Spoke during the forum. This is about 30 minutes. Secretary rice i think everyone in this room would agree that the United States must have a renewed commitment to an Education System that is compatible with training our workforce for the jobs of tomorrow if we want to lead in technology. We all agree with that so what we need to do in the session to do to get in a better place. So i want to start by getting everyones reaction to the report. Secretary rice first of all, thank you very much and thank you for this opportunity. I have a little bit of deja vu because more than a decade ago joe climbed the polls and i chaired the task force called National Security and education reform. In one of the reasons that we wanted to do that was to bring to the attention of the National Security community, the crucial moment that we were at in terms of this issue of talent. And to say you may think this is an out problem but it actually is our problem is people concerned about National Security. So, as i think about this report and some of the recommendations, many of which i completely agree with on extended education, i just have a little bit of deja vu, and i thought, this time, maybe we will act. Deja vu in an upset way, in an optimistic way . Here we arent are we dealing with the same thing . Secretary rice these are structural issues and structural issues take time. Im more optimistic because the panel, we have advances of technology in education and personalized learning and bringing education to people in more romo areas, the teaching profession has not really taken advantage of the technologies that are available. I think this may be another Inflection Point but lets make it were 10 years from now we are not talking about it again. [applause] dr. Howard, this is your report. What was your biggest take away . Dr. Howard im coming from phoenix. Its a dry heat. As you all know that. 2000 degrees but its dry. My seven is a dry heat as well. When i first came in i was asked to do this work. I remember, i dumped it out and i said, here we go again. Its like deja vu all over again. My initial reaction is that its great that we are talking about that question here. We said in our conversation together, all these National Security people, let me learn about k12. Theres nothing we are doing right now in terms of the great conversations of it being ukraine, afghanistan, nato, etc. , it wont be addressed unless we have Human Capital. Everyone of us is in the Human Capital business. Educating kids, grandkids, we absolutely have to get this right. We do have more tools and we have a moment and i will talk about the solutions in a second. But they leave to things. We have a sputnik type moment. It is a Goldwater Nichols type moment, it is a remap around active 1862 where we created rotc type moment. We want to borrow that moment later on. Im bullish on the fact that everything we do runs through this conversation around k12, we dont get it right and im happy you use the term workforce because pcs are great but technicians are even more important. Im happy to talk about it. We need a lot more of them. The pandemic has put a spotlight on k12 education that is changing the conversation and i think its really important to just back up and take a look at what the system is experiencing right now. The pandemic erased two decades of progress in math and literacy. Math levels in this country are the lowest they have been since 1990. So, this is an urgent moment and you are hearing from this illustrious panel that this is a moment for urgency, it is a moment for operation warp speed type response to addressing what is a what i am optimistic about, like my fellow panelists, is that coalitions are coming together in new ways to solve this problem. And i want to think on you for inviting the foundation into the community to be part of this discussion because the workforce challenge is a k12 challenge. We need to be starting much earlier and thinking about innovation. We need to be thinking about science and math. And literacy education. I think that we will talk about solutions, stephanie, but the report lays out a roadmap for how we can amplify and accelerate some of this innovation and it in this very important moment. Does the report highlight an opportunity, or is it a flashing red light that we are in a crisis . When we talk about the data, it was in 2022 that the United States was Something Like country 25 out of 37 with mass illiteracy. In terms of stem education, china was turning eight times the amount of people with stem degrees. Is this an opportunity or holy cow we are in crisis . Because the country leaving and technology is the global power. Its both. And there is that old saying, that chinese word for crisis being an opportunity, we have both in this circumstance. One reason is that because there is the china challenge and the way that theyre not been an external challenge of that kind for a long time. And we are also seeing these frontier technologies like the discussion we just had on ai, which now Everybody Knows that the same skills it is just not going to work. And then, finally, as you mentioned, there is a spotlight on what were doing in cake12 education and particularly for underserved kids. I will tell you, when i hear the debate about the Supreme Court and affirmative action, and i think part of the problem is that underserved kids have not been in a position to compete. To compete for these universities. We have a host of crises that have come together in a way that i hope is going to be a flashing red light for the country. You dont want to skip to solutions. One thing that i really liked in the report was highlighting a couple of places in the National Security space around defense authorization, for instance, that we could raise the level at which people recognize a crisis. I was going to say quickly, that those are inextricably linked, the nda, which has a habit of passing every year, typically, with billions and approaching trillions a trillion dollars almost, is a great opportunity for some of that to be carved off to education going a long way. Dont we have a problem with the fact that we have a 71 billion hole in terms of education right now . Public schools are in crisis. In some ways, it feels like talking about ai and stem is amazing, but coming out of covid, learning loss is so enormous. We dont have the basics down. Rice learning loss is enormous, i am not sure it is a matter of money to be quite honest. I am learning about a lot of the covid money in schools that was not even spent. We did a study at hoover for a state that shall be remain unnamed. All of the technology was being used for administration purposes, not for teaching in the classroom. Because the teachers were fearful of it. You can fix that and have the teachers learn how to use the technology. Finally, we do have a habit in this country of sending the least well performing teachers to the four schools. That is not a matter of money to the poor schools. That is not a matter of money, that is values. If youre a bad teacher, dont send the bad teacher to a school with poor kids, because you would not want that teacher in your school. Until we call that out, we are not going to solve this problem. And so, yes, i am happy to have more money for k12 education, but there are also structural problems we have to resolve. We are seeing greater solutions. Teachers are actually leading the way. Their jobs have become unsustainable. They are looking to technology and chatgpt to make their jobs easier, because what they want to do is not spending all of time lesson planning, they want to build relationships with students and social capital. They know that those things like personalization, are going to accelerate students and support upward mobility. We released a poll this week that shows that 63 of teachers in america are actually using chatgpt to enhance their instruction. That is an indicator, to me, that this is a moment where we are seeing new pressures and new energy for selling problems reaching students in new ways. Can i speak with a specific solution tying together both of these trains of thought . There are approximately 200,000 qualified teachers and growing, and how do you address that. We addressed rtc. One of the ideas is for bringing National Security into k12 and higher education, and rotc program for stem teachers. Who does not think that rotc is an important part of the fabric of america . My father was an rotc graduate at an hbcu, many people here made a connection through rotc. Think about tens of thousands of more teachers that serve their country in communities that need the most. And using Technology Like ai, like virtual reality, and the rotc core course is one idea. Sometimes when teachers and administer to get it wrong, families can get it right. So, like, academy, if you have seen their ai property, we have something that was a generative ai before it was a bearded, it debuted, and you have the sort of teachers in your pocket. You can go right to the student and right to the parent, and right to the guardian. That is another part of the solution. Rice i agree. I want to say, until we realize that this is a structural problem for poor kids, nothing is going to work. And, i also want to call out my own profession in this regard, my colleagues are doing an amazing job of leveraging technology, even for tertiary education. Isnt it universities and schools of education are new the graveyard when it comes to what Technology Demands. Teacher training, what Technology Demands of curriculum development, what Technology Demands of training principles principals. We know thats how a group how you could turn around a failing school. You can get people converging with the technology and using it. But there is a gap between our training and what is happening in the classroom. I think our professions need to step up as well. I was talking earlier about this about how we had thousands of k12 learners in our Digital Academy and many Charter Schools students who have a 90 college to military outcome. We shouldnt forget about the k12 idea, and we should upscale and resale certifications. Everything that you are talking about is energizing, exciting, positive. People in the room are pumped about it. But that great principle that you are talking about right now is bogged down dealing with cultural issues. That is at the forefront. How do we balance the two, because the stuff that we are talking about right here is so crucial to our future in some anyways. I think that is at the forefront of the headlines. But when you visit schools, it is not what the conversation is about. The conversation is about how to best support students. I was recently in alabama, and i visited the Alabama Aerospace and aviation academy, the First Aerospace and Aviation School in the entire state. I met the principal, ruben morris. He is education 80 educating the next generation of predominantly black students who are energized by the idea of joining the aerospace and defense industry. He is dealing with discipline issues like you would in many high schools, and High School Kids are going to be High School Kids, but his focus is on creating a great learning experience for students. His teachers are focusing on that. I think that there is some noise out there in our politics that is just distracting from the good work happening in classrooms. Its our job to direct the conversation and come together in ways that are going to keep the focus on learning, because the magnitude of it is so great, and the risk to our National Security and future talent is significant. Much of this report is about how the United States maintains its Competitive Edge in the global landscape. Secretary rice, how do you think that we are doing in terms of who is our biggest adversary that we should be worried about . Our biggest adversary is us. That we dont get these things right. I dont fear a country out there. When you look at the future, what is the danger that you see, the United States can handle any challenge we will handle the challenge of china if we do the things that we are talking about. I will bet on three people any day. Free people any day, not people who wake up one day and all all of you have authoritarian envy, they built such great airports and the roads are so great, suddenly turning on zero covid. That was not a great idea. It was one guy who thought that was a good idea. I will bet on free people and democracy. The challenge were free people and democracy is to organize themselves to do the most urgent task. This is among the most urgent tasks. Another way that were doing it, and we dont like talking about it these days, but we import a lot of our talent. That is one of the ways that we have stayed at the leading edge. The truth is that if you are a young suffer engineer and you want to be a young suffer engineer, you might want to be in the United States of america, because in a generation you could be american. Immigration, this is a country that has been filled by immigrants, that has been made new and young every few generations by immigrants, you just go around and look at the people who are leading the knowledge revolution across cup the country, they are immigrants. The other part of the story is that we need to educate our own, it should not be that you have to come here to be successful, you should it does not matter where it came from, it matters where you are going. That was true. You are not trapped in your class. Your class of birth. Your circumstances. That is what were talking about here today. Education is a way out of your circumstances of birth. But it is also that you could come here and be a part of this great place. That is what gave us the edge. I reflect upon the political folk all football that is out there, and we try not to go there and make this a culture war. There was a superintendent of a school in texas who became said it was really difficult. We are at a moment where it is not just about Climate Change and other issues, but it is also about those things. People want to stay to say that we have threats to our existence and our way of life, and we need Human Capital to rise to the moment and we need to give away from some of those things, and we were talking a lot about china. China is not our friend, our enemy, whatever you want to call it. There are people rallying around that point which gives us a moment to look for. We need those moments where we bring together the pacific body that is america to get beyond the political stuff. That is what makes me excited to open the door to the Romney Foundation and its work, that this is one of those times, and i am glad i was able to mention Climate Change, because young people, teachers, they see it happening around them and they want to do something about it. Its a galvanizing moment right now, going back to the original question, maybe we can get around those political issues that pull us down. Sec. Rice that political gridlock is holding us back in some ways. The state department, you have 62 people awaiting confirmation. Theres Something Like 38 ambassadors waiting, almost all of them have careers in this, which they should blow through. But you have a political system that prides itself on gridlock. How do we maintain our competitiveness when we think about National Security, education . That should bring all of us americans together, but it doesnt. Right now, we get nothing done. The chips act did pass, and the nda will pass because those senators and covers men like to get reelected, it will pass. And we have those final moonbeams that we can ride on. Lets go where the light is, and do this work to support jrotc programs with stem dollars who make it through, the president of Arizona State university was jrotc. Were pulling together National Security, industrial policy, foreign policy, competitiveness. There are real dollars in real opportunities around that. From upscaling and educational use. I agree with that. Another proposal in the report is for crating a darpa of education, the aspiration of the American Dream here, and we need to accelerate innovation. We are going to need to build more solutions that are going to address these systemic issues and the structural issues. These structural issues. We need to help put together a Bipartisan Coalition called the allies for learning innovation, organizations that are pushing forward for this idea. We have gotten 30 million, thats a small start. But we need to be working with agencies, we are working 30 minute billion dollars . 30 million. Thats what we need to do, we need to keep pushing and i think there is traction. The chips act passed. People are thinking about education in a different way. So continuing to build that coalition is a big priority. Sec. Rice one of the competitions that we have, and i agree, darpa for education would be a good accelerate it for ideas. We tried common core at one point and it failed because of federalized education. We have a decentralized k12 system. The most important level is the board of education or maybe the state chief. Washington can only do so much. I think what washington can do is that it can help to accelerate good ideas. There is an awful lot of xray mentation and innovation going experimentation and innovation going on in states. You mentioned a place that is only 15 minutes away from where i was born. You should welcome that as well and we should welcome that innovation that is happening in our very decentralized system. How do we solve for these amazing innovations which are going to impact some areas and some communities when our poorest areas are suffering so much . When you have the poorest schools, remember during covid, they did not even have access to the internet or wifi. We were all talking about ai. Theres not going to be any ai in towns where there is no wifi. Sec. Rice to be a bit provocative, i believe in competition for Public Schools. I believe in School Choice. I believe in Charter Schools. You know, and [applause] sec. Rice whenever i sit here someday say Charter Schools or vouchers or School Choice will damage Public Schools i say fine, write that editorial in the washington post, but dont send your kids to saint well friends. [applause] thats what i mean by where are our values here. Here . One thing we try to do a decade ago is that if a poor kid is not learning because of our National Security challenge that is action your problem. Dont just think that if your kids or look are learning and you are doing alright that we are all all right. You have to care about the weakest link in democracy, why on earth would you send a kid here, when you could go to saint albans . Or st. Marys academy, or whatever. You make a great point about how it was recovered, kids did not work. I ran a university in pittsburgh before i came to Arizona State, and we had pork kids in college poor kids in college as well. We got together with verizon and at t included hotspots. I had my tech people driving out into Rural Communities to set up hotspots so that kids could access. We did some things in the heat of the moment that we had to do to get kids educated and yet them access to technology. We had great initiatives here at Arizona State university where we are working with companies and the government. Lets not forget that we are getting some things right even though we have a difficult road ahead. We have done difficult and innovative things that keep up building new ideas because we did get access to kids for broadband in a way that people are writing about. And that is considered. Continuing. How excited are you about companies that realize that they need to go into school and offered Training Programs to find the right workforce . Because what colleges are educating our high schools dont align with the jobs of tomorrow. Now, may be more than we have seen in the modern era, some of the companys saying that we have to dig in and solve this to get our next workforce. I think one roll that philanthropy can play is to help facilitate the cocreation of solution. We need companies and partners working hand in hand with teachers and students for solutions. If you think of philanthropy in a sweet loving way, this is an economic solution, these Companies Need to be a success and they need a great workforce. And if they want their products to be purchased and used at scale, they need to be codeveloped with teachers and students. We want to help facilitate that kind of Inclusive Research and development when we talk about innovation and the kinds of solutions that we need that have to be part of how we think about how we develop them. And if we do, to your point, i think of those companies and partners will be really successful. Sec. Rice i wanted to say that i think it is in their interest to do it. I also see in that community a real sense of obligation throughout the country. Having an untrained workforce is not good for our democracy, either. I am encouraged by that. I encouraged by the fact that they see their interests here, but values are also driving this, lets make the country better. Round of applause, please. [applause] [laughter] young people like whats that, what are you talking about . What i also want to talk about, madam secretary is that we need members understanding whether it be Technical Schools for universities, that the next is between education and skill and learning and training is that dashing mechanized maybe was not before. We are out of time, but i want to and with a homework assignment. Secretary, i would like you to give this entire room and call to action, for everyone, what they need to do and talk about and what they need to write about to get excited about. Sec. Rice you need to bring it up in every National Security form in which you are operating, if youre in the government you need to make it a National Security issue. I also think that we talk about structural, and it sounds so big. If each and every american decided what am i going to do, am i going to go and help at a boys and girls club . Am i going to give money so that tutoring and broadband is stable . Each and everyone of us if each and everyone of us did our part, it would not only be good for the cause that we have, it would be awfully good for us. Because there is Nothing Better than dealing with people who have less than you have, it makes you less entitled, less aggrieved, and more of a participant in democracy. George schultz wore a tie that said democracy is not a spectator sport. That is the call to action. [applause] cspan is your unfiltered view of government. We are funded by these Television Companies and more, including sparklight the greatest town on earth the place you call home. Now we are all facing our greatest challenge. That is why sparklight is working to keep you connected. Srklight supports cspan as a public service, along with these othetelevision service providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. On wednesday officials from the of actor and federal government discussed basic strategy at this years Aspen Security Forum in colorado. That start at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. After 8 30, or from the same event with representatives from google and the White House Office of science and technology talking about the opportunities of ai. You can watch on the cspan now video app or online at cspan. Org. This year, book tv celebrates the divide years of celebrating nonfiction books and authors. Looked if he is live with the library of Congress National book festival. Since 2001, book tv, and partnership with the library of congress has provided coverage of the National Book festival, featuring hundreds of authors and guests. It brings you live, allday coverage of the National Book festival. Guests and authors include the librarian of congress, and former nfl player art russell. See our complete National Book festival schedule online at booktv. Org. The library of Congress National book festival, live beginning at 9 00 eastern on cspan two. Congress returns from its summer recess in september with a busy legislative floor scdule. Both the house and senate are noexcited to take up federal spending bills to prevent a vernment shutdown. Current government funding exre on september 30. Lawmakers are ci and of the month deadlineso offer loris reauthorize pandemic epedness programs