You're a former professional basketball player who knew President Obama when you were head of the Chicago school system. How often do you talk to him?

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 373.

Are there that many bad teachers in American public schools?

Randi Weingarten, of the American Federation of Teachers? The film depicts her as a villain.

The film blames teachers' unions for the failure of public schools because the unions have made it almost impossible to fire lazy teachers. Are you against teachers' unions?

Have you seen the new film “Waiting for Superman,” a documentary opening this week that makes public education in this country seems totally dysfunctional?

I did. I think it's going to help the country to understand the tremendous sense of urgency that I feel. We have parents who know their child is getting a subpar education. That is devastating to them and ultimately it's devastating to our country.

Of course not. I'm a big fan of Randi's.

I think Randi is providing some courageous leadership and is actually taking some heat internally in the union because she said publicly that the union shouldn't be protecting bad teachers.

Are there some? Absolutely. The bigger issue for me going forward is we have a baby-boomer generation that's getting ready to retire. This country is going to need a million new teachers. You can't fire your way to the top.

It varies. We have a great working relationship, and we have some fun playing ball together as well.