WEBVTT 00:00:00.765 --> 00:00:04.274 I'm a little nervous, because my wife Yvonne said to me, 00:00:04.274 --> 00:00:06.443 she said, "Geoff, you watch the TED Talks." NOTE Paragraph 00:00:06.443 --> 00:00:08.379 I said, "Yes, honey, I love TED Talks." NOTE Paragraph 00:00:08.379 --> 00:00:11.867 She said, "You know, they're like, really smart, talented -- " NOTE Paragraph 00:00:11.867 --> 00:00:13.610 I said, "I know, I know." (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:00:13.610 --> 00:00:18.402 She said, "They don't want, like, the angry black man." 00:00:18.402 --> 00:00:20.355 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:00:20.355 --> 00:00:21.966 So I said, "No, I'm gonna be good, Honey, 00:00:21.966 --> 00:00:24.021 I'm gonna be good. I am." 00:00:24.021 --> 00:00:27.439 But I am angry. (Laughter) 00:00:27.439 --> 00:00:31.145 And the last time I looked, I'm -- NOTE Paragraph 00:00:31.145 --> 00:00:33.952 (Applause) 00:00:33.952 --> 00:00:39.380 So this is why I'm excited but I'm angry. 00:00:39.380 --> 00:00:44.299 This year, there are going to be millions of our children 00:00:44.299 --> 00:00:47.263 that we're going to needlessly lose, 00:00:47.263 --> 00:00:51.853 that we could -- right now, we could save them all. 00:00:51.853 --> 00:00:55.698 You saw the quality of the educators who were here. 00:00:55.698 --> 00:00:59.035 Do not tell me they could not reach those kids 00:00:59.035 --> 00:01:01.306 and save them. I know they could. 00:01:01.306 --> 00:01:04.167 It is absolutely possible. 00:01:04.167 --> 00:01:06.550 Why haven't we fixed this? 00:01:06.550 --> 00:01:11.314 Those of us in education have held on to a business plan 00:01:11.314 --> 00:01:15.169 that we don't care how many millions of young people fail, 00:01:15.169 --> 00:01:18.264 we're going to continue to do the same thing that didn't work, 00:01:18.264 --> 00:01:23.207 and nobody is getting crazy about it -- right? -- 00:01:23.207 --> 00:01:25.352 enough to say, "Enough is enough." 00:01:25.352 --> 00:01:29.736 So here's a business plan that simply does not make any sense. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:29.736 --> 00:01:33.096 You know, I grew up in the inner city, 00:01:33.096 --> 00:01:37.983 and there were kids who were failing 00:01:37.983 --> 00:01:44.517 in schools 56 years ago when I first went to school, 00:01:44.517 --> 00:01:51.291 and those schools are still lousy today, 56 years later. 00:01:51.291 --> 00:01:53.275 And you know something about a lousy school? 00:01:53.275 --> 00:01:55.891 It's not like a bottle of wine. 00:01:55.891 --> 00:01:57.202 Right? (Laughter) 00:01:57.202 --> 00:02:00.980 Where you say, like, '87 was like a good year, right? 00:02:00.980 --> 00:02:04.096 That's now how this thing -- I mean, every single year, 00:02:04.096 --> 00:02:06.502 it's still the same approach, right? 00:02:06.502 --> 00:02:11.046 One size fits all, if you get it, fine, and if you don't, 00:02:11.061 --> 00:02:14.721 tough luck. Just tough luck. 00:02:14.721 --> 00:02:17.666 Why haven't we allowed innovation to happen? 00:02:17.666 --> 00:02:20.131 Do not tell me we can't do better than this. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:20.131 --> 00:02:25.596 Look, you go into a place that's failed kids for 50 years, 00:02:25.596 --> 00:02:28.060 and you say, "So what's the plan?" 00:02:28.060 --> 00:02:30.164 And they say, "We'll, we're going to do 00:02:30.164 --> 00:02:33.180 what we did last year this year." 00:02:33.180 --> 00:02:35.983 What kind of business model is that? 00:02:35.983 --> 00:02:41.961 Banks used to open and operate between 10 and 3. 00:02:41.961 --> 00:02:47.074 They operated 10 to 3. They were closed for lunch hour. 00:02:47.074 --> 00:02:52.007 Now, who can bank between 10 and 3? The unemployed. 00:02:52.007 --> 00:02:55.395 They don't need banks. They got no money in the banks. 00:02:55.395 --> 00:02:58.781 Who created that business model? Right? 00:02:58.781 --> 00:03:00.894 And it went on for decades. 00:03:00.894 --> 00:03:02.809 You know why? Because they didn't care. 00:03:02.809 --> 00:03:04.793 It wasn't about the customers. 00:03:04.793 --> 00:03:10.311 It was about bankers. They created something that worked for them. 00:03:10.311 --> 00:03:12.390 How could you go to the bank 00:03:12.390 --> 00:03:14.799 when you were at work? It didn't matter. 00:03:14.799 --> 00:03:17.422 And they don't care whether or not Geoff is upset 00:03:17.422 --> 00:03:20.011 he can't go to the bank. Go find another bank. 00:03:20.011 --> 00:03:23.449 They all operate the same way. Right? 00:03:23.449 --> 00:03:27.312 Now, one day, some crazy banker had an idea. 00:03:27.312 --> 00:03:31.289 Maybe we should keep the bank open when people come home from work. 00:03:31.289 --> 00:03:34.416 They might like that. What about a Saturday? 00:03:34.416 --> 00:03:37.384 What about introducing technology? NOTE Paragraph 00:03:37.384 --> 00:03:39.603 Now look, I'm a technology fan, but I have to admit 00:03:39.603 --> 00:03:41.944 to you all I'm a little old. 00:03:41.944 --> 00:03:44.897 So I was a little slow, and I did not trust technology, 00:03:44.897 --> 00:03:48.795 and when they first came out with those new contraptions, 00:03:48.795 --> 00:03:52.465 these tellers that you put in a card and they give you money, 00:03:52.465 --> 00:03:56.080 I was like, "There's no way that machine is going to count that money right. 00:03:56.080 --> 00:03:58.428 I am never using that, right?" NOTE Paragraph 00:03:58.428 --> 00:04:04.363 So technology has changed. Things have changed. 00:04:04.363 --> 00:04:07.049 Yet not in education. Why? 00:04:07.049 --> 00:04:12.009 Why is it that when we had rotary phones, 00:04:12.009 --> 00:04:16.320 when we were having folks being crippled by polio, 00:04:16.320 --> 00:04:19.417 that we were teaching 00:04:19.417 --> 00:04:21.672 the same way then that we're doing right now? 00:04:21.672 --> 00:04:26.080 And if you come up with a plan to change things, 00:04:26.080 --> 00:04:28.341 people consider you radical. 00:04:28.341 --> 00:04:30.732 They will say the worst things about you. 00:04:30.732 --> 00:04:34.624 I said one day, well, look, if the science says -- 00:04:34.624 --> 00:04:38.283 this is science, not me -- that our poorest children 00:04:38.283 --> 00:04:41.593 lose ground in the summertime -- 00:04:41.593 --> 00:04:43.695 You see where they are in June and say, okay, they're there. 00:04:43.695 --> 00:04:46.372 You look at them in September, they've gone down. 00:04:46.372 --> 00:04:50.588 You say, whoo! So I heard about that in '75 00:04:50.588 --> 00:04:52.219 when I was at the Ed School at Harvard. 00:04:52.219 --> 00:04:55.109 I said, "Oh, wow, this is an important study." 00:04:55.109 --> 00:04:59.119 Because it suggests we should do something. 00:04:59.119 --> 00:05:02.684 (Laughter) 00:05:02.684 --> 00:05:05.788 Every 10 years they reproduce the same study. 00:05:05.788 --> 00:05:07.411 It says exactly the same thing: 00:05:07.411 --> 00:05:09.677 Poor kids lose ground in the summertime. 00:05:09.677 --> 00:05:14.510 The system decides you can't run schools in the summer. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:14.510 --> 00:05:17.736 You know, I always wonder, who makes up those rules? 00:05:17.736 --> 00:05:20.307 For years I went to -- Look, I went the Harvard Ed School. 00:05:20.307 --> 00:05:21.415 I thought I knew something. 00:05:21.415 --> 00:05:24.496 They said it was the agrarian calendar, and people had — 00:05:24.496 --> 00:05:26.078 but let me tell you why that doesn't make sense. 00:05:26.078 --> 00:05:29.360 I never got that. I never got that, 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:31.512 because anyone knows if you farm, 00:05:31.512 --> 00:05:34.587 you don't plant crops in July and August. 00:05:34.587 --> 00:05:37.336 You plant them in the spring. 00:05:37.336 --> 00:05:41.105 So who came up with this idea? Who owns it? 00:05:41.105 --> 00:05:42.788 Why did we ever do it? 00:05:42.788 --> 00:05:45.086 Well it just turns out in the 1840s we did have, 00:05:45.086 --> 00:05:48.064 schools were open all year. They were open all year, 00:05:48.064 --> 00:05:51.088 because we had a lot of folks who had to work all day. 00:05:51.088 --> 00:05:52.435 They didn't have any place for their kids to go. 00:05:52.435 --> 00:05:54.469 It was a perfect place to have schools. 00:05:54.469 --> 00:05:57.360 So this is not something that is ordained 00:05:57.360 --> 00:06:00.354 from the education gods. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:00.354 --> 00:06:02.530 So why don't we? Why don't we? 00:06:02.530 --> 00:06:08.480 Because our business has refused to use science. 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:11.492 Science. You have Bill Gates coming out and saying, 00:06:11.492 --> 00:06:14.592 "Look, this works, right? We can do this." 00:06:14.592 --> 00:06:19.741 How many places in America are going to change? None. 00:06:19.741 --> 00:06:22.453 None. Okay, yeah, there are two. All right? 00:06:22.453 --> 00:06:27.239 Yes, there'll be some place, because some folks will do the right thing. 00:06:27.239 --> 00:06:31.784 As a profession, we have to stop this. The science is clear. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:31.784 --> 00:06:34.079 Here's what we know. 00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:40.054 We know that the problem begins immediately. 00:06:40.054 --> 00:06:43.963 Right? This idea, zero to three. 00:06:43.963 --> 00:06:46.449 My wife, Yvonne, and I, we have four kids, 00:06:46.449 --> 00:06:49.956 three grown ones and a 15-year-old. 00:06:49.956 --> 00:06:51.443 That's a longer story. 00:06:51.443 --> 00:06:53.092 (Laughter) 00:06:53.092 --> 00:06:56.171 With our first kids, we did not know the science 00:06:56.171 --> 00:06:58.011 about brain development. 00:06:58.011 --> 00:07:00.625 We didn't know how critical those first three years were. 00:07:00.625 --> 00:07:03.039 We didn't know what was happening in those young brains. 00:07:03.039 --> 00:07:05.593 We didn't know the role that language, 00:07:05.593 --> 00:07:08.484 a stimulus and response, call and response, 00:07:08.484 --> 00:07:11.113 how important that was in developing those children. 00:07:11.113 --> 00:07:15.978 We know that now. What are we doing about it? Nothing. 00:07:15.978 --> 00:07:20.074 Wealthy people know. Educated people know. 00:07:20.074 --> 00:07:21.744 And their kids have an advantage. 00:07:21.744 --> 00:07:23.331 Poor people don't know, 00:07:23.331 --> 00:07:26.335 and we're not doing anything to help them at all. 00:07:26.335 --> 00:07:27.680 But we know this is critical. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:31.410 Now, you take pre-kindergarten. 00:07:31.410 --> 00:07:33.480 We know it's important for kids. 00:07:33.480 --> 00:07:36.854 Poor kids need that experience. 00:07:36.854 --> 00:07:41.783 Nope. Lots of places, it doesn't exist. 00:07:41.783 --> 00:07:44.331 We know health services matter. 00:07:44.331 --> 00:07:45.928 You know, we provide health services 00:07:45.928 --> 00:07:48.867 and people are always fussing at me about, you know, 00:07:48.867 --> 00:07:52.782 because I'm all into accountability and data 00:07:52.782 --> 00:07:55.976 and all of that good stuff, but we do health services, 00:07:55.976 --> 00:07:57.217 and I have to raise a lot of money. 00:07:57.217 --> 00:07:59.034 People used to say when they'd come fund us, 00:07:59.034 --> 00:08:01.813 "Geoff, why do you provide these health services?" 00:08:01.813 --> 00:08:03.922 I used to make stuff up. Right? 00:08:03.922 --> 00:08:06.473 I'd say, "Well, you know a child 00:08:06.473 --> 00:08:10.226 who has cavities is not going to, uh, 00:08:10.226 --> 00:08:12.286 be able to study as well." 00:08:12.286 --> 00:08:16.291 And I had to because I had to raise the money. 00:08:16.291 --> 00:08:18.843 But now I'm older, and you know what I tell them? 00:08:18.843 --> 00:08:21.585 You know why I provide kids with those health benefits 00:08:21.585 --> 00:08:23.525 and the sports and the recreation and the arts? 00:08:23.525 --> 00:08:27.019 Because I actually like kids. 00:08:27.019 --> 00:08:32.380 I actually like kids. (Laughter) (Applause) NOTE Paragraph 00:08:32.380 --> 00:08:35.555 But when they really get pushy, people really get pushy, 00:08:35.555 --> 00:08:38.651 I say, "I do it because you do it for your kid." 00:08:38.651 --> 00:08:41.643 And you've never read a study from MIT that says 00:08:41.643 --> 00:08:44.619 giving your kid dance instruction 00:08:44.619 --> 00:08:47.536 is going to help them do algebra better, 00:08:47.536 --> 00:08:49.611 but you will give that kid dance instruction, 00:08:49.611 --> 00:08:53.124 and you will be thrilled that that kid wants to do dance instruction, 00:08:53.124 --> 00:08:56.445 and it will make your day. And why shouldn't poor kids 00:08:56.445 --> 00:09:01.999 have the same opportunity? It's the floor for these children. 00:09:01.999 --> 00:09:04.701 (Applause) NOTE Paragraph 00:09:04.701 --> 00:09:07.673 So here's the other thing. 00:09:07.673 --> 00:09:11.540 I'm a tester guy. I believe you need data, you need information, 00:09:11.540 --> 00:09:13.705 because you work at something, you think it's working, 00:09:13.705 --> 00:09:16.442 and you find out it's not working. 00:09:16.442 --> 00:09:18.308 I mean, you're educators. You work, you say, 00:09:18.308 --> 00:09:21.353 you think you've got it, great, no? And you find out they didn't get it. 00:09:21.353 --> 00:09:23.922 But here's the problem with testing. 00:09:23.922 --> 00:09:26.187 The testing that we do -- 00:09:26.187 --> 00:09:28.906 we're going to have our test in New York next week — 00:09:28.906 --> 00:09:30.861 is in April. 00:09:30.861 --> 00:09:33.787 You know when we're going to get the results back? 00:09:33.787 --> 00:09:36.954 Maybe July, maybe June. 00:09:36.954 --> 00:09:39.762 And the results have great data. 00:09:39.762 --> 00:09:42.839 They'll tell you Raheem really struggled, 00:09:42.839 --> 00:09:46.217 couldn't do two-digit multiplication -- so great data, 00:09:46.217 --> 00:09:48.746 but you're getting it back after school is over. 00:09:48.746 --> 00:09:51.229 And so, what do you do? 00:09:51.229 --> 00:09:54.431 You go on vacation. (Laughter) 00:09:54.431 --> 00:09:55.766 You come back from vacation. 00:09:55.766 --> 00:10:01.216 Now you've got all of this test data from last year. 00:10:01.216 --> 00:10:03.569 You don't look at it. 00:10:03.569 --> 00:10:05.832 Why would you look at it? 00:10:05.832 --> 00:10:07.991 You're going to go and teach this year. 00:10:07.991 --> 00:10:11.243 So how much money did we just spend on all of that? 00:10:11.243 --> 00:10:14.246 Billions and billions of dollars 00:10:14.246 --> 00:10:17.303 for data that it's too late to use. 00:10:17.303 --> 00:10:19.129 I need that data in September. 00:10:19.129 --> 00:10:20.900 I need that data in November. 00:10:20.900 --> 00:10:22.908 I need to know you're struggling, and I need to know 00:10:22.908 --> 00:10:25.293 whether or not what I did corrected that. 00:10:25.293 --> 00:10:27.274 I need to know that this week. 00:10:27.274 --> 00:10:30.853 I don't need to know that at the end of the year when it's too late. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:30.853 --> 00:10:36.043 Because in my older years, I've become somewhat of a clairvoyant. 00:10:36.043 --> 00:10:39.266 I can predict school scores. 00:10:39.266 --> 00:10:41.311 You take me to any school. 00:10:41.311 --> 00:10:44.369 I'm really good at inner city schools that are struggling. 00:10:44.369 --> 00:10:48.184 And you tell me last year 48 percent of those kids 00:10:48.184 --> 00:10:50.791 were on grade level. 00:10:50.791 --> 00:10:52.685 And I say, "Okay, what's the plan, what did we do 00:10:52.685 --> 00:10:53.634 from last year to this year?" 00:10:53.634 --> 00:10:55.449 You say, "We're doing the same thing." 00:10:55.449 --> 00:10:58.204 I'm going to make a prediction. (Laughter) 00:10:58.204 --> 00:11:01.370 This year, somewhere between 44 00:11:01.370 --> 00:11:04.265 and 52 percent of those kids will be on grade level. 00:11:04.265 --> 00:11:07.840 And I will be right every single time. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:12.229 So we're spending all of this money, but we're getting what? 00:11:12.229 --> 00:11:14.821 Teachers need real information right now 00:11:14.821 --> 00:11:16.410 about what's happening to their kids. 00:11:16.410 --> 00:11:21.803 The high stakes is today, because you can do something about it. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:21.803 --> 00:11:26.637 So here's the other issue that I just think 00:11:26.637 --> 00:11:29.445 we've got to be concerned about. 00:11:29.445 --> 00:11:33.725 We can't stifle innovation in our business. 00:11:33.725 --> 00:11:37.618 We have to innovate. And people in our business get mad about innovation. 00:11:37.618 --> 00:11:39.605 They get angry if you do something different. 00:11:39.605 --> 00:11:41.382 If you try something new, people are always like, 00:11:41.382 --> 00:11:45.879 "Ooh, charter schools." Hey, let's try some stuff. Let's see. 00:11:45.879 --> 00:11:48.240 This stuff hasn't worked for 55 years. 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:51.311 Let's try something different. And here's the rub. 00:11:51.311 --> 00:11:53.403 Some of it's not going to work. 00:11:53.403 --> 00:11:56.141 You know, people tell me, "Yeah, those charter schools, a lot of them don't work." 00:11:56.141 --> 00:11:59.609 A lot of them don't. They should be closed. 00:11:59.609 --> 00:12:01.515 I mean, I really believe they should be closed. 00:12:01.515 --> 00:12:05.824 But we can't confuse figuring out the science 00:12:05.824 --> 00:12:10.600 and things not working with we shouldn't therefore do anything. 00:12:10.600 --> 00:12:12.502 Right? Because that's not the way the world works. NOTE Paragraph 00:12:12.502 --> 00:12:14.008 If you think about technology, 00:12:14.008 --> 00:12:16.522 imagine if that's how we thought about technology. 00:12:16.522 --> 00:12:17.819 Every time something didn't work, 00:12:17.819 --> 00:12:20.365 we just threw in the towel and said, "Let's forget it." Right? 00:12:20.365 --> 00:12:23.534 You know, they convinced me. I'm sure some of you were like me -- 00:12:23.534 --> 00:12:28.059 the latest and greatest thing, the PalmPilot. 00:12:28.059 --> 00:12:30.538 They told me, "Geoff, if you get this PalmPilot 00:12:30.538 --> 00:12:32.491 you'll never need another thing." 00:12:32.491 --> 00:12:36.932 That thing lasted all of three weeks. It was over. 00:12:36.932 --> 00:12:40.691 I was so disgusted I spent my money on this thing. 00:12:40.691 --> 00:12:46.608 Did anybody stop inventing? Not a person. Not a soul. 00:12:46.608 --> 00:12:49.112 The folks went out there. They kept inventing. 00:12:49.112 --> 00:12:52.222 The fact that you have failure, that shouldn't stop you 00:12:52.222 --> 00:12:55.108 from pushing the science forward. NOTE Paragraph 00:12:55.108 --> 00:12:57.280 Our job as educators, 00:12:57.280 --> 00:12:59.745 there's some stuff we know that we can do. 00:12:59.745 --> 00:13:03.724 And we've got to do better. The evaluation, we have to start with kids earlier, 00:13:03.724 --> 00:13:06.648 we have to make sure that we provide the support to young people. 00:13:06.648 --> 00:13:09.056 We've got to give them all of these opportunities. 00:13:09.056 --> 00:13:12.372 So that we have to do. But this innovation issue, 00:13:12.372 --> 00:13:16.164 this idea that we've got to keep innovating 00:13:16.164 --> 00:13:19.088 until we really nail this science down 00:13:19.088 --> 00:13:21.296 is something that is absolutely critical. NOTE Paragraph 00:13:21.296 --> 00:13:23.520 And this is something, by the way, 00:13:23.520 --> 00:13:27.055 that I think is going to be a challenge for our entire field. 00:13:27.055 --> 00:13:32.334 America cannot wait another 50 years to get this right. 00:13:32.334 --> 00:13:35.003 We have run out of time. 00:13:35.003 --> 00:13:38.091 I don't know about a fiscal cliff, but I know there's an educational cliff 00:13:38.091 --> 00:13:41.544 that we are walking over right this very second, 00:13:41.544 --> 00:13:45.984 and if we allow folks to continue this foolishness 00:13:45.984 --> 00:13:48.946 about saying we can't afford this — 00:13:48.946 --> 00:13:51.192 So Bill Gates says it's going to cost five billion dollars. 00:13:51.192 --> 00:13:53.752 What is five billion dollars to the United States? 00:13:53.752 --> 00:13:56.425 What did we spend in Afghanistan this year? 00:13:56.425 --> 00:14:00.392 How many trillions? (Applause) NOTE Paragraph 00:14:00.392 --> 00:14:03.416 When the country cares about something, 00:14:03.416 --> 00:14:07.065 we'll spend a trillion dollars without blinking an eye. 00:14:07.065 --> 00:14:10.009 When the safety of America is threatened, 00:14:10.009 --> 00:14:12.880 we will spend any amount of money. 00:14:12.880 --> 00:14:15.936 The real safety of our nation 00:14:15.936 --> 00:14:18.313 is preparing this next generation 00:14:18.313 --> 00:14:20.552 so that they can take our place 00:14:20.552 --> 00:14:24.739 and be the leaders of the world 00:14:24.739 --> 00:14:27.936 when it comes to thinking and technology and democracy 00:14:27.936 --> 00:14:30.313 and all that stuff we care about. 00:14:30.313 --> 00:14:34.858 I dare say it's a pittance, 00:14:34.858 --> 00:14:38.543 what it would require for us to really 00:14:38.543 --> 00:14:40.791 begin to solve some of these problems. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:40.791 --> 00:14:46.180 So once we do that, I'll no longer be angry. (Laughter) 00:14:46.180 --> 00:14:51.975 So, you guys, help me get there. 00:14:51.975 --> 00:14:54.304 Thank you all very much. Thank you. 00:14:54.304 --> 00:15:03.627 (Applause) NOTE Paragraph 00:15:03.627 --> 00:15:07.835 John Legend: So what is the high school dropout rate at Harlem Children's Zone? NOTE Paragraph 00:15:07.835 --> 00:15:09.302 Geoffrey Canada: Well, you know, John, 00:15:09.302 --> 00:15:11.625 100 percent of our kids graduated high school 00:15:11.625 --> 00:15:12.776 last year in my school. 00:15:12.776 --> 00:15:14.244 A hundred percent of them went to college. 00:15:14.244 --> 00:15:17.634 This year's seniors will have 100 percent graduating high school. 00:15:17.634 --> 00:15:20.696 Last I heard we had 93 percent accepted to college. 00:15:20.696 --> 00:15:23.310 We'd better get that other seven percent. 00:15:23.310 --> 00:15:30.005 So that's just how this goes. (Applause) NOTE Paragraph 00:15:30.005 --> 00:15:32.598 JL: So how do you stick with them after they leave high school? NOTE Paragraph 00:15:32.598 --> 00:15:35.187 GC: Well, you know, one of the bad problems 00:15:35.187 --> 00:15:37.629 we have in this country is these kids, the same kids, 00:15:37.629 --> 00:15:39.558 these same vulnerable kids, when you get them in school, 00:15:39.558 --> 00:15:40.900 they drop out in record numbers. 00:15:40.900 --> 00:15:44.565 And so we've figured out that you've got to really design 00:15:44.565 --> 00:15:47.989 a network of support for these kids that in many ways 00:15:47.989 --> 00:15:50.454 mimics what a good parent does. 00:15:50.454 --> 00:15:53.551 They harass you, right? They call you, they say, 00:15:53.551 --> 00:15:55.662 "I want to see your grades. How'd you do on that last test? 00:15:55.662 --> 00:15:58.625 What are you talking about that you want to leave school? 00:15:58.625 --> 00:15:59.915 And you're not coming back here." 00:15:59.915 --> 00:16:02.170 So a bunch of my kids know you can't come back to Harlem 00:16:02.170 --> 00:16:03.501 because Geoff is looking for you. 00:16:03.501 --> 00:16:06.804 They're like, "I really can't come back." No. You'd better stay in school. 00:16:06.804 --> 00:16:09.630 But I'm not kidding about some of this, 00:16:09.630 --> 00:16:11.426 and it gets a little bit to the grit issue. 00:16:11.426 --> 00:16:15.620 When kids know that you refuse to let them fail, 00:16:15.620 --> 00:16:17.524 it puts a different pressure on them, 00:16:17.524 --> 00:16:19.212 and they don't give up as easy. 00:16:19.212 --> 00:16:21.654 So sometimes they don't have it inside, 00:16:21.654 --> 00:16:23.700 and they're, like, "You know, I don't want to do this, 00:16:23.700 --> 00:16:27.053 but I know my mother's going to be mad." 00:16:27.053 --> 00:16:29.782 Well, that matters to kids, and it helps get them through. 00:16:29.782 --> 00:16:33.591 We try to create a set of strategies that gets them tutoring 00:16:33.591 --> 00:16:37.526 and help and support, but also a set of encouragements 00:16:37.526 --> 00:16:40.136 that say to them, "You can do it. It is going to be hard, 00:16:40.136 --> 00:16:42.194 but we refuse to let you fail." NOTE Paragraph 00:16:42.194 --> 00:16:43.774 JL: Well, thank you Dr. Canada. 00:16:43.774 --> 00:16:45.438 Please give it up for him one more time. NOTE Paragraph 00:16:45.438 --> 00:16:50.439 (Applause)