing director at Arabella Philanthropic Investment Advisors.
Stephen Friedman and Gene Sperling, former policy advisors to the Clinton and Bush administrations, discuss some of the challenges that the next president will face in the coming years. Central to this panel discussion is the role that globalization will play in formulating policies to ensure that the United States remains competitive with the world. Some of these changes will require deft political skill and the mobilization of popular support behind sensitive issues.
With crude oil over $100 a barrel and continuing to rise, concerns about increased prices at the pump and at home—intensified by political unrest in other parts of the world—have put energy issues into heightened focus for the American public. In this audio interveiw, Jim Lehrer conducts "A Conversation About Oil" with Chevron's Peter J. Robertson.
In an effort to narrow the gap in educational opportunities, Teach For America currently places over 5,000 teachers in low-income and poorly performing schools across the country. Its growing corps of alumni is also taking their educational experiences into careers in law, public health, policy making, and leadership. In this audio interview, Wendy Kopp, founder and chief executive officer of Teach For America, tells host Sheela Sethuraman about the history, goals, and ideals of that program.
In this audio lecture, Amory Lovins argues for a sound energy policy that rewards innovation, and for a serious commitment to implementing energy-efficient technological improvements. These combined efforts could subsequently result in saving half of our oil, half of our gas, and three-fourths of our electricity. They would also decrease our dependence on foreign resources and would indirectly alleviate some of the world's biggest problems.
"The United States can break its dependency on oil by 2040." So says Amory Lovins, who discusses in this audio lecture the strategy outlined in his book, Winning the Oil Endgame, through which the country can eliminate its use of oil and have a much stronger economy. Most significantly, this plan does not rely on big government programs, but leans primarily on the for-profit business sector to lead the way.
How is California, home of the technology revolution, preparing the next generation of students to lead the charge of innovation? In this University podcast, Senator Joe Simitian and Professor Michael Kirst argue that school financing in California is neither adequate, efficient, nor equitable. Speaking at the Stanford School of Education, they discuss the challenges of financing California's K-12 schools in a rapidly changing environment with diffuse accountability and dilute authority.
