President Obama talks education, school reform, with NBC News' Savannah Guthrie

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So as a consequence– the average actual out-of-pocket cost for kids has not gone up as fast as tuition has gone up. But that’s not a sustainable model. So we’re going to have to actually keep tuition down. Now, the biggest problem we’ve got with tuition– especially at public universities, is state legislatures have been shifting priorities.
You know, they’re spending money on– you know, prisons, or other requirements, as opposed to the traditional support they’ve given to public education. And what we’ve said to state legislatures is, “You’ve gotta do your part and prioritize this. ‘Cause how well your state does is going to depend on how good your– how well your– your workforce is educated.”

But what we’ve also seen is school starting to do something about costs. You know, in some cases, it may involve thinking about tele-education, and are there ways that kids can get credit in some cases without actually being in a classroom. In some cases, it may involve, frankly, changing the facilities at these colleges and universities.
I mean when you’ve got country club– you know– level– workout facilities and dining halls and all that stuff, that costs money. And– and, you know– I always tell kids when they’re shopping for schools, I said, “You know, when I went to school, we didn’t expect to have good food at the– at the cafeteria. And we didn’t expect to have a five-star health club at– at a university.”

So the– we’re working with schools that can find ways to– to cut costs. But ultimately, states are going to have to step up when we’re talking about public schools. This is also why community colleges are so important, because that’s a good option for a lot of kids. And not everybody’s going to need a four-year college degree. Everybody’s going to need some form of higher education. And community colleges are an under-utilized resource, as we want to provide two million more slots for people who are attending community college to get trained for the jobs that are out there right now.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE:
What would you advise a high school senior today who had a dream school that would leave him or her $100,000 in debt, or they could go to another school that would not? Should they lower their academic sights for financial reasons?

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:
Well, a couple things I would say. Obviously, each school is different. And some schools have a big ticket retail price, but when you factor in the aid that the schools give, it may not cost the kid as much. But if– if they’ve got a chance of getting a great education without loading up debt– you know, then– you know, sometimes that’s– that might be the better option.

One of the things that, you know, we want to do is make sure the kids know what it is that it’s going to cost them to go to college. So my– as part of our Wall Street reform package, we set up something called The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, which is designed to help consumers on a whole range of things, financial transactions, mortgages, et cetera, credit cards. And one of the things they’ve done is to create a mechanism to work with schools so that kids know before they owe.

They get a clear sheet before they sign up for that school, explaining, even if the college tells you, “Look, don’t worry about cost we’ll– you’ll be able to get the money for your college,”– a lot of times kids don’t know how much they’re actually going to owe at the end of four years. And so we’re saying, “You’ve gotta make that information above so the kids can be better consumers and as a consequence get the best bargain possible.”

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE:
Back to education reform for a moment. Your supporters, even your detractors, say what you did with Race To the Top had a huge impact. It really broke decades of stagnation–

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:
Yeah.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE:
–in terms of what educators were willing to do.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:
Right.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE:
You did that with, I think, what, less than 1%–

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:
Right.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE:
–of the federal budget on education. So it raises the question, “Why not do more? Why not put more federal dollars toward these competitive grants and try to get more impact?”

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:
Well we’re working with Congress to try to continue to fund this Race To the Top model. There’ve been members of Congress who’ve been resistant. Traditionally, education aid has been spread around by a formula. And, you know, if you’re a Congressman or you’re a Senator from a particular place– you want to make sure you’re getting your fair share, regardless of whether your school districts are reforming or not.

So sometimes there’s resistance to taking money out of the formula side and putting it into these competitive grant programs. But we’re going to keep on pushing, because what– as– as you point out, we ended up seeing 46 states, even the ones that didn’t win the competition, initiate reforms because they were chasing those extra dollars.
And– what we want– to– to say to school districts and states across the country is each state is different. That– that, you know, we’re– we’re not suggesting that all wisdom comes from Washington. But there are some basic baselines that everybody should be able to meet. There– there are some basic standards.

And there’s certain practices that we know work. We know that if you have well-trained teachers, who are given– you know, treated like professionals and given room to be creative in a classroom and a good principal who’s a leader, and you’re keeping track of the progress the kids are making, that kids do better. And– you know– when we have good data that shows how you improve schools it shouldn’t be just sitting in a drawer.

And– and the– idea between Race To the Top is we’ll work with you. We’re not going to tell you exactly what you want to do. But we’re going to tell ‘ya what we think works. And if you want extra dollars to implement that we’re going to be there for you.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE:
Before I let you go, you got in some hot water at home, I heard, a while back, when you let the world know that Malia had gotten a C on a science test. That got me thinking. Have you ever failed a test?

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:
Oh yes.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE:
Really?

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:
Absolutely. You know, I– I– I was– I would say I was a mediocre student until I got to college. I– I goofed off way too much. Malia and Sasha are so far ahead of me basically, in all respects. They’re– they’re just better people than I was at their age. And– and– and they’re doing wonderfully. You know, I– I couldn’t be prouder of them.
I will say that at least at the school they’re at– they’re getting a lot more homework than I– I did when I was that age. I mean they– they– they seem to be working deep into the night. You know– I– I didn’t study that ardent till– the night before an exam. (CHUCKLE)

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE:
I wondered if Malia, who’s in high school now, you have a high schooler, if she’s studying current events.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:
She–

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE:
And studying this presidential election.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:
You know, she is studying current events. And– you know, she’s pretty dispassionate about it. She’s able to kinda separate out Dad, who’s at home, from the debates that are going on out there.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE:
Are you? (CHUCKLE) Are you in there grading those essays?

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:
No. You know, I tell her, you know, I want her to think for herself. The– the– the best education is one where kids learn how to learn, and they– they– they learn how to think for themselves. And my entire goal as a parent is the same goal I’ve got as parent– president, which is to– to make sure that every child out here is equipped to– to compete– and to be good citizens in an environment that is changing so fast that you know, what you need– to– to– be able to do is to constantly take in new information, adapt it, analyze it, use it.

And– and I think that we have all the– all the ingredients we need to– to succeed in– in this competitive environment. But it does mean that we’ve got more work to do at the local level. And hopefully the federal government can be helpful. We can’t do it all. We only count for 10% of education funding. But I think that we can leverage the resources we have to make sure that schools are making a difference.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE:
Mr. President, thank you for your time. I really appreciate it.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:
I appreciate it. Thank you, I enjoyed it.

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