Education

At Richmond High School during school hours, there is always a police car parked just off the sidewalk that leads to the front doors. Just past the auditorium and administration office, an iron fence stands between visitors and the rest of the school. Many students call it “the prison wall.” This is where more than 1,500 Bay Area teenagers receive their high school education.

Dr. Wes Watkins, IV has built his whole life’s work around the idea that there’s no better example of democracy than a Jazz ensemble. Dr. Watkins is the founder of the Bay Area-based Jazz & Democracy Project. He devised a curriculum that teaches schoolchildren lessons in jazz alongside American history and the democratic process.

“I'll take kids directly into the Constitution and say: ‘Look at this, Article 5, it tells us that we can amend it. We can change it. The founding fathers allowed for some flexibility in the future.’ So we can make democracy whatever we need it to be today, just like a Jazz musician may play 'Summertime' tonight,” says Watkins.

On today’s Your Call, we’ll have a conversation about student debt, which has surpassed $1 trillion, exceeding the total amount Americans are carrying on their credit cards. The average college graduate has more than $25,000 in student debt. With jobs hard to find, how are they coping? And who's making money off of student debt? Join us at 10 or email feedback@yourcallradio.org.  What's your student debt story? And what are the solutions? It’s Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:

Cryn Johannsen, founder and executive director of All Education Matters, a non-profit organization dedicated to reforming student loans through legislation, education and activism